Transylvania (colony)
Encyclopedia
Richard Henderson (American pioneer)
Richard Henderson was an American pioneer and merchant who attempted to create a colony called Transylvania just as the American Revolutionary War was starting.-Early life:Henderson was born in Hanover County, Virginia...
, who controlled the North Carolina
Province of North Carolina
The Province of North Carolina was originally part of the Province of Carolina in British America, which was chartered by eight Lords Proprietor. The province later became the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee....
based Transylvania Company, which had reached an agreement to purchase the land from the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
in the "Treaty of Sycamore Shoals". This area was claimed at the time by the Province of Virginia —especially following Lord Dunmore's War
Dunmore's War
Dunmore's War was a war in 1774 between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations....
—and North Carolina. It is primarily located in what is now the central and western parts of the State of Kentucky. American pioneer Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
was hired by Henderson to establish the Wilderness Road
Wilderness Road
The Wilderness Road was the principal route used by settlers for more than fifty years to reach Kentucky from the East. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky. It was later lengthened,...
going through the Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap is a pass through the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains, also known as the Cumberland Water Gap, at the juncture of the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia...
into central "Kentuckee", where he founded Boonesborough
Boonesborough, Kentucky
Boonesborough is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It lies in the central part of the state along the Kentucky River. Boonesborough is part of the Richmond–Berea Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, the designated capitol of the Transylvania colony. Transylvania officially ceased to exist after the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
invalidated the Transylvania Company's purchase in 1776.
Background
In the 1768 Treaty of Fort StanwixTreaty of Fort Stanwix
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was an important treaty between North American Indians and the British Empire. It was signed in 1768 at Fort Stanwix, located in present-day Rome, New York...
, the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
ceded their claims on lands south of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to the Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
. Although they claimed sovereignty over much of what is now Kentucky, the Iroquois did not actually reside there, as did their "Six Nations" ally, the Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
. In addition, the Cherokee to the south and east used much of the area as their historical hunting grounds. Neither of these peoples had been consulted regarding the Stanwix treaty. Consequently, Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
began to attack frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
settlers moving into the region. This led to Lord Dunmore's War, fought in 1774, primarily between the Shawnee and the Province of Virginia. The Shawnee lost this brief war and ceded their claims to much of Kentucky.
The Transylvania Company
On 27 August 1774, Richard Henderson, a judge from North Carolina, organized a land speculation company with a number of other prominent North Carolinians. Originally called "Richard Henderson and Company", the name was first changed to the "Louisa Company", and finally to the "Transylvania Company" on 6 January 1775. The men hoped to establish a British proprietary colonyProprietary colony
A proprietary colony was a colony in which one or more individuals, usually land owners, remaining subject to their parent state's sanctions, retained rights that are today regarded as the privilege of the state, and in all cases eventually became so....
by purchasing Kentucky land from the Cherokee, who had settled much of the south and southeastern Kentucky areas and still claimed hunting rights in the abandoned Shawnee lands.
Treaty of Sycamore Shoals
In March 1775, Henderson met with more than 1,200 Cherokee at Sycamore ShoalsSycamore Shoals
The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, in the U.S. state of Tennessee...
(present day Elizabethton
Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British American colonies.Elizabethton is also the...
in northeastern Tennessee). Present were Cherokee leaders such as Attakullakulla and Oconostota
Oconostota
Oconostota was the Warrior of Chota and the First Beloved Man of the Cherokee from 1775 to 1781.-Meaning of the name:...
. In the "Treaty of Sycamore Shoals", also known as the "Treaty of Watauga", dated March 14, 1775, Henderson purchased all the land lying between the Cumberland River
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
, the Cumberland Mountains
Cumberland Mountains
The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in southern West Virginia, western Virginia, eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the Crab Orchard Mountains...
, and the Kentucky River
Kentucky River
The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long, in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The river and its tributaries drain much of the central region of the state, with its upper course passing through the coal-mining regions of the Cumberland Mountains, and its lower course passing through the...
, and situated south of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. The land thus delineated, 20 million acres (81,000 km²), encompassed an area half the size of present-day Kentucky.
Henderson and his partners probably believed that a recent British legal opinion, the Camden-Yorke opinion, had made such purchases legal. In fact, the Transylvania Company's purchase was in violation of Virginia and North Carolina law, as well as the Royal Proclamation of 1763
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, which prohibited private purchase of American Indian land and the establishment of any non-Crown sanctioned colony.
Settlement
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
, an experienced hunter, to travel to the Cherokee towns and inform them of the upcoming negotiations. Boone had been in southeast Kentucky long before the founding of any Kentucky settlements.
Afterward, Boone was hired to blaze what became known as the Wilderness Road, which went through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. During this trail-blazing expedition, Boone and his party suffered several Indian attacks. Along with a party of about thirty workers, Boone marked a path to the Kentucky River
Kentucky River
The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long, in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The river and its tributaries drain much of the central region of the state, with its upper course passing through the coal-mining regions of the Cumberland Mountains, and its lower course passing through the...
