State of Franklin

samcster94

Banned
One failed attempt at a state was composed of eastern OTL Tennessee and other nearby land, and it was to be called Franklin. What would happen if it existed?
 

CatalanKing

Banned
One failed attempt at a state was composed of eastern OTL Tennessee and other nearby land, and it was to be called Franklin. What would happen if it existed?

I doubt much would change from OTL until the Civil War. TN will be made a state, just without the east. IIRC, the state was planned to be a Free state. The biggest question is how would it fare during TTL'S civil war
 
It'd end up a poor backwater, compared to IOTL. As a Free State, Southern investors would be unlikely to finance the railroad the region got during the 1850s that helped make Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Bristol cities, while Johnson City will never get ETSU and thus be smaller. Given the regional composition then, I'd also doubt Kingsport would get the Eastman Plant later on, further diminishing economic prospects. On the whole, you'd basically end up with another West Virginia, but without the coal and labor unions.
 
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