1. Chapter 6 A Fledgling State in a New Nation

2. Section 1 The State in the Confederation
Articles of Confederation
Country’s first constitution
Created a one-house national legislature (Congress)
Each state had only one vote
No president and no court system
Simply called the Confederation

3. Success and Failures Successes Failures
Signing a Peace Treaty with Britain
Secured new lands west of Appalachian Mountains.
Failures
Lacked money and resources
Confederation had no way to tax the states.
Each state had one vote
No judiciary or executive branch.

4. North Carolina after the War
NC was slow to recover after the American rev. War.
Disorganized which led to Generally Assembly moving from place to place.
Host towns
Tarboro
Smithfield
Wake Court House

5. Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris protected Tories property
Many Tories sued to recover their lost lands and possessions.
However, generally Assembly passes law, saying, you could not sue that way.
Results, Most important court case in state history!

6. Mrs. Elizabeth Bayard Resident of England Challenged the new law
Took her case to the state supreme court
Wanted property willed to her by her father.
Spyers Singleton bought the land after the state confiscated it.

7. 1787, the best lawyers in the state gathered in the courthouse in New Bern to take part in this landmark case.
Among them were
William R. Davie
James Iredell

8. Singletons defense
His lawyers asked for the case to be dismissed based on what the law clearly stated. (Suing was not permitted)
State court refused

9. The Court Chief Justice Samuel Ashe
Argued the Declaration of Rights in the state constitution guaranteed a trial by jury.
State legislature had no right to take that away.
Thus the Confiscation Act was unconstitutional.
It violated one of the rights that protected every North Carolinian.

10. However…
Justices decided that since Mrs. Bayard was a British Citizen and her father was dead, she was not entitled to the same right.
Her case was dismissed as well as 27 similar ones.

11. Bayard v. Singleton Became important legal precedent.
Precedent – a case used later as a guide to judge other disputes.
This case was the first time the courts challenged so strongly what the legislature had done.
The idea of Judicial review became part of the checks-and-balances approach to government in the US.
Judicial review – court could judge the constitutionality of the law.

12. State of Franklin
Residents west of Blue Ridge Mountains wanted more control over their own rights.
Most of settlers lived in tributaries of the Tennessee River like the Holston or the Watauga.
NC General Assembly in 1784 ceded its western lands to the Confederation government, the leaders of the Watauga area petitioned Congress to set up a new state.
This new state was to be called, Franklin

13. Franklin was to be named after Benjamin Franklin.
NC decided to take back the land, however, Franklin went ahead anyway.
1784, they met in Jonesborough, wrote a constitution and elected John Sevier, as their governor.
The state of Franklin was controversial like many events in NC.
The new states was not ever recognized by Congress or NC General Assembly.
State of Franklin ceased to exist by 1787.

14. Creation of new state
The fight over Franklin did help create the state of Tennessee.
The territory of Tennessee was set up in 1794 and by 1796 statehood was granted.