Congress and was accepted April 2, 1790. An act for the government of the territory was passed by Congress May 26, 1790. The territory was styled in legislation "The Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio"; but was popularly called the Southwest Territory. William Blount was appointed governor, and Knoxville was the Territorial capital. For a period of six years Tennessee remained in territorial apprenticeship. Tennessee. In 1796 the Southwest Territory became a State, being the first State erected out of United States territory. The beautiful name, Tennessee, is said to have been proposed by Andrew Jackson. Let us hope that it will be the last of our many names, and let us echo the memorable prayer of Blackstone and Father Paul, Esto perpetua. Divisions of the Subject.-Our history is thus divided into two parts, as follows: PART I. The history of Tennessee from the earliest times to the date of its admission as a State of the Union, June 1, 1796. Part I embraces three divisions: (1) Aboriginal History; including sketches of the Indian tribes who resided within the limits of the State, or were connected with its history. (2) History of the Colonial Relations; extending from 1584, when the English colonial system began, to 1763, when the First Treaty of Paris established the claims of England; and including the colonial relations of Tennessee to foreign claimants, and to the English government, and as part successively of Virginia, of Carolina, and of North Carolina. (3) The History of the Settlement of the Country by the whites to the date of its admission as a State. PART II. The history of Tennessee from its admission into the Union, 1796, to the present time. This part is also treated in three divisions: (1) Tennessee under the Constitution of 1796. PART I. THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DATE OF ITS ADMISSION AS A STATE, JUNE I, 1796. DIVISION I. ABORIGINAL HISTORY. CHAPTER I. THE INDIANS. 1. Indian Races.-Four races of Indians, distinct from each other in characteristics and appearance, lived east of the Mississippi River when Columbus discovered America, viz.: the Esquimaux, the Algonquins, the Iroquois, and the Mobilians. The Esquimaux dwelt in Labrador and the extreme northern part of America. They have no connection with Tennessee history. The Algonquins occupied the entire country from the Carolina line north to the country of the Esquimaux, except a small territory around the great lakes. The Iroquois, or Five Nations, occupied a small area around Lakes Ontario and Erie and touched Lake Huron. The entire territory from the northern boundary of Carolina southward, except portions of Middle Tennessee and North Alabama, was occupied by the Mobilians. These races were subdivided into various tribes. These should be studied and located on the map.1 2. The Mobilian Race.-Although the history of Tennessee has been influenced by the Iroquois race, and by the Shawnee tribe of the Algonquin race, and by other Indians, yet the most important Indian relations of the pioneers were with the tribes of the Mobilian2 race, or the Appalachian race, as they are sometimes called. The principal tribes of this race were: the Cherokees, the Chickasaws, the Creeks, the Choctaws, and the Seminoles. The Chickamaugas are generally classed as a branch of the Cherokees, but are sometimes treated 1 Much has been written on this subject, little positive is known, and accounts are vague and contradictory. Still it is an interesting subject of investigation. See Johnson's Cyclopedia, American Indians; Reports of U. S. Bureau of Ethnology; Schoolcraft; any good cyclopedia, etc. 'See Roosevelt's “Winning of the West," Vol. I., Chapters 3 and 4. as an independent tribe. There were many other Mobilian tribes, but they had little connection with Tennessee history.1 THE NATCHEZ. 3. Were They Aborigines?--Before studying the history of the Mobilian tribes, with which the early history of Tennessee is intimately connected, let us briefly examine into what is known of the Natchez. We find that very little is known. It is conjectured by ethnologists that the Natchez, if not the aborigines of Tennessee, were the first inhabitants of whom we have any trace. All knowledge of their early history rests upon vague Indian legends, inferences drawn from accounts of the expedition of DeSoto in 1540, and of other explorers, together with such interpretations as may be placed upon various mounds and relics which have been discovered. 4. Theories about the Natchez.-Various theories have been advanced by speculative writers. The most plausible of these theories is, that America was peopled by immigrants from Asia and Europe, arriving at various times in the remote past. One wave of Indian migration starting from the Southern Pacific coast moved northeast, another wave starting from the neighborhood of Behring Strait moved southward, and possibly other waves starting from the Middle Pacific coast moved east. It is supposed that these waves of Indian migration met somewhere along the banks of the Mississippi or the Ohio rivers, where a fierce conflict ensued. According to this theory, the Natchez were the advance guard of the Southern Indians. They crossed the Mississippi and occupied the country from the Iberville River in Louisiana up to the Wabash River in Indiana, and extended eastward to the Alleghany Mountains. There is no evidence to show how long they occupied this territory. They were invaded by "the red Indians of the North," and after a fierce conflict were driven southward, a small remnant of the race retaining a foot-hold along the eastern bank of the Mississippi, and are now nearly extinct. 5. The Mound Builders.2-In many portions of the State mounds 1In the limits of North Carolina, of which Tennessee was a part, there were many Indian tribes, viz.: the Catawbas, the Tuscaroras, the Meherrins, the Machapungoes, the Pasquotunks, the Tuteloes, the Mohenens, Caronines, the Sap ponies, the Toleras, the Keyawies, the Curratukes, the Pamlicoes, the Mattamus, keets, the Chowanches, the Marattas, the Mangoes, the Corees, the Weapomeas, the Chesopians, and others. See Ramsey's Annals, pp. 73-87; Moore's School History of North Carolina, pp. 13-16; Monette, Adair, etc. 2Thruston's Antiquities of Tennessee, Chapters 1 and 2, and authorities there. in quoted; American Historical Magazine, Vol. I., pp. 253-257 (July No. 1896). |