This blog entry comes from Ian Hennessey (the Blount Mansion Association Vice President), written for the September 2010 issue of DICTA.
The Tennessee Constitution of 1796 “is admitted to be one of the very best – Mr. Jefferson said, ‘the least imperfect and most republican’ – of the systems of government adopted by any of the American States.” (1)
This article is written in recognition of Constitution Day, which occurs each year on September 17 “to commemorate the formation and signing on September 17, 1787, of the [United States] Constitution….”(2) In observance of Constitution Day, we are encouraged to “make plans…for the complete instruction of citizens in their responsibilities and opportunities as citizens of the United States and of the State and locality in which they reside.”(3)
The natural focus of Constitution Day, of course, is the United States Constitution itself. However, there is scant more insight or praise that this author can offer that has not been already provided, either in speech or in prose, a thousand times before. In her book of the same title, Catherine Drinker Bowen described the Constitutional Convention as the “Miracle in Philadelphia.”(4) Her description is more than appropriate. The legacy of the Constitutional Convention is both the triumph of self-government as well as the genius – however imperfect – of the Framers. Indeed, the fame and historical significance of the individual Framers – including the likes of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and George Mason – can easily overshadow the achievement of “ordinary citizens” establishing their own government. For this reason, this article will eschew Philadelphia, 1787, and focus instead on Knoxville, 1796. In that year, delegates gathered here for a convention that produced Tennessee’s first constitution.
The Tennessee Constitution of 1796 is a remarkable document. However, the enduring lesson of the first Tennessee Constitution is as much about the capacity of ordinary people to form a government based on principles of liberty and democracy. It also serves as a reminder that freedom and self-government is our continuing responsibility and endeavor as citizens, not a singular historical event reserved only to a few famous historical figures. Accordingly, this brief article will examine the provisions found in the Tennessee Constitution of 1796, but also the human context in which it was produced.
Early Self-Government
The frontier settlers that would eventually form the State of Tennessee already had valuable experience in self-government prior to 1796. In 1772, settlers living in the area of the Watauga and Nolichucky rivers formed the “Watauga Association.” This association functioned as “a primitive constitution of sorts modeled loosely after the Mayflower Compact of 1620.”(5) The agreement provided for a magistrate’s court that “possessed both legislative and judicial powers and employed a sheriff and clerk.”(6) The Watauga Association was later annexed by North Carolina as the “Washington District” during the Revolutionary War.
Following the Revolutionary War, a second attempt at self-government was made with the establishment of the ill-fated State of Franklin. In 1784, North Carolina ceded its western lands to Congress. On August 24, 1784, delegates from Washington, Sullivan, Hawkins and Greene counties – including John Sevier – convened in Jonesborough to establish a new state. A constitution was adopted and John Sevier was elected governor. However, despite petitioning Congress, the State of Franklin was not admitted to the Union. North Carolina reasserted its claim over the region and the government collapsed.
In 1790, the new federal government established the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio (commonly referred to as the “Southwest Territory”). President George Washington appointed William Blount to be governor of the new territory. Blount had served as a paymaster during the Revolutionary War. He also served in the North Carolina House of Commons and the Continental Congress. He later served as a North Carolina delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and was a signer of the U.S. Constitution.
Blount established the first territorial capital at Rocky Mount, before moving the capital to the settlement at White’s Fort (which Blount later renamed Knoxville) in 1792. The following year, a territorial legislature was formed consisting of thirteen men. Interestingly, historians have noted that in the territorial legislature “there was but one lawyer, William Cocke, in the lower house,” which was “attributed to that antipathy to and distrust of the legal profession manifested ten years before in the Houston draft of the [Franklin] constitution, a section of which excluded attorneys at law from becoming members of the legislature.”(7)
By 1795, there was growing support for seeking statehood among the settlers in the territory.(8) In June 1795, Governor Blount convened the territorial legislature upon the stated purpose, in his own words:
to afford an opportunity to inquire whether it is, as I have been taught to believe, the wish of the majority of the people, that this Territory should become a State, when by taking the enumeration of there should prove to be sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, or at such earlier period as Congress shall pass an act for its admission; and if it is, to take such measures as may be proper to effect the desired change of the form of government as early as practicable.(9)
The results of the territorial census revealed a total population of 77,263 people, of which 66,650 were free and 10,613 were enslaved.(10) The results also showed a clear majority of 6,504 to 2,562 in favor of seeking statehood.(11) In Knox County alone, the vote was 1,100 to 128 in favor of seeking statehood.(12) In response, Governor Blount issued a proclamation recommending that each county elect five delegates “to represent them in convention, to meet at Knoxville…for the purpose of forming a constitution or permanent form of government.”(13)
Knoxville in 1796
Although vastly smaller, Knoxville in 1796 was not altogether unrecognizable from the Knoxville of today. At that time, the town of Knoxville contained forty houses and had a population of approximately 1,200 people.(14) The town was laid out into sixteen squares, with its boundaries consisting of Church Street on the north, Front Street along the Holston (now Tennessee) River on the south, Walnut Street to the west, and Water Street along First Creek to the east.(15) There were temporary buildings for a courthouse and a jail.(16) The jail was “about sixteen feet square and stood near … the corner of Gay and Main streets.”(17) Four years earlier, a proclamation of the sheriff had established the first court, which was held at a private home.(18) Eight lawyers were admitted to practice law in the court.(19) It was against this setting that delegates from the counties of the Southwest Territory convened to give birth to the State of Tennessee.
