[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 102 (Friday, June 11, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    COMMEMORATING 225 YEARS OF TENNESSEE STATEHOOD WITH THE KICKOFF 
                      CELEBRATION IN JONESOBOROUGH

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                         HON. DIANA HARSHBARGER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 11, 2021

  Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate 225 years 
of Tennessee statehood. June 1, 2021 began a year-long celebration 
which will rightfully begin in the oldest town in Tennessee, 
Jonesborough, located in the First Congressional District and which was 
established seventeen years before Tennessee was granted statehood.
  The original territory of Tennessee consisted of six counties--
Washington, Sullivan, Greene, Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee (later 
Montgomery & Robertson)--under the jurisdiction of North Carolina from 
1777 to 1788. The counties requested protection from Native Americans 
and the right to navigate the Mississippi River but North Carolina 
neglected these territories so, in 1784, dissatisfied East Tennesseans 
formed the breakaway state of Franklin, or ``Frankland,'' under the 
direction of John Sevier, the newly named governor. As North Carolinian 
officials discovered the territory's attempted independence, they 
slowly reasserted their authority over the area. Disagreements among 
rival factions, coupled with the North Carolina resistance, doomed the 
state of Franklin, which passed out of existence in 1788. The following 
year, North Carolina gave its Tennessee lands to the Federal government 
which designated it as the Territory of the United States, South of the 
River Ohio, also known as the Southwest Territory. William Blount 
governed the territory and, in 1795, called for a constitutional 
convention in Knoxville to begin the process of joining the Union. 
Tennessee became the first Federal territory to apply for statehood 
and, after a close vote on June 1, 1796, became the 16th state of the 
Union.
  Our Governor, Bill Lee, has declared the theme for this yearlong 
celebration ``Untold Tennessee.'' He has encouraged Tennesseans to 
share their untold stories of people, places and events that have 
shaped our state since its beginning. With Jonesborough being the 
oldest town in Tennessee, established seventeen years prior to 
statehood, and home to the International Storytelling Center, it is 
only fitting that those stories begin to be told here.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the 
Great State of Tennessee on 225 years of statehood and Jonesborough, 
located in the First Congressional District, on being the site of the 
kickoff of the yearlong celebration. I am proud to be a Tennessean and, 
even more so, to represent the people of the First District who will 
all be part of the next 225 years of stories that will continue to 
shape our state.

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