Was there once an American state of Franklin? I’ve read that an area of western North Carolina once became a seperate state named after Ben Franklin. If it was truly a state, how did it loose its status as a state?
A proto-state that was eventually merged into others. It never even became an official territory.
More from others, I have to get ready for bed.
Franklin was never a state, but tried to become one. North Carolina ceded a portion of its western land to the federal government in order to pay a portion of its revolutionary war debt. Settlers came to the area and decided they didn’t like North Carolina that much and formed a new government in Jonesburough (I think) and called their state Franklin. Matters were complicated by Indian wars that destroyed a number of the settlements, and eventually the plans for a seperate state were abandoned. The area is now mostly part of Tennessee.
I forgot to point out that the state of Franklin was never recognized by either North Carolina or the federal government.
It’s usually called the “lost state of Franklin”. The last year or so of it’s existence is a complete mystery. It was never a state, but usually called “the state of Franklin”.
Some accounts say John Siever was elected governor and a nonvoting representative was sent to Congress. Siever was the first elected governor of Tennessee(who some claim really is a state).
Franklin is not a state? 
I always thought it was the state (or maybe country) where the inventors and designers of unbelievably kitschy all lived (probably tax-free). After all, they have their own Mint.
Distinguish between “state” (=constituent subdivision of the U.S.A. or the Commonwealth of Australia, among other federal states) and “state” (=independent nation, whether with the goal of joining a federation or not). Vermont was for a short period of time the latter, as of course was Texas. Franklin was a “state” in this context, not as an area admitted to the Union as most other within-the-U.S. usages of the term “state” would imply.
“Western North Carolina” in the usage here does not refer to the Asheville-Cherokee area but to that part of the Tarheel State which was ceded to the Federal government and later became the State of Tennessee. The State of Franklin was located in what is now eastern Tennessee, though at the time of its creation it was within the bounds of North Carolina.
Polycarp, is it possible that “Franklin” included what is now Middle and West Tennessee? It’s been half a century since I had Tennessee history, but that is what I am remembering.
Set me straight.
Here is a map showing the approximate location of Franklin. As the site explains, its would-be founders defined Franklin in terms of county boundaries which have shifted over time and the area is best described as “geographically fluid”.
Franklin was rejected for statehood by Congress meeting under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles required a two-thirds majority (9 states out of 13, with each state casting one vote) to admit a new state, and that proved to be too high a hurdle. Had Congress agreed to statehood, they might well have adopted more expansive boundaries.
After the new Constitution was ratified, Congress took up the matter of trans-Appalachian North Carolina again and hived it off into the South-West Territory in 1790, and then admitted the State of Tennessee in 1796.