(ACT of April 2d, 1790.) specie and other certificates, and discharging the arrears due to the army," passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and eightythree, made his or their entry in the office usually called John Armstrong's office, and located the same to any spot or piece of ground on which any other person or persons shall have previously located any entry or entries, that then, and in that case, the person or persons having made such entry or entries, or their assignee or assignees, shall have leave, and be at full liberty to remove the location of such entry or entries, to any lands on which no entry has been specially located, or on any vacant lands included within the limits of the lands hereby intended to be ceded: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend to the making good any entry or entries, or any grant or grants heretofore declared void, by any act or acts of the general assembly of this state. Thirdly, That all the lands intended to be ceded by virtue of this act to the United States of America, and not appropriated as beforementioned, shall be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of the United States of America, North Carolina inclusive, according to their respective and usual proportion in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatever. Fourthly, That the territory so ceded, shall be laid out and formed into a state or states, containing a suitable extent of territory, the inhabitants of which shall enjoy all the privileges, benefits, and advantages, set forth in the ordinance of the late congress for the government of the Western Territory of the United States, that is to say: Whenever the congress of the United States shall cause to be officially transmitted to the executive authority of this state, an authenticated copy of the act to be passed by the congress of the United States, accepting the cession of territory made by virtue of this act, under the express conditions hereby specified; the said congress shall, at the same time, assume the government of the said ceded territory, which they shall execute in a manner similar to that which they support in the territory west of the Ohio; shall protect the inhabitants against enemies, and shall never bar or deprive them of any privileges which the people in the territory west of the Ohio enjoy: Provided, always, That no regulations made, or to be made, by congress, shall tend to emancipate slaves. Fifthly, That the inhabitants of the said ceded territory shall be liable to pay such sums of money as may, from taking their census, be their just proportion of the debt of the United States, and the arrears of the requisitions of congress on this state. Sixthly, That all persons indebted to this state, residing in the territory intended to be ceded by virtue of this act, shall be held and deemed liable to pay such debt or debts in the same manner, and under the same penalty or penalties, as if this act had never been passed. Seventhly, That if the congress of the United States do not accept the cession hereby intended to be made, in due form, and give official notice thereof to the exe (ACT of April 2d, 1790.) cutive of this state, within eighteen months from the passing of this act, then this act shall be of no force or effect whatsoever. Eighthly, That the laws in force and use in the state of North Carolina, at the time of passing this act, shall be, and continue, in full force within the territory hereby ceded, until the same shall be repealed, or otherwise altered, by the legislative authority of the said territory. Ninthly, That the lands of nonresident proprietors within the said ceded territory, shall not be taxed higher than the lands of residents. Tenthly, That this act shall not prevent the people now residing south of French Broad, between the rivers Tennessee and Big Pidgeon, from entering their pre-emptions in that tract, should an office be opened for that purpose under an act of the present general assembly. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the sovereignty and jurisdiction of this state, in and over the territory aforesaid, and all and every the inhabitants thereof, shall be and remain the same, in all respects, until the congress of the United States shall accept the cession to be made by virtue of this act, as if this act had never passed. Read three times, and ratified in general assembly, the CHAS. JOHNSON, Sp. Sen. Now, therefore, know ye, That we, SAMUEL JOHNSTON, and BENJAMIN HAWKINS, senators aforesaid, by virtue of the power and authority committed to us by the said act, and in the name, and for, and on behalf of the said state, do, by these presents, convey, assign, transfer, and set over, unto the United States of America, for the benefit of the said states, North Carolina inclusive, all right, title, and claim, which the said state hath to the sovereignty and territory of the lands situated within the chartered limits of the said state, as bounded and described in the above recited act of the general assembly, to and for the uses and purposes, and on the conditions, mentioned in the said act. In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed cur names, SAM. JOHNSTON. [L. s.] Signed, sealed, and delivered, in the presence of SAM. A. OTIS. Be it enacted, &c. That the said deed be, and the same is hereby, accepted. ACT of June 1, 1796. 2 Bioren, 567. An act for the admission of the state of Tennessee into the Union. 2. Whereas, by the acceptance of the deed of cession of the state of North Carolina, congress are bound to lay out, into one or more states, the territory thereby ceded to the United States: SEC. 1. The whole of the territory ceded to the United States by the state of North Carolina, shall be one state, and the same is hereby declared to be one of the United States of America, on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever, by the name and title of the state of Tennessee. Until the next general census, the said state of Tennessee shall be entitled to one representative in the house of representatives of the United States; and, in all other respects, as far as they may be applicable, the laws of the United States shall extend to, and have force in the state of Tennessee, in the same manner as if that state had originally been one of the United States. ACT of April 18, 1806. 4 Bioren, 39. 3. SEC. 1. For the purpose of defining the limits of the vacant and unappropriated lands in the state of Tennessee, hereafter to be subject to the sole and entire disposition of the United States, the following line is, established, to wit: Beginning at the place where the eastern or main branch of Elk river shall intersect the southern boundary line of the state of Tennessee; from thence, running due north, until said line shall intersect the northern or main branch of Duck river; thence, down the waters of Duck river, to the military boundary line, as established by the seventh section of an act of the state of North Carolina, entitled "An act for the relief of the officers and soldiers of the continental line, and for other purposes," (passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three;) thence, with the military boundary line, west, to the place where it intersects the Tennessee river; thence, down the waters of the river Tennessee, to the place where the same intersects the northern boundary line of the state of Tennessee. 