Watauga Association was a group of settlers who, in 1772, formed the first white community independent of colonial government in what is now the United States. The group had settled in 1769 on the Watauga River, in the northeast corner of present-day Tennessee. In 1771, they discovered that their land was not part of any colony's organized territory. As a result, in 1772, they drew up a constitution to govern themselves. This document was one of the first written constitutions in North America. In 1776, the Watauga land, then known as the Washington District, was annexed by North Carolina at the request of the Watauga community.