2020 Lost States quarters

The 50 states and territories that make up our country are such an irrefutable part of our psyche that we don’t stop to think of their origin, history, and unique culture. But not many know of the lost states of the United States of America; the ones that never made the cut.

The 2020 Lost States quarters have been released to honor these lost states of our country. The year will see the release of 4 coins for; the States of Franklin, Jacinto, Deseret and McDonald.

State of Franklin

The State of Franklin would have been the 14th state in the Union if it had been ratified. After the American War of Independence, it was desired by some frontiersmen that the region west of the Appalachian mountains be recognized as a separate 14th state. The region they had in mind had parts of current day Eastern Tennessee. They named the territory the ‘Franklin’ after Benjamin Franklin (who never endorsed such a naming!) or ‘Frankland’./p>

In 1785, they requested for statehood, but it wasn’t accepted as only seven of the 13 states accepted which was less than two-thirds of the majority. This failed 14th state remained a separate territory with its own Governor and officials for nearly four and a half years alongside North Carolina. It was governed as a de facto independent republic. The ‘Franklin’ govt had many peace treaties with the Cherokees who inhabited the lands apart from the few white settlers. But it became difficult to manage their territory due to frequent attacks from the natives and the desertion of many supporters. By 1789, the ‘State of Franklin’ was no longer in existence and the territory came back under North Carolina.

State of Jacinto

The State of Jacinto if it had existed would have extended from the Brazos river to the Eastern part of present day Texas. The state would have honored the defeat of the Mexican General Santa Anna at the hands of General Samuel Houston of the U.S. army in the Battle of Jacinto in 1836 during the Texas revolution. The San Jacinto monument stands testimony to the battle in Harris County, Texas.

State of Deseret

By the end of 1847, the followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had settled near the Great Salt lake in present day Utah. They had moved from New York, on to Ohio, to Missouri, to Illinois, and, eventually, to Utah. Brigham Young and his followers decided to name the place ‘State of Deseret’, after the industrious honey bee in the Book of Mormon.When Young requested statehood after two years, the federal government decided to accept but changed the name to Utah after the indigenous people of the region,Ute.

Some of Utah’s territories were later given to Wyoming that gave Utah the distinctive L shape. The ‘State of Deseret’ existed till the ripe old age of 2!

State of McDonald

In 1961, McDonald county of Missouri declared that they were seceding from the state and forming the 51st state of the United States of America.

McDonald county was a tourist haven with nature at its beck and call; camping and canoeing, fishing and hunting made it an ideal vacation getaway. But state officials committed a massive faux-pas by missing the county altogether while printing the Family Vacationlands map for the year. McDonald residents decided not to take this snub lying down. On the 100th Anniversary of the Civil war, the county residents decided to show their unhappiness with a tongue-in-cheek declaration of secession from the State of Missouri. They ‘elected’ territory President and other office bearers. They printed a two-cent stamp, erected ‘McDonald’ territory signs and even issued ‘visas’ to vehicles entering from the neighboring Arkansas.

After a few months of this, and some serious discussions, the State of McDonald went into oblivion once the state officials decided to rectify their oversight and included the county in their map.