, where he established Boonesborough (near present-day Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
), which was intended to be the capitol of Transylvania. Unknown to Boone, Henderson led another expedition following in Boone’s tracks, widening the path so they could bring through wagons. In addition to Boonesborough, other settlements, notably Harrodsburg
Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Harrodsburg is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,014 at the 2000 census. It is the oldest city in Kentucky.-History:...
, were established at this time. Many of these settlers had come to Kentucky on their own initiative, and some of them refused to recognize Transylvania's authority.
When Henderson arrived at Boonesborough there were fewer than a hundred people residing there. This population and a few other settlements in the area constituted the sparse concentration of white settlers to be found in the isolated western wilderness. The settlers recognized their precarious situation. They not only faced significant Indian hostilities, but lacked adequate supplies and shelter. Notwithstanding these circumstances, Henderson urged settlers in the area to hold a constitutional convention.
Henderson’s plan was for the various settlements to send delegates to Boonesborough. They would act in the name of the people they represented and whose consent would justify the convention. In May 1775, under the shade of a huge elm tree, a three-day convention met. In addition to passing nine bills dealing with immediate matters of governance, delegates drafted a compact that organized a frame of government, known as the Transylvania Compact. This plan for government included executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
After concluding the compact, Henderson returned to North Carolina and, on behalf of his fellow investors in the land scheme, petitioned Congress seeking to make Transylvania a legally recognized colony. Despite those efforts, Congress was unwilling to act without the consent of Virginia and North Carolina, both of whom claimed jurisdiction over the region in question. In June 1776 the Virginia General Assembly prohibited the Transylvania Land Company from making any demands on settlers in the region. In December 1778, Virginia's Assembly finally declared the Transylvania claim void. In compensation, Henderson and his partners received a grant of 12 square miles (31 km²) on the Ohio River below the mouth of Green River
Green River (Kentucky)
The Green River is a tributary of the Ohio River that rises in Lincoln County in south-central Kentucky. Tributaries of the Green River include the Barren River, the Nolin River, the Pond River and the Rough River...
.
Treaty disharmony
The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals was just one of several treaties that disenfranchised the Cherokee from their ancient lands in Upper Cherokee areas. Indian treaties were disavowed by some of the chiefs. A minor Cherokee chief, Dragging CanoeDragging Canoe
Tsiyu Gansini , "He is dragging his canoe", known to whites as Dragging Canoe, was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee against colonists and United States settlers...
, refused to sign, endorse, or obey the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, although his father, Attakullakulla, apparently did sign. Dragging Canoe left the Sycamore Shoals treaty grounds taking those who were loyal to him and his way of thinking into southeastern Kentucky, to an area known as Cannatuckahoe because of the Cherokee Tuckahoe people settled in the area. A few years later, after the Treaty of Long Island, Dragging Canoe and his now considerably grown number of followers, removed themselves further from the other Cherokee villages —as well as the Euro-American settlements —by following the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
further downstream into the remote area of the Chickamauga River (near modern day Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
). There, in 1777, they established eleven towns which remained hostile to the people of the newly united Colonies
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution...
for decades. This location gave this group the name "Chickamauga" (who were also known as the "Lower Cherokee").
See also
- Carter County, TennesseeCarter County, TennesseeCarter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 57,424. Its county seat is Elizabethton.Carter County is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined...
- Transylvania County, North CarolinaTransylvania County, North CarolinaTransylvania County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 33,090. Its county seat is Brevard.- History :The county was formed in 1861 from parts of Henderson County and Jackson County...
- Doe RiverDoe RiverThe Doe River is a naturally flowing river in northeast Tennessee that forms in Carter County near the North Carolina line, just south of Roan Mountain State Park.-Hydrography:...
- Fort WataugaFort WataugaFort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee...
- James RobertsonJames Robertson (early American)James Robertson was an explorer and pioneer active primarily in what is now the State of Tennessee during the second half of the 18th century. An early companion of explorer Daniel Boone, Robertson helped establish the Watauga Association in the early 1770s, and helped defend Fort Watauga from an...
- Isaac ShelbyIsaac ShelbyIsaac Shelby was the first and fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812...
, surveyor in Kentucky for the Transylvania Company - "The WataugansThe WataugansThe Wataugans is an outdoor historical drama that takes place in Elizabethton, Tennessee, at the Sycamore Shoals Historic Area. It is presented by the Watauga Historical Association every July on the last three Thursday-Friday-Saturday weekends of the month...
" - Watauga RiverWatauga RiverThe Watauga River is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is 60 miles long with its headwaters on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain and Peak Mountain in Watauga County, North Carolina.-Hydrography:...
- Transylvania UniversityTransylvania UniversityTransylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
- Chickamauga warsChickamauga warsThe Chickamauga Wars were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles which were a continuation of the Cherokee struggle against encroachment by American frontiersmen from the former British colonies...