Tennessee

Tennessee is a state of the United States of America and is one of the southern states. The name Tennessee comes from Tanasi, the name of a Native American settlement on the Little Tennessee River. One of Tennessee's nicknames is Volunteer State. It dates from the time of the British-American War, in which numerous citizens of Tennessee fought as volunteers for their country.

Tennessee is famous for the blues, the birth of rock 'n' roll (Memphis), country music (Nashville), and whiskey (Jack Daniel's and George Dickel).

 

Regions

Each region has a distinct musical heritage: blues in the west, country-west in the middle, and bluegrass in the east.

West Tennessee borders the Mississippi River and forms the northern limit of cultural influence in the Lower Mississippi Delta region.
Central Tennessee, with Nashville and its backdrop of rolling hills, is the state's most prosperous region.
East Tennessee, with the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville, is mountainous and reflects Appalachian influence.

 

Cities

1 Memphis – largest city in the state of Tennessee
2 Nashville—Capital
3 Knoxville
4 Chattanooga
5 Clarksville
6 Johnson City

 

Other destinations

Fort Donelson National Battlefield cover are of two Confederate forts Donelson and Heiman that stand overlooking Cumberland river.

Shiloh National Military Park is a former battle site where Union forces fought with the Confederate army on April 6– April 7, 1862.

Casey Jones Village, in Jackson.
Ruby Falls, 1720 South Scenic Highway Chattanooga, TN 37409. Email: info1@rubyfalls.com. Price: The tourist attraction "Ruby Falls" is located in Lookout Mountain near Rock City and Chattanooga

 

Eating

While there are fewer and fewer places to taste truly authentic "Southern" food outside of a private family's table, the state still has some truly great local cuisine. Local specialties include Nashville hot chicken and Memphis-style barbecue, including the famous rib tips.

In Memphis, it would be a crime to miss the rendezvous where the President and Vice President of the United States gather.

 

Drinks

Tennessee whiskey meets the legal requirements for bourbon whiskey, with the additional requirements that it be filtered through maple charcoal after distillation and before aging, and that it be manufactured in the state.

 

What to do

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a World Heritage Biosphere Reserve that attracts millions of visitors from the region and around the world each year. Covering nearly 1,000 square miles (over 2,000 km2), the park is home to temperate rainforests and some of the rarest and most unique plants in North America. The park suffers from high levels of air pollution due to the surrounding cities of Knoxville and Sevierville and the Tennessee Valley Authority's numerous coal-fired power plants.

Traffic congestion within the park's Cades Cove "loop" is quite severe, as many people stop to admire the expansive valley views and the many deer and bears that roam freely through the area. If you do plan to go, try to car pool if you can.

Depending on where you visit, there are plenty of things to do in Tennessee, including white-water rafting on the Ocoee River, sightseeing in Gatlinburg, and touring Music City in Nashville. For an outdoor adventure, rafting on the Ocoee River, the former site of the Olympics, is a must. You can have an all-day adventure down the Ocoee River and experience the fun of the outdoors.

 

Keep Safe

Bad Weather

Flooding

During the spring months, the state is often heavily affected by storms that bring the potential for major flooding. These floods are never minor, are often widespread, and can last for days or weeks; in May 2010, the state experienced a "once in a thousand year flood," resulting in numerous deaths and over $2 billion in property damage throughout the state.

Anyone traveling to the region during this season should consider planning ahead. Before embarking on a trip, obtain information about weather phenomena in the region. If a flood warning is in effect for the area you plan to travel, or if there is a threat of flooding, consider postponing your travel plans or taking an alternate route to your final destination. Areas devastated by flooding are not safe for non-essential travel and should be avoided.

 

Thunderstorms and Tornadoes

Although not near an official "tornado zone," the state (especially in the central and western regions) experiences very severe thunderstorms during the spring and summer months. While these thunderstorms often have the potential to produce small tornadoes, they are not without the potential to produce large tornadoes: in April 2009, the city of Murfreesboro was hit by an intense EF-4 tornado that killed two people and caused $40 million in property damage.

For this reason, travelers in the area during this time of year should be aware of changing weather conditions.

For more information on this subject, see our Tornado Safety page.

 

Racial Discrimination

In terms of race relations, racism is not as prevalent in this state. If you feel you might be targeted by racists, it is wise to avoid poor neighborhoods. Young Tennesseans are generally more progressive and tolerant than their seniors.

 

Respect

Tennessee, like nearly all Southern states, is conservative, but a bit more progressive than, say, Mississippi.

As in nearly all Southern states, old-fashioned rules of etiquette and courtesy are followed. Failure to follow such nuances can be painfully conspicuous.

 

Etymology

The term Tenesí was used for the first time in an expedition commanded by Captain Juan Pardo, a Spanish explorer, when he and his men passed through an indigenous town called "Tanasqui" in 1567 while traveling inland from present-day South Carolina. . Europeans later found a Cherokee village called Tanasi (or Tanase) in present-day Monroe County. The town was situated along the river of the same name (now known as the Little Tennessee River).

The meaning and origin of the name are uncertain. It has been suggested that it would be a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi/Creek word. It has also been said to mean 'meeting place' and 'winding river'.

The modern English term Tennessee is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, who used this name in his official correspondence around 1750. In 1788, North Carolina called Tennessee County the third county established in what is now It would be the center of the State of Tennessee. The term Tennessee was eventually adopted at a constitutional convention convened in 1796 to create a new state.

 

History

Tennessee's history begins with the arrival of humans about 12,000 years ago; the Mississippian culture spread along Tennessee's major rivers around the year 1000. Several Spanish expeditions (such as de Soto's) passed through Tennessee in the 16th century, and the first British explorers arrived in 1673, the same year Frenchman Jacques Marquette first mapped the Tennessee River. The French established several trading posts, but they were all abandoned by the 1740s. In 1756, the colonists of South Carolina built Fort Loudoun, the first British settlement in Tennessee.

In 1772, the colonists established the semi-independent Watauga Republic in eastern Tennessee, which became part of North Carolina in 1776 as Washington County. In 1784, some counties attempted to gain independence as the State of Franklin, but this attempt failed. In 1789, North Carolina ratified the U.S. Constitution and simultaneously gave up its western part to the federal government. The Southwest Territory was formed on these lands. In 1795, the residents of Tennessee created their first constitution and thus turned the territory into a state, which on June 1, 1796, became the 16th state of the United States. Volunteers from Tennessee participated in the war with England in 1812, and then in many other conflicts, which gave the state the nickname "The Volunteer State".

Tennessee was initially dominated by supporters of the Democratic-Republican Party, and then supporters of President Andrew Jackson, but the latter's policies led to a split in the party and the formation of the Whig Party, after which Tennessee found itself in the camp of Jackson's opponents.

