TENNESSEE BECOMES 16TH STATE

TENNESSEE BECAME STATE 218 YEARS AGO 

Knoxville, Tennessee (37920) 218 years ago today, June 1st, 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state in the Union and the first territory of the United States to attain statehood.

US Postage Stamp of 1946

150th Anniversary of Tennessee Statehood

Originally part of North Carolina, the residents of the western counties of that

state were cut off from the eastern counties by the Appalachian mountains.

The first effort to create the State of Franklin failed as its petition was turned down.

The more recent attempt for statehood was begun when Territorial Governor William Blount (pronounced BLUNT in East Tennessee) called for a constitutional convention to be held in Knoxville* and a model state constitution was drawn up.

*Knoxville, home to John Sevier, Tennessee's first governor, served as the state capital from 1796 to 1812.

Source

  "Tennessee and the Long, Hard Road to Statehood" by David Gorgani, www.prstatehood.com

Tennessee State Seal

State Capitol Building

Nashville, Tennessee

Photo by John White (2011)

JFK AND JACKIE "LOVE PARIS IN THE SPRINGTIME"

Paris, France (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, enjoyed a second busy day here in Paris 53 years ago today, June 1, 1961.

In the morning, JFK spoke to the Members of the Bureau of the Municipal Council at the Hotel de Ville (City Hall).

Afterwards, there was a luncheon given by President and Mrs. Kennedy for President Charles de Gaulle and Madame de Gaulle at the American Embassy.

JFK told the audience that American interest in France goes to our "common interests" and the preservation of freedom around the world. 

President Kennedy said the "long tradition (of France) gives the representatives of this country a special distinction around the world."

             American Embassy, Paris

Afterwards JFK spoke to the Parliament Council of NATO.

The grand finale came in the evening when JFK and Mrs. Kennedy were honored at another dinner and a ballet at Louis XI Theater.

JFK+50 CELEBRATES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

JFK+50 CELEBRATES THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) Today we pay tribute to the Constitution of the United States of America which was signed in Philadelphia by members of the Constitutional Convention 225 years ago, September 17, 1787.*

*The Constitution was ratified & became the supreme law of the land on June 21, 1788.

"Constitution Day", established by Congress in 2004, recognizes this event.

It was previously known as "Citizenship Day", a day of celebration advocated in 1939 by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.

In 1953, the Senate passed a resolution establishing September 17-23 as "Constitution Week".

WILLIAM BLOUNT

Tennessee did not become the 16th state until 1796, but a future Tennessean, William Blount (pronounced BLUNT) was a signer of the U.S. Constitution for the state of North Carolina.

Blount, born in North Carolina in 1749, was appointed Governor of the Territory South of the Ohio River by President Washington in 1790.

Blount moved the capital of the territory to KNOXVILLE where he built his home, BLOUNT MANSION, on the banks of the Tennessee River in 1792.

Later elected to the US Senate, Blount was impeached by the House of Representatives, then served in the Tennessee State Legislature.

William Blount died in Knoxville in 1800 & is buried in our city.

JFK & THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

In his State of the Union address to Congress on January 11, 1962, President John F. Kennedy said:

"The Constitution makes us not rivals for power  but partners for progress.  We are all trustees for the American people, custodians of the American heritage."

And in his report to the American people on June 11, 1963, JFK said:

"(Americans of color) have a right to expect that the law will be fair, that the Constitution will be color blind, as Justice Harlan** said at the turn of the century."

"We are confronted primarily with a moral issue (civil rights). It is as old as the scriptures & as clear as the American Constitution.  The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights & equal opportunities."

**John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911) was the only associate judge on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1883 & 1896 to deliver a dissenting opinion to the majority decision that national anti-discrimination laws were unconstitutional & state segregation laws were constitutional.

In the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, Justice Harlan wrote:

"The white race deems itself to be...dominant...but (in) the view of the constitution....there is...no superior, dominant ruling class of citizens.  Our constitution is color-blind, & neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.  In respect of civil rights, ALL CITIZENS ARE EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW."

               John Marshall Harlan

                   Associate Justice

       United States Supreme Court

Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston

           Library of Congress Image

CONSTITUTION BOWL FOR SALE AT JFK LIBRARY

The JFK Library Online Store pays tribute to the U.S. Constitution by offering for sale crystal bowls etched with the Preamble.

The bowls, made in the Revere style, are available in 2 sizes.

The small bowl is $116.  The large bowl in $160.

MRS. SURRATT & OTHER LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS HANGED

July 7, 1865


MRS. SURRATT & OTHER LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS HANGED 

The woman who ran a boardinghouse where conspirators plotted the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was hanged today along with 3 others implicated in the plot.

Mrs. Mary Surratt, 43 years old, becomes the 1st woman to be hanged by the government of the United States.  The anticipated pardon that might have been granted by President Andrew Johnson never came.

Her son, John, also implicated in the plot, has thus far escaped capture.

Mrs. Surratt, along with George Atzerodt, David Herold & Lewis Powell were hanged this afternoon at the Washington Arsenal Penitentiary.

Mary Surratt wore a black dress, bonnet & veil.*

                        Mary Surratt

*Director Robert Redford's new film: "The Conspirator" tells Mrs. Surratt's story. 

 In a recent USA Today article by Maria Puente, historian Kate Clifford Larson of Simmons College in Boston, whose research supports Surratt's guilt, is quoted as saying: "Mary was a smart woman who made choices & she paid for those choices...but her trial was a travesty."

Larson, who approves of Redford's treatment of Surratt in the film, is the author of  "The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt & the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln".

             Surratt Boarding House

                     604 H Street NW

                    Washington, D.C.

     Photo by Brady/Handy (1890)

               Library of Congress

July 7, 1797

SENATOR BLOUNT CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOR IN BRITISH CONSPIRACY

The House of Representatives broke new ground today when they voted to charge Tennessee Senator William Blount  with "a high misdemeanor".

Senator Blount, former Governor of the Territory South of the Ohio River, has been implicated in a conspiracy with British officials to enlist American frontiersmen & Cherokees to assist in the conquest of Spanish Florida & Louisiana.*

                     William Blount

*The next day, the US Senate voted to expel Blount but 2 months later, Vice President Thomas Jefferson, who presided over the impeachment of Blount, dismissed the charges based on the fact that the Senate does not have constitutional jurisdiction in the case.

After the Treaty of Holston established the capital of the Territory South of the Ohio River at Knoxville, Governor Blount moved here & built his home, called "Blount Mansion" in 1792.  

                   Blount Mansion

             Knoxville, Tennessee

Photo by Brian Stansberry (2008)

Note:  A colorful geography professor I had for a class at UT insisted this should be called "Blount Shack"....it obviously did not impress him as a "mansion".

July 7, 1957

FRENCH MINISTER CRITICAL OF JFK'S COMMENT

French Minister Robert Lacoste criticized Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for his recent condemnation of French policy in Algeria.

Lacoste says that if French military troops leave the country, the US & USSR will compete for superiority in North Africa.

                       Robert Lacoste

July 7, 1962

PRESIDENT'S DAD RELEASED FROM REHAB

Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., father of President John F. Kennedy, was released today from the Institute of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in New York.

The elder Kennedy has undergone months of therapy to improve his speech & motor functions after suffering a stroke in December of last year.

July 7, 1961

JFK GIVES NOD FOR HOME LOANS TO VETS

President John F. Kennedy signed into law today a bill which authorizes the expenditure of more than $1 billion for home loans to veterans of World War II & the Korean War.