Wataugan Self-Governance

Witherspoon Lecture Series
Featuring Dr. Christopher Magra
Wataugan Self-Governance: The Trans-Appalachian South and the Declaration of Independence, 1763-1776

The Watauga Settlement was one of the first settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. Settlers such as John Sevier and Daniel Boone created their own government known as the Watauga Association prior to the Declaration of Independence. Sevier and Boone insisted British imperial policies limited westward expansion and failed to protect settlers from Native American resistance movements. They believed these policies were detrimental to their safety and prosperity. Thomas Jefferson agreed with these sentiments and incorporated them in the Declaration.

Dr. Chris Magra is Professor of Early American history at the University of Tennessee. He is also the Director of the Center for the Study of Tennesseans and War. He has published two books on the American Revolution. The Fisherman’s Cause examines the New England codfisheries and the transatlantic business rivalries and resource competition among fish merchants that helped bring about the imperial crisis. Poseidon’s Curse explains why British naval impressment contributed to the origins of the Revolution. He is currently completing an edited collection of essays on the military history of the Declaration of Independence that will be out with the University of Tennessee Press next July for the 250th anniversary.