When the Southern states began to secede from the Union in 1860, Tennessee was initially against secession, but after the outbreak of the Civil War, sentiment changed; in June, the General Assembly voted for secession, and Tennessee became the last state to leave the Union. Residents of eastern Tennessee opposed secession, which led to the split of the state and an internal civil war. In 1862, the Federal army managed to capture several large cities in the state, and in January 1863, it won the Battle of Stone River, which gave it complete control of the state. In the summer, the Federal army drove the southern Army of Tennessee out of the state during the Tullahoma Campaign. After the war, Tennessee became the first state to return to the Union (July 24, 1866), for this reason it avoided military occupation. Reconstruction began in the state, but in 1870 the Democrats returned to power in the state and rolled back many of the reforms.

 

Early History

It is not known exactly when the first people (Paleo-Indians) entered the North American continent, but they arrived in Tennessee in the late Pleistocene, about 13,000 years before the present. They were hunters and gatherers who lived in small groups of 25-50 people. There were quite a few of them, so over a hundred sites from this time have been found in Tennessee, all of them belonging to the Clovis culture. The population density was especially high in the western Tennessee Valley, perhaps the most populated place on the entire continent. A monument from this era is Coats Hines, a site where the remains of a mastodon were found with signs of damage indicating that it was killed while hunting. Paleo-Indians lived in Tennessee for almost 3,000 years, until the time when the megafauna became extinct, which happened about 10,500 years ago. After this, people had to switch to smaller game, mainly deer, which changed their way of life and marked the beginning of a new historical period.

The first and longest era in the history of the inhabitants of Tennessee was the Archaic Period, which lasted for 7,000 years. It began at the boundary of the Pleistocene and Holocene, approximately 10,000 years before the present. The main feature of the period was the absence of pottery, with the appearance of which the Woodland Period began. At that time, people did not know bows and hunted mainly deer using spears. The first phase of the Archaic Period was the Early Archaic Period (8000-6000 BC), when megafauna (mammoths and mastodons) died out, and savannas were replaced by deciduous forests. At that time, Tennessee was home to two cultural communities, distinguished by the shape of their spearheads. At the end of the period, it became warmer and drier, and around 5500 BC. the Middle Archaic Period began. Man began to widely use shellfish as food, as a result of which large dumps of shells are found at their sites. At the same time, people began to consciously bury the dead.

The Late Archaic Period began around 3000 BC. By 2000, the climate became close to the modern one, the population began to grow, large seasonal camps appeared, the first ceramics appeared, still rough and primitive, man first learned to plant plants. The first cave paintings appeared during this period.

Around 300 BC, the Woodland Period began. In Tennessee, the most famous sites of that era are Prison Mounds and Old Stone Fort. At this time, man led the same way of life as before, but used natural resources more efficiently. People lived more and more sedentary lives, preferring to settle near large rivers, and at the same time, trade between different regions began to develop: for example, objects from Georgia and Louisiana were found in Tennessee. Agriculture began to appear, people began to grow sunflowers, quinoa, Carolina canary grass and some other crops, and around 200 AD they mastered corn. Bottle gourds brought from Mexico were used as dishes. During this period, the production of ceramics spread. Funeral rituals became more complex and people began to build mounds and other complex earthen structures. Of particular interest is the structure at Old Stone Fort, the purpose of which has not yet been determined.

Around 900 AD, the Mississippian period (or the Mississippian culture period) began. It is characterized by highly developed agriculture based on the cultivation of corn, and a complex religious, social and political organization. Settlements became more numerous, they became larger, ritual earthen structures became more complex. People began to produce more ceramics, sometimes of complex shapes, for example, jugs in the shape of dogs and animals. Man learned to use native copper, processing it by cold forging and turning it into plates for ritual jewelry. Corn was the basis of agriculture during this period, and around 1000, beans began to be grown. From 1200 to 1400, the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland River valleys were densely populated by farmers.

During the Mississippian period, a complex settlement system was formed: there were large, medium, and small towns, single farms, and hunting camps. This system is especially characteristic of the period after 1400. Large towns occupied an area of ​​2 to 10 acres and were usually surrounded by a palisade. The largest of them were probably regional cult centers. During this era, the cult of the dead became more complex, and burial mounds or entire cemeteries appeared near settlements. Burials in Tennessee resemble those in neighboring states, so they are usually grouped into the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. However, after 1450, residents left West Tennessee and part of East Tennessee. The first Spanish explorers still found several settlements of this culture. Due to wars and epidemics, the Mississippian culture almost disappeared, but on its basis the cultures of the Chickasaw Indians in the west of the state and the Cherokee in the east of the state were formed.

 

First Exploration

The first Europeans to visit the lands of Tennessee were the Spanish expedition of Hernando de Soto. They passed Georgia, the edge of South Carolina and in early June 1540 entered Tennessee along the Hiwassee River valley. From there they reached the Tennessee River above modern Chattanooga and a little downstream they found an island inhabited by Cherokee Indians. At one time it was assumed that De Soto was describing Burns Island, but later archaeologists associated the island mentioned in the report with Williams Island near Chattanooga. After staying on the island for three weeks, the Spaniards moved on and reached the Mississippi River approximately near modern Sunflower Landing, Mississippi. Subsequently, in 1566 and 1567, the expeditions of Juan Pardo came to the island and built a fort on it, which became the first fort built by Europeans in the territory of Tennessee. The fort was subsequently abandoned and then destroyed by the Indians.

Pardo and De Soto did not find gold in Tennessee, as a result of which the Spanish lost interest in the region. However, trade began between the local Indians and the Spanish of Florida. Only a hundred years later, Europeans appeared in Tennessee again: Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reached the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes, went down the river and reached Tennessee in 1673. On August 4, 1673, Marquette wrote a letter, indicating the place of writing as "latitude 35", that is, approximately the site of modern Memphis. For a long time, it was believed that Marquette was the first European after the Spanish in Tennessee, but then documents were found according to which the English appeared in Tennessee in the same year. As early as 1671, the English expedition of Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam left Fort Henry (modern Petersburg), crossed the Blue Ridge and reached the New River. In 1673, Virginian Abraham Wood sent James Needham's expedition west, which brought an Indian representative to Fort Henry to negotiate trade, but Needham was subsequently killed by the Indians. One of the expedition members lived among the Indians for several years and returned to Virginia only in 1674. From this point on, trade between Tennessee Cherokee and Virginia began.

In 1682, Robert de la Salle's expedition went down the Mississippi and built Fort Prudhomme near Chickasaw Bluff. In 1689, Martin Chartier, married to a Shawnee woman, reached the Shawnee settlements on the Cumberland River near present-day Nashville. He stayed there until 1692, and then went to Pennsylvania, where he founded a trading post. A little later, but before 1696, another Frenchman, the hunter Jean Cotoun, went up the Tennessee River and from there to Charleston, where he proposed to the South Carolinians to actively colonize the lands in the west. In 1700, he led a detachment of colonists to the Mississippi River, and thus trade was established between South Carolina and the lands of Tennessee. From Cotoun, the British learned of the colonization efforts of France, which at that time was actively creating trading posts on the Mississippi, and one temporary (1710-1714) trading post appeared on the site of Nashville. The founder of this post was killed in 1714, when the Chickasaw drove the Shawnee from the banks of the Tennessee River.

