Violence, Statecraft, and Statehood in the Early Republic : The State of Franklin, 1784–1788 by Kevin Barksdale
I found this section of the book fascinating. I am currently taking a course titled “The History of Sports in America” and I never thought that it would be so contingent with this article by Kevin Barksdale. In this course, we have discussed the Antebellum disgust towards such barbarous games like boxing or “rough and tumbling”. The goal of boxing was to gouge out eyes and sometimes even castrate their opponents. Much of those that participated in these violent sports were immigrants, mostly Irish. However, immigrants and Americans alike dueled out for their honor in these boxing matches.
Barksdale includes this information in this article as he discusses the disgust and terror towards the Appalachians. It’s interesting to read the analyzation of 2 separate governments that were fully functional inside the same state at the same time. Those that identified themselves as citizens of The State of Franklin likewise did not identify themselves as citizens of North Carolina; and vice versa. Citizens of the State of Franklin paid taxes, tribute, and followed those laws rather than the state of North Carolina and I believe that this is important to pay attention to for this class. People inside this region chose where to commit their patronage to and this was a fully functional system for a couple of years.
I believe that it is important to note that Barksdale does not attribute the violent nature of The State of Franklin in the Appalachians to ethnic groups or large amounts of immigrants. Violence was not engrained in Irish culture. Barksdale attributes the violence of The State of Franklin to political instability, economic and political competition, and Native American resistance to western encroachment.
The separation of The State of Franklin was geographical, as a result of the Appalachians, and economical. The western section of North Carolina declared its independence as The State of Franklin and created a leadership that they felt could defend and protect them from the ongoing Cherokee attacks. This four year separatist movement inside of North Carolina was full of immense violence, as Barksdale explains. There are many people that have attempted to attribute this violence to ethnic explanations, however, Barksdale goes into depth to explain that the violence stemmed from tensions of political and economic competition and Native American resistance. However, once support ran out, Franklin-ites were forced to return to the State of Carolina.