{{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 Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...

and is a foundation document of the Tennessee State Constitution. Signed on May 13, 1780, by early settlers led to the Cumberland River area by James Robertson and

John Donelson John Donelson (1718–1785) was an American frontiersman, ironmaster, politician, city planner, and explorer. After founding and operating what became Washington Iron Furnace in Franklin County, Virginia for several years, he moved with his family ...

, where they settled

Fort Nashborough Fort Nashborough, also known as Fort Bluff, Bluff Station, French Lick Fort, Cumberland River Fort and other names, was the stockade established in early 1779 in the French Lick area of the Cumberland River valley, as a forerunner to the settl ...

, which would later become

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 only surviving copy of the Cumberland Compact was discovered in 1846 inside a trunk that once belonged to early pioneer and founder Colonel Samuel Barton. The copy in the Tennessee State Archives is slightly damaged. Other than this the document is intact and legible. The Cumberland Compact was composed and signed by 256 colonists. One colonist, James Patrick of Virginia, was illiterate and marked his name with an "X". This constitution called for a governing council of 12 judges who would be elected by the vote of free men 21 years of age or older. Unique to the times, the Compact included a clause that these judges could be removed from office by the people. Government salaries were to be paid in goods. Governors are paid 1,000 deer skins, secretaries are paid 450 otter skins, county clerks are paid 500 raccoon skins, and the constables are paid one mink skin for every warrant served. All males sixteen or older were subject to militia duty. The compact did establish a contract and relationship between the settlers of the Cumberland region and limited the punishment that could be meted out by the judicial system. Serious capital crimes were to be settled by transporting the offending party to a location under the direct jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina for a proper trial. The compact remained in effect until Tennessee became a state. Frontier law was brutal and effective. In 1788, at the first court session in Nashville

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

was granted permission to practice law. He was immediately handed the job of prosecuting attorney. In 1793, Judge John McNairy sentenced Nashville's first horse thief, John McKain, Jr., to be fastened to a wooden stock one hour for 39 lashes, his ears cut off and cheeks branded with the letter "H" and "T". The first female convicted of stealing soap and thread was stripped to the waist and publicly whipped nine lashes. By 1800, the first divorce was granted between May and Nathaniel Parker. Henry Baker became the first capital punishment case in Davidson County with the first death sentence of "hanged by the neck until he is dead" for stealing a horse. These records survive in a heavy leather bound book in the care of the circuit court clerk.

Signers

The 256 signers included the following:Will T. Hale and Dixon L. Merritt. 1913. ''A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans: The Leaders and Representative men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities''. Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. 94-97. *

Philip Alston Philip Geoffrey Alston is an Australian international law scholar and human rights practitioner. He is John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and co-chair of the law school's Center for Human Rights and Globa ...

* Thomas W. Alston * Colonel Samuel Barton * John Blakemore Sr. * John Blakemore Jr. * Isaac Bledsoe * Andrew

Bushong Bushong is a surname found mostly in the United States, derived from the surname Boschung found mainly in Switzerland, but also in the Palatinate and other regions in Western Europe. Surname history The American surname, ''Bushong'' and variant ' ...

* John Caffery * James Cain * Francis Catron * Peter Catron * Philip Catron * Thomas Cox * John Jonathon Crow * John Donelson * Thomas Edmondson * Thomas Hutchings * Andrew Ewing * Thomas Fletcher * Richard Gross * William Gowen * Henry Guthrie * Samuel Hays * Francis Hodge * Daniel Hogan * Humphrey Hogan * James Leeper * George Leeper * Isaac Lindsay * William Loggins * Robert Lucas * Edward Lucas * John Luney * Peter Luny * James Lynn *

Kasper Mansker Kasper Mansker or Casper Mansker also, spelled Mäintzger and Minsker (1750–1820) was a longhunter and one of Middle Tennessee's first European explorers and settlers. Early life Kasper Mansker was born on the European immigrant ship, ''Christi ...