 

Chickasaw Wars

Britain and France were fighting not only for influence over the Cherokee tribe in eastern Tennessee, but also for the Chickasaw tribe in western Tennessee. The pro-British orientation of the Chickasaw seriously threatened the position of France, since the Chickasaw controlled the Mississippi River, an important communication line between New Orleans and Canada. The French managed to form an alliance with the Choctaw Indians, but all attempts to win the Chickasaw over to their side failed. Failing with diplomacy, the French resorted to force: first they encouraged the Choctaw to attack the Chickasaw, then they used their own army: this conflict is known as the Chickasaw Wars. In 1736, during the Second Chickasaw War, the Indians managed to defeat two French armies. In 1739, the Third Chickasaw War began: Bienville with an army of 3,600 men reached the site of modern Memphis and built Fort Assumption there. The Chickasaw managed to defeat the French vanguard, but eventually negotiated: they promised not to attack French ships on the Mississippi, and the French promised not to encourage the Ohio Indians to attack the Chickasaw, but retained the right to support the Choctaw Indians. In the end, the French did not completely defeat the Chickasaw, but the campaign of 1740 was generally successful. Subsequently, the Choctaw raids weakened the Chickasaw so much that they ceased to pose a threat to the French.

 

French and Indian War

In 1746, James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, learned of French agents among the Cherokee and proposed building a fort to protect them from the French. The Cherokee agreed and even urged the need for such a fort, but Glenn failed to get the colonial assembly to take action. Meanwhile, the French began to penetrate the Ohio Valley, which led to conflict with the Virginia authorities and the outbreak of the French and Indian War. Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie appealed to the Catawba and Cherokee Indians for help. This caused concern for Governor Glenn, who feared that negotiations with the Virginians would violate the South Carolinian monopoly on trade with the Cherokee. In the summer of 1754, British authorities ordered Glenn to build a fort in Cherokee lands at Virginia's expense, but Virginia did not provide sufficient funds. When Braddock's expedition was being planned, the Governor of Virginia again counted on the Cherokee to help, but Glen again objected, and when Braddock was defeated by the Indians, Dinwiddie explained this by the absence of Cherokee from the expedition. In December 1755, the Cherokee again and persistently demanded the construction of a fort, and the South Carolina Assembly agreed, but did not allocate sufficient funds for this. In the summer of 1756, Glen was ready to begin construction with private funds, but at that moment he was removed from office. And only at the end of the year, the new Governor Littleton sent an expedition beyond the Appalachians, which began to build a fort on the banks of the Little Tennessee River.

The fort was completed by 1757, but despite this, relations between the British and the Cherokee began to deteriorate: the Cherokee were dissatisfied with South Carolina traders and turned to Virginia with an offer to begin trade, but the Virginia authorities were unable to fulfill this requirement. In addition, the Virginians promised to send a garrison for the fort in Cherokee lands, but did not do so. In May 1758, a clash between Virginia colonists and Cherokee occurred over stolen horses. Chief Attakullakulla went to Virginia for negotiations, where he ended up in prison for a number of reasons. He was soon released, but this event led to unrest among the Cherokee, which by the end of 1759 had escalated into the Anglo-Cherokee War. In February 1760, the Cherokee attacked Fort Prince George. In April, a detachment of the British army under the command of Archibald Montgomery was sent to their lands, but he was unable to break through to the besieged Loudoun. On August 7, the fort surrendered, and its garrison was killed by the Indians during their retreat to Virginia. In May-June 1761, General Grant's detachment raided, destroying several Indian settlements. This forced the Indians to negotiate, and eventually, on December 17, 1761, peace was signed, ending the war.

The war reduced the number of Cherokees from 5,000 to 2,500 people, and at the same time, many European soldiers were able to see their lands during the fighting and later returned here as settlers.

 

The First Settlers

The war with France ended in 1763, and under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, France ceded all lands to the Mississippi River to Britain. From that point on, the Tennessee territory was gradually settled by colonists from Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Among them were the English, French, Irish Scots, and a large number of Pennsylvania Germans. As early as 1745, James Paton of Augusta County received a large land grant near the Holston River. He began selling plots and one of the first settlers was Stephen Holston, after whom the river was named. In 1753, a grant was received for a plot near the present-day city of Bristol. In 1756, a grant was received for a plot in the area of ​​present-day Kingsport. Even earlier, in 1750, colonist Thomas Walker discovered the Cumberland Gap and named it after the Duke of Cumberland. The settlers were then hampered by war, and in 1763 the Royal Proclamation prohibited colonists from settling beyond the Appalachian Mountains.

Virginian John Stuart was tasked with dealing with the Indians living south of the Ohio River. In 1768, he negotiated a boundary with the Cherokee lands from the Reedy River to Mount Tryon, and that same year concluded the Treaty of Hard Labor with them, which extended the boundary further north. That same year, the Treaty of Fort Stanwix was concluded with the Iroquois, who ceded all lands south of the Ohio River, from which the colonists concluded that they could settle the territory of Kentucky and Tennessee, but the Iroquois only nominally owned these lands, so in 1770 Stuart concluded the Treaty of Lochaber with the Cherokee, not only returning them actual title to their lands, but also obtaining a number of concessions.

The first explorers of Kentucky and Tennessee were trappers who came after game began to dwindle east of the Appalachians. In 1760, Daniel Boone came to Tennessee, and in 1761, twenty trappers led by Elisha Walden came from Virginia to eastern Tennessee and named one of the ridges Walden's Ridge. They went to Kentucky, but Walden later returned to Tennessee. By 1766, the Cumberland River valley and eastern Kentucky were well explored by trappers. In 1766, a detachment of Pennsylvania colonists led by James Harrod and Michael Stoner appeared at the confluence of the Stones River and the Cumberland. Around the same time, the region was visited by a detachment of Captain James Smith, who included Uriah Stone: the Stone River was named in his honor. Hearing Stone's stories, another large party of hunters appeared in June 1769, reached the New River, and from there dispersed in small groups throughout the region. The hunters were helped by the fact that there were no Indian settlements in the region, but the Indians regularly hunted in these areas and did not want to see whites there; when they encountered hunters, they sometimes killed them, but more often they simply took the game. Thus, in 1770, Henry Skaggs's hunting expedition was robbed. In 1775, under the influence of Skaggs and Boone, an attempt was made to create the Colony of Transylvania.

The first permanent structure in Tennessee is considered to be William Bean's cabin, built in early 1779 on the Boone Creek River at its confluence with the Watauga. James Phelan Jr. wrote in 1888 that the history of Tennessee proper begins with the appearance of Bean's cabin.

