At the Revolution's end, the Eastern portion of Ten- 

 nessee almost became another state to be called 

 Franklin. But in 1784, North Carolina ceded her Ten- 

 nessee county to the United States. Franklin remained 

 in a state of political limbo for a short while; then in 

 1796, Southwest Territory, as it was then called, became 

 the 16th state to be admitted to the Union. Tennessee 

 was the first state to be created out of national territory. 



T. 



he "Spanish Intrigue" 



Inspection warehouses for tobacco were in full oper- 

 ation by 1780 in Tennessee. Most of the tobacco 

 however, was used purely for domestic purposes. It 

 was extremely difficult to export the Tennessee crop 

 to major ports in the country. It could have been 

 shipped to New Orleans via the Mississippi River, but 

 the Spanish controlled New Orleans and did not allow 

 the tobacco to enter that port. Roading the hogsheads 

 of tobacco over the Appalachians was virtually im- 

 possible. 



Nevertheless, in 1787, an American general, James 

 Wilkinson, loaded two flatboats in the vicinity of Frank- 

 fort, Kentucky, with many consumer items on board 

 including bacon, flour and a good quantity of tobacco 

 valued at two dollars per hundred pounds. 



Wilkinson intended his shipment for New Orleans, 

 but he was well aware that his two flatboats would be 

 seized by the authorities when they reached the Nat- 

 chez area. This happened, but the confiscated cargo 

 was released, and Wilkinson was asked to meet with 

 Don Esteban Miro, then governor of Louisiana. Good 

 relations were established between these two men, and 



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