Sycamore Shoals - Elizabethton, TN
The series of events that unfolded at Sycamore Shoals were critical to state and national history in the 18th century. These dramatic chapters in America's westward expansion set the tone for a number of events that helped propel the British colonies towards independence and a democratic form of government.
Sycamore Shoals was the site of the first permanent American settlement outside the 13 original colonies. It was here that the Watauga Association, the first majority-rule system of American democratic government was formed when, in 1772, the settlers elected five of their number to "govern and direct for the common good of all the people." These Articles of the Watauga Association invested in those elected representatives the legislative, judicial and executive functions of their fledgling government.
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