 

Watauga Republic

Around 1770, colonists, primarily from Virginia and North Carolina, began settling the Watauga River Valley. When the boundary between Cherokee and colonial lands was precisely defined in 1772, the Watauga settlers found themselves on Indian land. The laws prohibited them from purchasing land from the Indians, so they leased it for 10 years. Since North Carolina did not govern the western edge, the Watauga Valley colonists entered into an agreement in May 1772 and formed a local government known as the Watauga Association. In 1775, North Carolinians made the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals with the Cherokee, purchasing a large tract of land in Kentucky, after which the Watauga settlers also came to an agreement with the Indians, purchasing the lands they occupied. The British authorities declared both transactions illegal, but the Revolutionary War had just begun, and this declaration had no effect. The residents of the Watauga Valley were completely on the side of the rebellious colonists: they did not like the restrictions of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, they did not like the power of the owners of the Grenville site, and the policy of the British administrators in the Indian lands.

 

As part of North Carolina

British officials initially did not want the Cherokee to get involved in the British-American conflict, but the Indians were hard to keep out of it. Needing help, the Watauga people petitioned the North Carolina Provincial Congress, offering to formally join North Carolina, which had already declared independence and become a state. Congress accepted the offer and admitted the Watauga lands into the state as the "Washington Precinct." The Watauga people elected delegates to Congress, where they helped draft the North Carolina Constitution of 1776. The Washington Precinct was essentially a county, not a precinct, so in November 1777 it was officially renamed Washington County. Its boundaries were expanded to include all of what would become Tennessee.

A number of fortifications were built in the Watauga Valley to protect against the Indians. When the Indians invaded the valley in the summer of 1776, the colonists abandoned the unfinished Fort Lee and retreated to Fort Watauga. On July 20, the Cherokee were defeated at the Battle of Island Flats near Eaton Station, and on July 21, the Indians attacked Fort Watauga but were repulsed. In September, a detachment of Virginia militia under the command of Colonel William Christian gathered at Fort Patrick Henry. The Indians immediately asked for peace, and only Chief Dragging Canoe refused to negotiate, leading his people west to the Chickamauga River, where they eventually became the so-called "Chickamauga Indians." In the summer of 1777, peace negotiations began in the town of Long Island; under the terms of the concluded treaty, the Cherokee renounced claims to all lands inhabited by whites. In 1779, part of Washington County was separated into Sullivan County. In May 1780, the British Army captured Charleston and then invaded North Carolina. North Carolinians asked for help from the western counties, and Sullivan County sent 400 men under Colonel Isaac Shelby, while Washington County sent a force under Charles Robertson. On August 18, they defeated the Loyalist militia at the Battle of Musgrove Mill. But General Gates was soon defeated at Camden, and the western militia retreated to the Watauga Valley. British Major Patrick Ferguson threatened to destroy all Watauga settlements, which prompted Shelby and Sevier to decide not to wait for an invasion, but to launch a preemptive strike. On September 25, 1780, they assembled at Sycamore Shoals, crossed the mountains, joined with other militiamen, and defeated Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7. This battle forced British General Cornwallis to retreat from North Carolina. He later returned and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse took place, in which a small force of western militiamen under Major Charles Robertson participated. Another 600 men under Shelby and Sevier joined Francis Marion's guerrillas.

 

Settlement of the Cumberland Valley

In addition to the settlements in the Watauga Valley, there were also settlements on the Cumberland River. Traditionally, the first settler on the site of modern Nashville was French-Canadian Timothy de Montbrun, who founded a trading post there in 1769. He later became lieutenant governor of the Illinois Territory. Organized settlement of the river began in 1779–80 at the initiative of the Transylvania Company. The northern bank of the Cumberland was given to settlers by the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals. When Virginia did not recognize the company's rights to the land, it began to colonize those possessions that fell within the border of North Carolina. Settlement took two routes: James Robertson led a group of settlers through the Cumberland Gap and Kentucky lands in December 1779, and in January 1780 they founded the settlement of Nashborough. Another group of colonists arrived along the Tennessee River under the leadership of Watauga resident John Donelson. In total, about 300 settlers arrived by the spring of 1780. Formally, they found themselves within the boundaries of Washington County, but since their lands were located too far from the county authorities, on May 13, the settlers, like the founders of the Watauga Republic, signed the Cumberland Compact to establish self-government. It was countersigned by 256 people, which indicates an unusually high level of literacy among the settlers.

The Indians did not inhabit the Cumberland Valley, but only visited it for hunting, so they did not immediately discover the settlers. But from the spring of 1780, attacks became more frequent, which forced many settlers to leave the valley. James Robertson remained with some of his supporters, managing to negotiate with the Chickasaw Indians, and in November 1783, the peace treaty was officially signed in Nashborough, under the terms of which the Indians renounced their claims to the Cumberland Valley. On March 15, 1783, the Cumberland Association petitioned the state government, and on May 17, the governor created Davidson County in the valley. The county seat became Nashborough, which was renamed Nashville a year later.

 

The State of Franklin

In 1783, the Americans signed a peace treaty with Britain, under the terms of which they received all the lands west to the Mississippi River. Already at that time, Congress, under pressure from small states, began to demand that large states renounce their claims to western lands. In 1783, Virginia renounced its claims to the lands of the Northwest, but retained the lands of Kentucky, where the movement for separation from Virginia began. On June 2, 1784, the North Carolina Assembly officially renounced the western lands. On August 23, a convention of representatives from Washington, Sullivan, and Greene counties met in Jonesboro under the chairmanship of John Sevier. It decided to create an association to create a new state and negotiate with Congress for its recognition. The convention drafted a constitution for the "State of Franklin", based on the North Carolina Constitution of 1776. However, on November 20, 1784, the North Carolina Assembly revoked the act of abandoning the western lands. The participants of the convention learned of this only in December, when they met for a second session.

To soften the reaction of the residents of the West, the Assembly consolidated four western counties into the Washington Precinct, so that the militia of the counties was reduced to a brigade, and John Sevier was appointed commander of this brigade with the rank of general. Sevier resigned himself to the decision of the Assembly, but the residents of the state of Franklin demanded independence, so he was forced to join the majority. In March 1785, the first assembly of the new state convened, which elected Sevier governor. The authorities of North Carolina asked for clarification, to which they were told that Franklin declared itself a free and independent state, but that this should not in any way infringe on the interests of North Carolina. The state of Franklin sent a request for recognition to the US Congress, which refused to fulfill it. At the same time, a conflict began in the state itself between two parties, the Franklinites and the Toptonites, for control of the government. In 1787, the US Constitution was adopted, which stipulated that the state could not be deprived of part of its territory without its consent, which buried the last hopes of supporters of independence.