4. SEC. 11. Upon the senators and representatives from the state of Tennessee, by an instrument signed and sealed by them, respectively, making known that, in pursuance of the power in them vested, by an act of the general assembly of the state of Tennessee, entitled "An act to appoint agents to settle the dispute between this state and the United States, relative to the vacant and unappropriated lands within this state, and to procure the relinquishment of the claim of the United States to the same," and by a resolution of the senate and house of representatives of the said state of Tennessee, passed in the year one thousand eight hundred and two, as instructions therein; they do, for, and in behalf of the state of Tennessee, and in consideration of the provisions made in this act, agree and declare, that all right, title, and claim, which the state of Tennessee hath to the lands lying west and south of the line, hereinbefore established within the limits of the state of (ACT of April 18th, 1806.) Tennessee, shall thereafter for ever cease; and that the lands aforesaid shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States, and shall be exempted from every disposition or tax made by order, or under the authority of, the state of Tennessee, while the same shall remain the property of the United States, and for the term of five years after the same shall be sold; which said instrument shall be approved by the senate of the United States, and entered at large in their journal, and deposited in the office of the secretary of state; the United States do thereupon cede and convey to the state of Tennessee, all right, title, and claim, which the United States have to the territory of the lands lying east and north of the line hereinbefore established, within the limits of the state of Tennessee, subject to the same conditions as are contained in the act of the general assembly of the state of North Carolina, entitled "An act for the purpose of ceding to the United States of America certain western lands therein described." And the said state of Tennessee shall thereupon have as full power and authority to issue grants and perfect titles of all lands lying east and north of the before described line, within the limits of the said state, as congress now have, or the state of Tennessee might have, by virtue of an act of the state of North Carolina, entitled "An act to authorise the state of Tennessee to perfect titles to lands reserved to this state by the cession act," to which said act the assent of congress is hereby given, so far as is necessary to carry into effect the objects of this compact; subject, nevertheless, to the following express conditions; that is to say: First. That all entries of lands, rights of location, and warrants of surveys, and all interfering locations, which might be removed by the aforesaid act of cession of the state of North Carolina, and which are good and valid in law, and which were not actually located west and south of the hereinbefore described line, before the twenty-fifth day of February, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and all interfering grants which are good and valid in law, and which have been located east and north of the said line, shall be located, and the titles thereto perfected, within the territory hereby ceded to the state of Tennessee. Secondly. That the state of Tennessee shall appropriate one hundred thousand acres, which shall be located in one entire tract, within the limits of the lands reserved to the Cherokee Indians, by an act of the state of North Carolina, entitled " An act for opening the land office for the redemption of specie and other certificates, and discharging the arrears due to the army," passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and shall be for the use of two colleges, one in East and one in West Tennessee, to be established by the legislature thereof. And one hundred thousand acres, in one tract, within the limits last aforesaid; for the use of academies, one in each county in said state, to be established by the legislature thereof; which said several tracts (ACT of April 3d, 1818. shall be located on lands to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and subject to the disposition of the legislature of the state, but shall not be granted or sold for less than two dollars per acre. And the proceeds of the sales of the lands aforesaid shall be vested in funds for the respective uses aforesaid, for ever. And the state of Tennessee shall, moreover, in issuing grants and perfecting titles, locate six hundred and forty acres to every six miles square in the territory hereby ceded, where existing claims will allow the same, which shall be appropriated for the use of schools for the instruction of children, for ever: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be construed to affect the Indian title, or to subject the United States to the expense of extinguishing the same. And provided also, That the lowest price of all lands granted or sold within the ceded territory, shall be the same as shall be established by congress for the lands of the United States: And provided nevertheless, That the people residing in said state, south of French Broad and Holston, and West of Big Pigeon rivers, provided that by the constitution of the state of Tennessee, shall be secured in their respective rights of occupancy and pre-emption; and shall receive titles for such quantities as they may respectively claim, including their improvements, not exceeding six hundred and forty acres each, nor exceeding the quantities they have heretofore claimed, respectively, according to their conditional lines, where such have been established, at a price not less than one dollar per acre. And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to enable any person or persons, until authorised by the legislature of the state of Tennessee, to locate any warrant issued under the authority of the state of North Carolina, within the limits of the lands reserved to the Cherokee Indians, by the fifth section of the act of said state, entitled “An act for opening the land office for the redemption of specie and other certificates, and discharging the arrears due to the army," passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. SEC. I. If the territory hereinbefore ceded to the state of Tennessee, shall not contain a sufficient quantity of land fit for cultivation, according to the true intent and meaning of the original act of cession, including the lands within the limits reserved by the state of North Carolina to the Cherokee Indians, to perfect all existing legal claims charged thereon, by the conditions contained in this act of cession, congress will hereafter provide by law, for perfecting such as cannot be located in the territory aforesaid, out of the lands lying west or south of the before described line. ACT of April 3, 1818. Pamphlet edit. 50. 5. SEC. I. It shall be lawful for the state of Tennessee to issue grants and perfect titles on all special entries and locations of lands in the said state, made pursuant to the laws of North Carolina, before the twenty-fifth day of February, in the year one |