Meanwhile, Governor Blount had already constructed his stately home near the present-day corner of Hill Avenue and Gay Street. Indeed, Governor Blount was known to be a “liberal host,” leaving “no means unemployed to manifest a hospitality at once worthy of the chief magistrate, and creditable to the gentleman.”(20) Although he furnished “models of refinement and etiquette” that were “seldom seen in a new community,” Blount did not show “upstart consequence” or “assumed superiority of suddenly acquired wealth and unexpected promotion.”(21) Instead, “each guest felt himself the Governor’s favorite.”(22)
The Knoxville Convention
On January 11, 1796, fifty-five delegates from Knox County and the ten other counties (23) of the Southwest Territory gathered in Knoxville to form a new constitution. In his Annals of Tennessee, J.G.M. Ramsey declared:
Besides the members, there was an immense gathering of the more enlightened, patriotic and influential citizens, from all parts of the Territory, and some from other states. Knoxville had never before contained more intelligence or weight of character. The occasion demanded wisdom and moderation, public spirit and public virtue – and these there were.(24)
Knox County was represented by Governor Blount, James White, Charles McClung, John Adair, and John Crawford.(25) Andrew Jackson served as a delegate from Davidson County. (26) Other delegates, which included future Tennessee governors, Congressmen and Senators, reads like a list of present-day Tennessee cities and counties – John McNairy, Joseph McMinn, William Cocke, Joseph Anderson, Archibald Roane, George Rutledge, William C.C. Claiborne, John Rhea, just to name a few.(27) Governor Blount was unanimously elected President of the convention.(28) Two delegates from each county were appointed to draft the constitution, including Blount and McClung from Knox County.(29)
Early in the convention, an important issue was the establishment of a Declaration of Rights. Ramsey notes:
On motion of Mr. McMinn, the opinion of the House was taken, whether a Bill of Rights be prefixed to the Constitution; and having decided in the affirmative, the House directed the Committee to present as early as possible a Declaration or Bill of Rights, to be prefixed to the Constitution. (30)
A Declaration of Rights was adopted that was similar to the federal Bill of Rights, but contained two uniquely western concerns: [1] it proclaimed “equal participation of the free navigation of the Mississippi” to be an inherent right of the citizens of Tennessee (31) and [2] it asserted certain land claims against the Native Americans.(32) Interestingly, rather than appearing “prefixed” to the constitution as originally contemplated, the Declaration of Rights was inserted as the last section of the constitution. The Declaration of Rights was moved to Article I in the Tennessee Constitution of 1835 and remains there today under the Tennessee Constitution of 1870.
In establishing the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, the delegates relied heavily upon the constitutions of North Carolina and Pennsylvania.(33) There was a “vigorous debate” concerning whether the legislative branch would be unicameral or bicameral, with the convention eventually deciding in favor of the latter.(34) Members of the “house of representatives” were to be elected from each county, while members of the “senate” were to be elected from legislative districts created by the General Assembly.(35) Both representatives and senators were to serve two-year terms.(36) A census for purposes of apportionment in the General Assembly was to be conducted every seven years.(37)
The powers of the legislature were superior to those of both the executive and judicial branches. Like the legislators, the governor was elected for a term of two years.(38) However, the governor was not permitted to serve more than three consecutive terms.(39) The governor was granted the power to “take care that the laws shall be faithfully executed”(40) and “give the general assembly information on the state of the government, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge expedient.”(41) However, the governor had no veto power.(42)
Likewise, the judicial branch was controlled by the General Assembly: “[t]he judicial power of the state shall be vested in such superior and inferior courts of law and equity, as the legislature shall, from time to time, direct and establish.”(43) All judges were appointed by the General Assembly, but permitted to hold their offices “during good behavior.”(44) However (and shockingly to any modern lawyer) the General Assembly could overturn judicial decisions through private acts.(45)
Interestingly, the Tennessee Constitution of 1796 contained remarkably liberal voting rights, granting suffrage to every free man (including free African-Americans) over the age of twenty-one.(46) Nevertheless, “the Governor and members of the General Assembly were required to be property owners.”(47) In addition, “[m]inisters of the gospel and priests” were declared ineligible to sit in either house of the General Assembly.(48) Likewise, those who denied “the being of God or a future state of rewards and punishments,” were prohibited from holding “any office in the civil department of this state.”(49) Both of these latter provisions still appear in our current constitution.(50)
The final version of the first Tennessee Constitution was unanimously passed by the convention on February 6, 1796, less than a month after the convention was convened. On February 9, 1796, a copy of the new constitution was sent to U.S. Secretary of State Timothy Pickering.(51) John Sevier was elected as Tennessee’s first governor. After some partisan wrangling in Congress between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, Tennessee was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796. William Blount and William Cocke served as Tennessee’s first U.S. Senators, while Andrew Jackson served as its first Congressman.
