History:This is a full-length portrait commissioned by THCF as part of a series of historical Tennesseans. These portraits were later printed as posters and distributed state-wide.
Notes:William Blount (1749-1800) was born in North Carolina. He served in the Continental Congress 1783-1784 and again 1786-1787. President George Washington appointed him governor of the newly formed Territory formerly part of North Carolina. While governor, Blount was also Indian Affairs Superintendent, and negotiated, among others, the Treaty of the Holston with the Cherokees. His new government faced formidable problems, intensified by conflicts created by European / Indian contact. In 1795, Blount called a constitutional convention to organize the state, and Tennessee entered the Union the next year. Blount represented the state in the U.S. Senate, and after expulsion from that body on conspiracy charges, served in the state senate until his death. Tennessee Blue Book. His home, Blount Mansion, is open to public as a museum in Knoxville, TN.
