The Cumberland Association was a legal

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

formed in 1780 to establish the efficient government of the early settlers along the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

in the area of what is now

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. The association was formed upon the signing of the

Cumberland Compact {{Short description, 1780 document establishing the law of settlers in present-day Tennessee The Cumberland Compact was both based on the earlier Articles of the Watauga Association composed at present day Elizabethton, Tennessee and is a foundat ...

.Kasper Mansker, Cumberland Frontiersman
by Walter Durham, ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'', Volume XXX, Number 2, Summer 1971 The Cumberland Association was officially recognized by the granting authority, the State of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. Although formed in 1780, the Cumberland Association was dormant until 1783.

References

Davidson County, Tennessee History of Nashville, Tennessee {{Tennessee-stub