The state had a difficult relationship with the Cherokee Indians. The settlers managed to conclude favorable agreements with the Indians, but in 1785 the Confederate government concluded the Hopewell Treaty with the Indians, according to which part of the territory of the state of Franklin ended up in Indian territory, and Congress was obliged to evict the colonists from there. By 1789, the idea of ​​​​independence gradually faded away and North Carolina regained control of this territory. However, the idea itself had long-term consequences: the possibility of independence for eastern Tennessee was seriously discussed in 1841-1842 and during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

 

Transition to Federal Control

In 1786, disillusionment with the Confederation Congress led to the idea of ​​independence from the eastern colonies becoming popular in the West. These sentiments were supported by agents of Spain, which feared for the safety of its possessions in Florida and Louisiana. Spain prohibited Americans from navigating the Mississippi River, hoping that this would slow down the settlement of the West. Some residents of Tennessee thought that if they came to an agreement with Spain, it could open navigation on the river for them and help them defend themselves against the Indians. Politicians in the state of Franklin began negotiations with Spain, probably wanting to put pressure on North Carolina and force it to give up its claims to Tennessee. In any case, they openly told the Carolina authorities about Spain's plans and proposals.

Meanwhile, North Carolina itself had not yet become part of the United States. It was not until December 22, 1789, that the Fayetteville Convention ratified the U.S. Constitution (with two western delegates voting against the ratification), and immediately after that, on December 22, 1789, an act was passed formally transferring all of western North Carolina to the federal government. This was done with the caveat that Congress had no power to abolish slavery in the territory.

 

Southwest Territory

In 1790, as soon as North Carolina ceded its western counties to the federal government, they became federal territory. The lands that had been set aside for North Carolina veterans of the war remained their property. Congress decreed that the territory would be governed according to the principles of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (with the proviso that no steps would be taken to free the slaves), and that one or more states would be created from the territory. On May 26, President Washington signed the "Act for Governing the Territory of the United States South of the Ohio River." This wording subsequently confused many historians, since it implies that the Territory included the lands of Kentucky and the lands of the future Alabama and Mississippi. However, Kentucky was then part of Virginia, and the lands of Alabama and Mississippi formally belonged to Georgia. Thus, only the territory of the modern state of Tennessee belonged to the "Southwest Territory." Under the ordinance of 1787, the territory was initially governed by appointed officials: a governor, a secretary, and three judges. Madison nominated Patrick Henry for governor, but the president appointed William Blount governor and Daniel Smith secretary on August 7, 1790. Blount also became superintendent of Indian affairs for the region. He was a major land speculator who used the position for his own personal gain, but he was an able governor and quickly adapted to frontier conditions. The governor arrived in the territory in October 1790 and settled at the confluence of the Holston and Watauga Rivers. He appointed John Sevier and James Robertson brigadier generals and then toured the territory appointing officials and prosecutors. In 1791, Blount moved the capital to White's Fort and renamed the settlement Knoxville, in honor of his immediate superior, General Henry Knox. On October 3, 1791, Knoxville was incorporated as a city. In the new capital, Blount built himself a house (the first frame house in Tennessee), to which he added an office building.

The September 1791 census showed that Tennessee had a population of 35,691, of which 6,271 were white free males with the right to vote, which gave the Territory grounds for forming a representative body, but Blount delayed this event for two years, probably to maintain power and fearing that an elected assembly would raise land taxes. But by the summer of 1793, demands for an assembly had increased, and the governor ordered 13 members to be elected to the House of Representatives in December. On February 24, 1794, the assembly elected members of the Council, or Upper House, who were confirmed by the president. At its first session, the assembly chartered the first educational institutions: Greenville College and Blount College. A territorial treasury was created. At the same time, the assembly called on Congress for the second time to wage war on the Creek Indians.

Relations with the Indians at that time were based on the Hopewell Treaty of 1785, but white settlers were violating the established boundaries, it was not possible to evict them, and Henry Knox instructed Blount to negotiate land concessions from the Indians in exchange for monetary payments. The governor called the Indians together for negotiations in June 1791, and as a result, the Treaty of Holston was signed on July 2. But he did not bring peace: in 1790, the Ohio Indians defeated the Harmar expedition, and in May 1791, the American army was defeated in the battle on the Wabash River, which, together with the influence of British agents, caused revanchist sentiments among the Indians and simultaneously deprived Blount of hope for help from the federal army.

In 1792, Spain promised to supply the Indians with weapons if they resumed hostilities, and as a result, bands of Cherokee, Creek, and Shawnee attacked Tennessee settlements but were repulsed by the militia. Blount again urged Congress to go to war, but again to no avail: Knox ordered a defensive attitude. In the spring and summer of 1793, the Chickamauga and Creek raids intensified. Blount went to Philadelphia and almost persuaded the president and Henry Knox to begin hostilities, but then news arrived of an attack by Major Byrd's militia on the Indians, and Knox stopped all talk of an offensive and ordered Blount to bring Byrd to justice. In September of that year, the Indians attacked again but were defeated at the Battle of Etowah, which brought about a lull. At the same time, the French ambassador Edmond Genet called on the Tennesseans to attack Spanish Louisiana, after which armed detachments began to gather in Tennessee. Blount was categorically against this idea, and it was never realized. In 1794, the Tennessee Assembly again called on Congress to start a war, and its proposal was adopted by the House of Representatives, but did not pass in the Senate: the US government was too busy with Anthony Wayne's expedition to Ohio and was trying to adhere to a policy of pacification in the southwest. In 1795, Timothy Peckering became Secretary of War, who was even more opposed to the war. Fortunately for Blount, in 1704, Wayne defeated the Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which impressed the Indians of the southwest as well.

 

Tennessee's Admission to the Union

Governor Blount was able to delay Tennessee's admission to the Union for two years, but gradually he too began to come around to the idea that it was desirable to join; the governor realized that only with its own delegation to the U.S. Congress could the state lobby for its interests regarding the Indian War. At that time, the procedure for joining the Union was not formalized and there were no precedents, since Vermont and Kentucky did not have territorial status before admission. It was unclear who should take the initiative in this matter, Congress or the territory. Blount decided that the state should take the first step, so he convened the Assembly, which resolved to conduct a census to determine whether the minimum of 60,000 people necessary for admission was available. At the same time, a survey was conducted during the census: would residents agree to join the Union if the population was below the minimum. During the survey, 6,504 people voted for joining and 2,562 against (mostly the western counties voted against). The census showed that the state had a population of 77,262, of which 10,613 were slaves, leaving a total of 66,649 free people, including 973 free blacks.

