On February 6, 1796, William Blount and fifty-four other founders signed a new constitution in the territorial capital of Knoxville, beginning a process that resulted in the creation of the state of Tennessee four months later. Blount Mansion National Historic Landmark presents this educational video on the 225th anniversary of this historical event.
The film identifies the men who led the statehood effort, places their actions in historical context, and explores the never-before-tried "Tennessee Method" by which the territory gained admission to the union as our nation's sixteenth state on June 1, 1796. The presentation, hosted by Blount Mansion's Director of Marketing and Public Relations Michael Jordan, includes interviews with a historian Jack Neely and Constitutional Law scholar Stewart Harris, as well as a special message from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.