Conclusion
Constitution Day is a truly American celebration. However, as we celebrate the genius of the federal Framers, let us also remind ourselves of our own responsibility, as ordinary citizens, for both liberty and self-government. When we look into the mirror of our own past, we find an imperfect people (not unlike ourselves) who formed a new government right here Knoxville. This is the “miracle” that truly underlies Constitution Day: the capacity of ordinary people to form their own government based on the principles of liberty and democracy.
Our nation’s monuments to democracy found in places like Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia are often massive and awe-inspiring. In Knoxville, our monument is the Blount Mansion, which quietly sits on Hill Avenue in the shadow of the Andrew Johnson Building and the City-County Building. The Blount Mansion is hardly a “mansion,” even under the standards of the 1790s, but therein holds its inspiration and its lesson. Liberty and self-government is not the cause of larger-than-life historical personalities. Instead, these principles are our own, as ordinary citizens, to both establish and preserve.
1. J.G.M. Ramsey, THE ANNALS OF TENNESSEE TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 657 (Kingsport Press 1926) (1853).
2. 36 U.S.C. § 106(b) (2010).
3. 36 U.S.C. § 106(d) (2010).
4. Catherine Drinker Bowen, MIRACLE IN PHILADELPHIA (Back Bay Books 1986).
5. William Lyons, John M. Scheb & Billy Stair, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN TENNESSEE 4 (University of Tennessee Press 2001).
6. Id.
7. William Rule (ed.), STANDARD HISTORY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 75 (The Lewis Publishing Company 1900).
8. See, e.g., Phillip Langsdon, TENNESSEE – A POLITICAL HISTORY 21-22 (Hillsboro Press 2000).
9. J.G.M. Ramsey, THE ANNALS OF TENNESSEE TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 641 (Kingsport Press 1926) (1853).
10. Phillip Langsdon, TENNESSEE – A POLITICAL HISTORY 22 (Hillsboro Press 2000).
11. J.G.M. Ramsey, THE ANNALS OF TENNESSEE TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 648 (Kingsport Press 1926) (1853).
12. Id.
13. Id. at 649.
14. William Rule (ed.), STANDARD HISTORY OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 91 (The Lewis Publishing Company 1900).
15. Id.
16. Id.
17. Id.
18. Id. at 54.
19. Id. (The lawyers were Luke Bower, Alexander Outlaw, Joseph Hamilton, Archibald Roane, Hopkins Lacy, John Rhea, James Reese, and later, John Sevier, Jr.).
20. J.G.M. Ramsey, THE ANNALS OF TENNESSEE TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 645 (Kingsport Press 1926) (1853).
21. Id.
22. Id. at 646.
23. The other counties represented were Blount, Davidson, Greene, Hawkins, Jefferson, Sullivan, Sevier, Tennessee, Washington, and Sumner.
24. J.G.M. Ramsey, THE ANNALS OF TENNESSEE TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 650 (Kingsport Press 1926) (1853).
25. Id. at 651.
26. Id. at 650.
27. Id. at 650-51.
28. Id. at 651.
29. Id. at 652.
30. Id.
31. TN CONST. Art. XI § 29 (1796).
32. TN CONST. Art. XI § 31 (1796).
33. Walter T. Durham, BEFORE TENNESSEE: THE SOUTHWEST TERRITORY 1790-1796, 255 (Overmountain Press 1990)
34. Id.
35. TN CONST. Art. I, § 2, 4 (1796).
36. TN CONST. Art. I, § 5 (1796).
37. TN CONST. Art. I, § 2 (1796).
38. TN CONST. Art. II § 4 (1796).
39. Id.
40. TN CONST. Art. II, § 10 (1796).
41. TN CONST. Art. II, § 11 (1796).
42. See TN CONST. Art. II (1796).
43. TN CONST. Art. V, § 1 (1796).
44. TN CONST. Art. V § 3(1796).
45. William Lyons, John M. Scheb & Billy Stair, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN TENNESSEE 30 (University of Tennessee Press 2001).
46. TN CONST. Art. III, § 1 (1796). (Regrettably, the suffrage rights of free African-Americans were eliminated in the Tennessee Constitution of 1835).
47. William Lyons, John M. Scheb & Billy Stair, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN TENNESSEE 30 (University of Tennessee Press 2001).
48. TN CONST. Art. VIII, § 1 (1796).
49. TN CONST. Art. VIII, § 2 (1796).
50. TN CONST. Art. IX, § 1-2 (1870).
51. J.G.M. Ramsey, THE ANNALS OF TENNESSEE TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 657 (Kingsport Press 1926) (1853).
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