Blount decided to hold elections for delegates to the Constitutional Convention on December 18-19, with 5 people from each county. As a result, 25 delegates gathered in Knoxville on January 11, 1796, and Blount was elected chairman of the congress. Among the delegates were future President Andrew Jackson, William Claiborne, Archibald Roane, Joseph McMinn, John Rhea, and William Cocke. A committee was created under the chairmanship of Daniel Smith to draft the Constitution, and it was Smith (and not Jackson, contrary to popular belief) who suggested the name "Tennessee" for the state. There were many North Carolina and Pennsylvania natives among the deputies, so the constitution took much from the Pennsylvania constitution, which was younger, more effective and more liberal. The new constitution introduced a bicameral assembly, elections to which were held every odd year. Any man over 22 years old, owning 200 or more acres of land, could become a member of the legislature. The governor was elected for two years and no more than three times in a row. The right to vote was formulated in such a way that virtually any free man, including a black man, had the right to vote, thus Tennessee essentially introduced universal suffrage (for men).

In March, elections to the legislature were held, after which the Southwest Territory formally ceased to exist. At the end of March, the legislature convened for its first session, at which the first governor, John Sevier, was inaugurated. William Blount and William Cocke became the first senators from Tennessee. Four electors were also chosen for the presidential election of 1796. The draft constitution was taken to Philadelphia, where President Washington delivered it to Congress on April 8. He informed Congress that Tennessee met all the requirements for admission to the Union. However, it was already known in those days that Washington would not run for a third term, elections were coming up, and Tennessee would clearly vote for the Republican candidate. For this reason, the Federalist Party spoke out against Tennessee's admission: they stated that the initiative for annexation should come from Congress, that the census was unofficial, that the state constitution was contrary to the U.S. Constitution, and that the Southwest Territory might have to be divided into a number of states. But since the Republicans had a majority in the House of Representatives, they recognized Tennessee's annexation by 43 votes to 30. The Federalists had a majority in the Senate; a commission chaired by Rufus King agreed to admit Tennessee as a state, but only after a second census (i.e., essentially after the 1796 election). The Senate voted for this decision, but it was not adopted by the House. A compromise was then proposed: admit Tennessee before the election, but with the condition that the state would have three electors until the 1800 census. This compromise was adopted largely through the efforts of Aaron Burr on May 31 and signed by the president on June 1, 1796. The decision passed largely because the main opponents of annexation, Rufus King and Oliver Wolcott, had by then left the Senate. On July 30, the state legislature, at the request of Congress, re-elected both senators and chose Andrew Jackson as the first member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee.

 

Formation of the state

In the early years of the state's existence, political life took place without the influence of parties: in the West, federalists were generally disliked, and in Tennessee, this attitude was also influenced by the reluctance of federalists to admit the state to the Union. Federalists were some government officials who considered it ethical to show loyalty to the ruling party, but they were disliked in the state for this. Thus, Tennessee was a completely Republican state. Instead of parties, factions formed: one represented the interests of East Tennessee and its leader was John Sevier, and the second represented the interests of West Tennessee (that is, modern Central Tennessee), and its leader was William Blount. Blount's faction was better organized, but Sevier had more personal popularity. Westerners feared the dominance of the more populated East, and both senators were "Easterners," and only Jackson was a "Westerner," which emphasized the disparity of power.

William Blount was a senator for a short time: already in 1797, his participation in a conspiracy to organize an invasion of Spanish Louisiana and take it away from the Spaniards for transfer to Britain was revealed. This was due to fears that Napoleon might capture Louisiana and ban navigation on the Mississippi. Because of this threat, land prices were falling and Blount himself was on the verge of bankruptcy. His involvement came to light, and he was expelled from the Senate and put on trial. However, this did not spoil his career, since in Tennessee the expulsion was attributed to the machinations of the federalists. There was an offer to re-elect him back to the Senate, but Blount refused. The trial was held in December 1798 in his absence. This was the first trial of a senator in the history of the United States: on January 11, 1799, the Senate recognized that it had no judicial authority in this case and dismissed the case. On March 21, 1800, Blount died suddenly.

September 26, 1797 Andrew Jackson (member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee) He was elected senator of the 1st class (instead of William Coke, which almost led to a duel between them), and William Claiborne took his place in the House. Joseph Anderson became a senator of the 2nd class. Sevier was re-elected governor in August of that year. Jackson served in the Senate for only a year and resigned in April 1798. This act led to a chaotic succession of senators over the next two years. Jackson himself returned to Tennessee and served as chief Justice of the state Supreme Court from 1798 to 1804. Governor Sevier was re-elected in 1799, and Republican Thomas Jefferson became President of the United States a year later. Blount's death later that year allowed his closest supporter, Jackson, to become the state's leading politician. In 1801, Sevier was not re-elected due to constitutional restrictions, and Archibald Roan took over as governor. In 1802, the position of major general of the Tennessee militia, which Jackson had long dreamed of, became vacant. Sevier also sought this seat, but at the vote in the legislature, the votes for Jackson and Sevier were evenly divided (17-17). The governor resolved the dispute in favor of his friend Jackson, and he received the rank of general. From that moment on, the feud between Jackson and Sevier began, which escalated as the gubernatorial elections approached in 1803. Both Sevier and Jackson were running for governor. At one of their personal meetings, an altercation took place between them: Sevier mentioned Jackson's wife, for which Jackson challenged him to a duel, which eventually did not take place.

Sevier won the gubernatorial election in 1803, and was re-elected in 1805 and 1807, while Jackson lost some of his influence. In the same year, 1803, President Jefferson agreed with Napoleon on the purchase of Louisiana. The following year, Jackson left the Supreme Court and sought the post of territorial governor of Louisiana, but through Sevier's efforts, Claiborne was appointed to this post. It was a heavy blow for Jackson, who temporarily withdrew from politics. In 1805, he solemnly hosted the disgraced politician Aaron Burr, who attracted him to his plans for the conquest of Florida. Burr was soon put on trial for this project, which greatly damaged Jackson's reputation. Now he has made enemies in the person of President Jefferson and Vice President Madison. Meanwhile, Tennessee continued to be populated, and its western half overtook the eastern half in population. This had an impact on the 1809 elections: Willie Blount, a candidate from the Western Party and a close friend of Jackson, was elected governor. Jackson's faction now controlled the state government, but Jackson's reputation was still tainted.

During those years, relations with Britain became complicated and calls for war began; on this wave, George Campbell entered the US Senate, where he served until 1814, and then served as Secretary of the Treasury and Ambassador to Russia. That same year, Blount was re-elected as governor. In December, the New Madrid earthquake occurred in western Kentucky, changing the course of the Mississippi River and leading to the formation of Reelfoot Lake. In politics at that time, Tennessee congressmen persistently demanded that President Madison declare war, and it was declared on June 18, 1812. This event gave Andrew Jackson a chance to return to politics.

 

The Anglo-American War

The war was popular in Tennessee, whose residents hoped that West Florida would be recaptured from the British and they would receive a short route to the ocean through the port of Mobile. Jackson raised a force of 2,500 volunteers and promised the president that he would deliver them to the Canadian border, but the federal government had not yet forgiven Jackson and did not respond to his offer. In October 1812, Madison ordered Blount to raise 1,500 volunteers to reinforce Wilkinson's army in New Orleans, and although Jackson hated Wilkinson, he agreed to participate. Having raised 2,070 men, he crossed to Natchez, only to learn that the government's plans had changed and his men were no longer needed. Meanwhile, the people of East Tennessee formed a small force of their own and, on their own initiative, raided the Seminole lands of Florida.

