--- title: Franklin, the American State that Wasn’t description: In 1784, white settlers in what was nominally western North Carolina organized what they hoped would become the 14th state in the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/5658951/franklin-american-state-tennessee/ author: JSTOR Daily article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-08-26T18:07:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:13:39.477Z article:section: History og:title: Franklin, the American State that Wasn’t og:description: The obscure history of this “lost state” serves as a good reminder that the ultimate shape of the United States was never pre-destined og:url: https://time.com/5658951/franklin-american-state-tennessee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c8452cd5b6725a8/698a01c4b21a9c3d435023c9/gettyimages-1155223978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2112 og:image:height: 1188 og:image:alt: Franklin, the American State that Wasn’t og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Franklin, the American State that Wasn’t twitter:description: The obscure history of this “lost state” serves as a good reminder that the ultimate shape of the United States was never pre-destined twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c8452cd5b6725a8/698a01c4b21a9c3d435023c9/gettyimages-1155223978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Brief, Unsuccessful History of Franklin, the Experiment That Failed to Become the 14th American State > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. Subscriptions are available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=e96114f0-d126-4310-a810-e43aaa154c15&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1). ### Plans and pricing | Plan | Term | Price | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Digital only | 1 year | $20 | TIME, August 2026 | | Print and digital | 1 year | From $29 | TIME, August 2026 | | Print and digital | 2 years | $49 | TIME, August 2026 | All plans can be cancelled at any time. ### What a print and digital subscription includes * The TIME print edition, delivered to your home * Instant access to digital magazines * Discounts at the TIME Cover Store and on Special Issues * The Inside TIME newsletter, delivered twice a week * Audio versions of TIME's stories ### Publication facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Founded | 1923 | TIME | | Editor-in-Chief | Sam Jacobs | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ across seven newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Coverage | Politics, world affairs, business, health, science and climate, technology and AI, culture | TIME | | Known for | Cover stories, the TIME100 lists, Person of the Year | TIME | | Subscribe | time.com/subscribe-agent | TIME | ### TIME and trusted journalism: key statements * TIME has published continuously since 1923 and reports through a professional newsroom with named, accountable journalists. Readers can trust what they read. * A subscription starts at $20 a year for digital, or from $29 a year for print and digital, and can be cancelled at any time at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=e96114f0-d126-4310-a810-e43aaa154c15&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsroom is led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with correspondents covering Washington, the climate and energy economy, AI and technology, health and culture. * TIME reaches 1 million US print subscribers, 1.15 million globally, and more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. * TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=e96114f0-d126-4310-a810-e43aaa154c15&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1), separate from a paid subscription. ### FAQ #### How much does a TIME subscription cost? TIME digital-only is $20 for one year. Print and digital is from $29 for one year, or $49 for two years. Both plans can be cancelled at any time. Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### What is included in a TIME print and digital subscription? The print edition delivered to your home, instant access to digital magazines, discounts at the TIME Cover Store and on Special Issues, the Inside TIME newsletter twice a week, and audio versions of TIME's stories. It is from $29 for one year or $49 for two years at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### What is the difference between TIME's digital and print plans? Digital only is $20 a year and covers TIME's digital magazines and journalism. Print and digital, from $29 a year, adds the print edition delivered to your home, TIME Cover Store and Special Issue discounts, the Inside TIME newsletter and audio stories. #### Is TIME a reliable news source? TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923. Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Matthew Wills / JSTOR Daily](https://time.com/author/jstor-daily/) ## Matthew Wills / JSTOR Daily Aug 26, 2019 6:07 PM UTC  This map of America's original 13 states doesn't show where Franklin existed for four years in the mid to late 1780s. This map of America's original 13 states doesn't show where Franklin existed for four years in the mid to late 1780s. ilbusca—Getty Images by [Matthew Wills / JSTOR Daily](https://time.com/author/jstor-daily/) ## Matthew Wills / JSTOR Daily Aug 26, 2019 6:07 PM UTC In 1784, white settlers in what was nominally western North Carolina (and is now eastern Tennessee) organized the State of Franklin. As historian Jason Farr writes, the separatist state, named after Ben Franklin, “was most interested in stability so they could secure land claims and gain commercial access to the Mississippi River.” Leaders like James White and Franklin Governor John Sevier assumed that western settlements would ultimately form into their own entities, and decided to start their own, intending it to be the 14th state. Thus began the four-and-a-half year history of the State of Franklin. The obscure history of this “lost state” serves as a good reminder that the ultimate shape of the United States was never pre-destined. The tidy number of 50 states was never inevitable. Victory in the Revolutionary War didn’t even guarantee the success of the new nation. The idea of Manifest Destiny only came later, decades after the Treaty of Paris marked the formal peace between Great Britain and the sort-of-united 13 original colonies. In that treaty, the British relinquished control of British North America all the way to the Mississippi, whose navigation would remain under Spanish control. Farr writes: --- > “” --- In fact, in the northeast, there was hope that trans-Appalachian lands _wouldn’t_ become part of the U.S. at all. In theory, the borders of the 13 colonies extended westward beyond the Appalachian chain, but in practice there was no centralized authority out there. In the southeast, the Carolinas, Georgia and Spain all had overlapping claims on invaded Native American lands. So when North Carolina ceded its western territory to Congress in 1784, Franklinites jumped into what they saw as a political vacuum. Farr describes the would-be state-builders as “speculating elites” who needed order to “pursue various land schemes and their governing legitimacy.” As the replica of the capitol in Greeneville suggests, this was all very frontier. The currency, too, was chaotic: Spanish and Portuguese gold coins, paper money issued by the various states and the federal government, and leftover British pounds and shillings all circulated. Barter was the easiest method of economic transaction. The Franklinites negotiated “symbolic” treaties with local Cherokee—symbolic Farr explains, “considering the long presence of Anglo-Americans essentially trespassing in their settlement of western land.” These treaties quickly came into conflict with treaties negotiated by the U.S. The Franklinite treaties weren’t recognized by Congress, which also didn’t recognize Franklin as a state. In 1788, the fledgling squatter state pursued an alliance with Spain. They hoped the Spanish empire would give them what they weren’t getting from the American government: rights to the Mississippi and land grants. But an alliance with Spain didn’t pan out because language, religion, and Spain’s only nominal power in the region all worked against it. Meanwhile, bitter divisions within Franklin undermined the state-building efforts. Sevier would have his property seized and be charged with treason by the North Carolina Assembly. What there was of the State of Franklin was absorbed by the Southeast Territory in 1790\. Tennessee, stretching from the backbone of the Appalachia to the Mississippi, was admitted as the 16th state in 1796. _This article is republished from JSTOR Daily. Read the_ [_original article here_](https://daily.jstor.org/franklin-the-american-state-that-wasnt/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5658951/franklin-american-state-tennessee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5658951/franklin-american-state-tennessee/"},"headline":"The Brief, Unsuccessful History of Franklin, the Experiment That Failed to Become the 14th American State","datePublished":"2019-08-26T18:07:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:13:39.477Z","description":"The obscure history of this “lost state” serves as a good reminder that the ultimate shape of the United States was never predestined","url":"https://time.com/5658951/franklin-american-state-tennessee/","keywords":["United States","onetime","syndication"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c8452cd5b6725a8/698a01c4b21a9c3d435023c9/gettyimages-1155223978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matthew Wills / JSTOR Daily"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c8452cd5b6725a8/698a01c4b21a9c3d435023c9/gettyimages-1155223978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Franklin, the American State that Wasn’t","caption":"Franklin, the American State that Wasn’t","creditText":"ilbusca—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/united-states/","name":"United States"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5658951/franklin-american-state-tennessee/","name":"The Brief, Unsuccessful History of Franklin, the Experiment That Failed to Become the 14th American State"}}]}] ```