* Amb's mbroseMauldin * Morton Mauldin * William M McMurray * John Montgomery * William Overall * Nathaniel Overall * John Pleakenstalver * James Ray Senior * James Ray jr. * William Ray/Rea * James Robertson * Daniel Ratletf * David Rounsavall * Isaac Rounsavall * James Russell (four men by this name) * Hugh Simpson * Frederick Stump * Nicholas Trammel * John Tucker * William McWhorter * Samuel McCutcheon * Patrick McCutcheon * Richard Henderson * Nathaniel Hart * William H. Moore * James Shaw * Samuel Deson * Samuel Martin * James Buchanan * Solomon Turpin * Isaac Rentfro * Robert Cartwright * Hugh Rogan * Joseph Morton * William Woods * David Mitchell * David Shelton * Spill Coleman * Samuel McMurray * P. Henderson * Edward Bradley * Edward Bradley Jr * James Bradley * Michael Stoner * Joseph Mosely * Francis Armstrong * George Freland * James Freland * John Dunham * Isaac Johnson * Adam Kelar * Thomas Burgess * William Burgess * William Green * Moses Webb * Absalom Thompson * John McVay * James Thomson * Charles Thomson * Robert Thomson * Martain Hardin * Elijah Thomson * Andrew Thomson * William Leaton * Edward Thomelu * Isaac Drake * Jonathan Jening * Zachariah Green * Andrew Lucas * James Patrick (illiterate; signed with an X) * John Drake * Daniel Turner * Timothy Terel * Isaac Lefever * Thomas Denton * Thomas Hendricks * John Holloday * William Hood * John Boyd * Jacob Stump * Henry Hardin * Richard Stanton * Sampson Sawyers * John Holson * Ralph Wilson * James Givens * Robert Givens * James Harrod * James Buchanan Sr * William Geioch * Samuel Shelton * John Gibson * Robert Espey * George Espey * John Wilson * James Espey * Michael Kimberlin * John Cowan * William Fleming * Daniel Mungle * William Price * Henry Kerbey * Joseph Jackson * Daniel Ragsdil * Michael Shaver * Samuel Willson * John Reid * Joseph Daugherty * George Daugherty * Charles Cameron * W. Russel Jr * Hugh Simpson * Samuel Moore * Joseph Denton * Arthur McAdoo * James McAdoo * Nathaniel Henderson * John Evans * William Bailey Smith * Jesse Maxey * Noah Hawthorn * Charles McCartney * John Anderson * Matthew Anderson * Bartnet Hainey * Richard Sims * Titus Murray * James Hamilton * Henry Daugherty * Zach White * Burgess White * William Calley * Perley Grimes * Samuel White * Thomas Hines * Robert Goodloe * William Barret * Thomas Shannon * James Moore * Edward Moore * Richard Moore * Samuel Moore * Elijah Moore * John Moore * Demsey Moore * Ebenezer Titus * Mark Roberson * Charles Campbill * John Turner * Patrick Quigley * Josias Gamble * Samuel Newell * Joseph Read * David Maxwell * Thomas Jefriss * Joseph Dunnagin * John Phelps * John McMyrty * D.D. Williams * John McAdams * Samson Williams * Thomas Thompson * Martin King * John Allstead * Nicholas Counrod * Evin Evins * Jonathan Evins * Joshua Thomas * James Crocket * Andrew Crocket * Russell Gower * John Shannon * David Shannon * Jonathan Drake * Benjamin Drake * John Drake * Mereday Rains * Richard Dodge * James Green * James Cooke * Daniel Johnston * George Mines * George Green * William Moore * Jacob Cimberlin * Robert Dockerty * William Summers * Lesois Frize * John Dukham * Archelaus Allaway * Nathaniel Hayes * Isaac Johnson * Ezekiel Norris * William Purnell * John Condey * Haydon Wells * John Callaway * Willis Pope * Silas Harlan * Hugh Leeper * Harmon Consellea * James Foster * William Morris * Nathaniel Bidkew * A. Tatom * William Hinson * Edmund Newton * Jonathan Green * John Phillips * George Flynn * Daniel Jarrott * John Owens * James Freland * Thomas Molloy * Jacob Castleman * George Power

References

The Mansker ChroniclesTennessee Encyclopedia
Legal history of Tennessee History of Nashville, Tennessee Pre-statehood history of Tennessee 1780 in the United States