In August 1813, due to the growing threat from the Creek Indians, the governor raised 3,500 volunteers. The Tennesseans responded enthusiastically to the call, which is why Tennessee was later nicknamed the "Volunteer State." Two armies were formed: one in western Tennessee under Jackson, and the other in eastern Tennessee. During the Creek War that began, Jackson's army won several victories, including at Tallahatchie, where Davy Crockett participated, but the success was not developed due to the lagging behind of the second army and unrest in the troops. Then his troops' terms of service expired. It was not until the spring of 1814 that Jackson resumed the offensive and defeated the Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. This battle led to the end of the Creek War, and Jackson became a major general, which eventually helped him become president.

 

Settlement of West Tennessee

After the war, Jackson negotiated the Treaty of Fort Jackson with the Creeks, ceding vast territories in Georgia and Alabama to the United States. However, the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians also laid claim to the land, so Secretary of War William Crawford ceded some of the land to them, angering Jackson. In 1816, a presidential election was held, which was won by James Monroe, who in 1818 appointed Jackson and Shelby to a delegation to negotiate with the Chickasaw Indians. Jackson and Shelby were friends, but disagreements over the negotiations caused a rift in their relationship. On October 19, 1819, the Treaty of Tuscaloosa was signed, ceding to the United States all land north of the southern border of Tennessee between the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers. Some of the land became part of Kentucky and some became part of Tennessee; this territory became known as "West Tennessee." Hardin County was created on it, which included the territory of modern Hardin, Fayette, Hardeman, McNary, and Shelby counties.

On October 23, 1919, the state legislature passed a law allowing settlement of West Tennessee, surveying, and sale of land. The area began to be quickly populated, mainly by residents of eastern Tennessee, but also by immigrants from other western states. Davy Crockett settled on the Aubin River: he later was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives several times, and in 1835 he left for Texas and died in the battle for the Alamo mission. By 1830, 99,000 people lived in the region. John Overton, a close friend of Jackson, bought the land and founded the city of Memphis on it in 1819.

 

Tennessee in the 1820s

After the war with England, Governor Blount resigned and Joseph McMinn, a representative from East Tennessee, was elected in his place in 1815. He was subsequently re-elected in 1817 and 1819. Under him, John Eaton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1817, serving in the Senate until 1829, when he became Secretary of War in Jackson's cabinet. In 1821, McMinn completed his third term and was replaced by William Carroll, a Pennsylvanian and one of Jackson's former officers who had won fame at the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson recognized his bravery, but supported his rival in the election, and his supporters were largely opposed to Carroll, while his opponents (including Davy Crockett) sided with the governor. Under Carroll, the state gradually emerged from the banking crisis of 1819–20; The governor closely monitored the activities of the banks and managed to put the state's finances in order. He was also known for launching the first steamboat in Tennessee, the General Jackson, on the Cumberland River.

As early as 1821, Carroll proposed calling a convention to revise the Constitution, but the proposal was rejected. At that time, Jackson's supporters were looking for a prestigious post for him, and there were plans to nominate him as a candidate for governor of Tennessee in 1823, but there were concerns that he would lose to Carroll and thus lose his chance for the presidency. Then it was decided to elect him to the Senate. In 1823, the legislature met in Murfreesboro, where Jackson was elected senator on October 1 and took part in the session of the 18th Congress in December of that year. Here Carroll was not a threat to him, and Jackson did not interfere with him.

In 1827, Carroll completed his third term and Virginian Sam Houston, also a participant in the Creek War and a friend of Jackson, was elected governor. During his reign, the 1828 presidential election was held, in which Andrew Jackson won and became president. This was an important event for Tennessee and its governor, since Jackson tended to support his supporters in everything. Houston won the gubernatorial election in the spring of 1829, but due to family problems, he resigned, handed over the post to the Speaker of the Senate William Hall and hid in the lands of the Cherokee Indians. He later became the first governor of Texas. Houston's retirement from politics gave Carroll the opportunity to be elected governor in the fall of 1829, and then re-elected in 1831 and 1833 (he went down in state history as the governor who served in this post longer than any other). In 1829, Carroll achieved a resolution to build the first prison in the state and he also initiated a law prohibiting all other types of punishment (stocks, shackles, flogging, etc.). The prison was built in a year and opened on January 1, 1831, near Nashville.

 

Cherokee Indian Removal

By the early 1830's the Cherokee Indians still occupied the southeastern corner of the state. The Tennesseans were determined to remove them beyond the Mississippi, as were President Jackson and the Tennesseans he brought into the government. Georgia extended its jurisdiction over the Cherokee lands in 1828, Alabama did the same in 1829, Mississippi did the same in 1830, and Tennessee debated the matter in 1829, 1831, and 1832, but without any practical result. In 1833 the legislature passed an act extending state jurisdiction over the Cherokee lands; it was considered unconstitutional by many, but in 1835 the Jackson administration concluded the Treaty of New Icot with the Cherokee for removal across the Mississippi (with compensation of $5 million), which ended the debate about its constitutionality.

Chief John Ross protested this treaty and went to Washington, where he was supported by many politicians - Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Henry Wise and the Tennessean Crockett. But Jackson was adamant. A regular army under the command of Winfield Scott was brought into the Cherokee lands. On December 4, 1838, the last Indians left for the west. Only a few Cherokee remained in the state and accepted US citizenship. In total, 13,149 Cherokee Indians were removed from the eastern states.

As a result of the removal, the lands east of the Tennessee River and south of the Hiwassee River became part of Tennessee. Bradley and Polk Counties were created on this territory, and some land was added to Monroe and Hamilton Counties. Ross Landing was renamed Chattanooga, and in December 1839 the city of Chattanooga was officially established.

 

The Constitution of 1834

The spread of democratic ideas during the Jackson years made revision of the Tennessee Constitution inevitable, although earlier proposals for revision had been rejected by the legislature several times. Revision was supported mainly by residents of remote outskirts and mountainous areas, while the population of the rich river valleys was usually against it. On May 19, 1834, 60 delegates to the constitutional convention met in Nashville: 18 from the East, 30 from the Center, and 12 from the West. The delegates included former Governor Willie Blount and future Governor Newton Cannon. The convention immediately split into progressives demanding changes and conservatives insisting on cautious and small changes. The convention changed the system of elections to the Assembly, reformed taxation and introduced elections of officials. The convention received many petitions asking for the emancipation of slaves, but decided that the Assembly had no right to do so against the will of their owners. Unlike the constitution of 1796, the new constitution was put to a referendum and approved by 42,666 votes, with 17,691 votes against. On March 27, Governor Carroll declared the constitution in effect.

The convention also decided to decide on the state capital by 1843. During the territorial era, the capital was in Knoxville, in 1806 it moved to Kingston, then to Murfreesboro. Now the convention gave the state 9 years to make a decision. Subsequently, after much debate, Nashville became the capital.

 

Formation of the Whig Party

President Jackson was extremely popular in Tennessee. However, in a relatively short period of time, the state turned from his main supporter into his main opponent. Initially, Tennessee had a group of former supporters of William Blount, whose successor was Jackson - John Overton, Hugh White, Governor McMinn, Senator Eaton and later James Polk. But there was also an opposition: Senator Williams, Newton Cannon, Davy Crockett and a number of other politicians. In 1828, Jackson won the presidential election, but at the same time made enemies in the state. The choice of Martin Van Buren as Jackson's successor caused especially many objections; many Tennesseans preferred to see Hugh White as president. In 1834, the conflict between John Bell and James Polk made Bell an enemy of Jackson, and it was he who became the father of the Whig Party in Tennessee. Not wanting to vote for Van Buren, he began to support the candidacy of Hugh White. White was a supporter of Jackson and did not seek the presidency, but in the fall of 1834, the president too harshly demanded that he not participate in the elections, which produced the opposite effect: the offended White immediately went into opposition. In 1835, the gubernatorial elections were held in the state, which were won by Newton Cannon, a long-time opponent of Jackson. His opponent was Carroll, this time a supporter of Jackson and Van Buren. Now the opposition controlled the entire state legislature. White's supporters tried to show that they were against Van Buren, but for Jackson's principles, but outside the state they were already called "Whigs". As a result, in the presidential elections of 1836, White received only 10% of the votes, but won in Tennessee (58%) and Georgia (51%), and received over 40% of the votes in Mississippi, North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and Missouri. This was a heavy blow to Jackson, and Tennessee became a two-party state for 20 years.

 

Tennessians in Texas

The crisis of 1819 forced many Tennesseans to migrate west in search of available land. In 1821, Mexico gained independence, which led to the establishment of an American colony in Mexican Texas under the leadership of Stephen Austin. By 1831, one-tenth of all the inhabitants of the colony were from Tennessee. They were loyal to the Mexican government and, in large numbers, not only did not take part in the Fredon Rebellion of 1827, but even participated in its suppression. However, the Mexican government began to restrict migration, and friction with the Texans led to an armed clash in October 1835 and the beginning of the Texas Revolution. Tennessee residents immediately began collecting money for the rebels, and hundreds of Tennesseans went to fight in Texas, including Davy Crockett. Sam Houston helped create the Texas Constitution and became commander-in-chief of the republican army. Crockett and a detachment of Tennesseans participated in the defense of the Alamo mission and died during the assault on March 6.

Tennesseans petitioned the president to recognize Texas, Bell and Hugh White demanded the same, but Jackson decided to remain neutral. On the other hand, he did not interfere with those who went to Texas to participate in the war for independence. Formal recognition followed only in 1837.

 

Tennessee in the 1840s

The late 1830s were a difficult time for Jacksonian Democrats in Tennessee, with almost all of them except Polk losing influence, and Jackson himself, in a state of dismay, retiring to his estate at the Hermitage. All Democrat efforts were now directed toward wresting the governorship from the Whigs. In April 1839, Polk began a tenacious campaign and eventually defeated Cannon, although by such a small margin that it took a long time to determine the winner. It was a war for survival for the state Democrats, but they survived and retained influence, and Polk became the leading politician of the party. That same year, he was nominated as a vice-presidential candidate in the 1840 election (although he was not elected). The Democrats captured both houses of the legislature and some seats in Congress. But two Whig senators remained in Congress: Hugh White and Ephraim Foster. At great cost, the Democrats managed to force both to resign: White left office on January 13, 1840.

In the presidential election of 1840, the Whigs nominated William Harrison, while the Tennessee Whigs preferred Winfield Scott or Henry Clay, but ultimately agreed with Harrison. The most bitter campaign in the history of the state followed, and Harrison won the election in Tennessee and the country as a whole, which was the first defeat in the history of the Democratic Party. It was argued that if Polk had been the vice-presidential candidate, the party would have had a better chance of winning. Polk himself was preparing to run for re-election as governor in 1841, but the Whigs nominated James Jones, who won. The Whigs also captured the House of Representatives, although they were unable to subdue the Senate. Everyone knew that Polk would want revenge in 1843, and they were preparing for it: another bitter campaign followed, and Polk lost again, and the Whigs now captured both houses of the legislature. Polk's defeat was the greatest setback of his career, and Jones's victory was called one of the most striking successes of the Whig Party.

That same year, after much debate, Nashville was elected the state capital and the Capitol was laid out.

At the 1843 Democratic Convention, Polk was nominated as a presidential candidate against Henry Clay. Polk ran for president in 1844 with a program to annex Texas, and although Tennesseans were generally in favor of annexation, the state's Whigs condemned these plans. Polk lost in Tennessee, but won the entire country and became the new president of the United States. Soon after, on June 8, 1845, Andrew Jackson died, and mourning was declared throughout the state. In the fall, gubernatorial elections were held: the Democratic candidate Aaron Brown won, leading the campaign under the slogan of annexing Texas. At the same time, the struggle for the annexation of Texas was underway: the resolution on annexation was signed by the president on March 1, although the Tennessee delegation in Congress voted against it. In December 1845, Texas became the 28th state of the United States. In May 1846, war was declared on Mexico, which was met with general enthusiasm in Tennessee.

On May 16, the War Department instructed Brown to recruit 2,800 men for the American army, but ten times as many responded to the governor's call. The counties of Central Tennessee formed the 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment, the counties of the West formed the 2nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and the eastern counties provided a detachment of dragoons. The 1st was included in Keetman's brigade, and the 2nd in Pillow's brigade. In 1847, both regiments were in Winfield Scott's army and participated in Scott's advance on Mexico City, but their enlistment expired in the summer and they did not participate in the assault on Mexico City. Tennessee held a gubernatorial election that year and Whig Neil Brown became the new governor. The war ended in 1848, and Polk resigned as president in 1849, dying shortly after. His death ended one of the most turbulent decades in the state's political history.

 

Pre-War Decade

By 1853, the Whigs were firmly in control of the state, but divisions were growing among them over slavery, the Compromise of 1850, the election of James Jones to the Senate, and the 1852 presidential election. The gubernatorial election was held on August 4, and the Democratic candidate Andrew Johnson won. Despite this, the Whigs still controlled half of their congressmen and half of the state legislature. John Bell was re-elected to another Senate term that year. Emotions had died down somewhat, but flared up again in the spring of 1854 over the passage of the federal Kansas-Nebraska Act. Tennessee Senators Bell and Jones were divided on the issue, as were Tennesseans in the House of Representatives. These events weakened the Whig Party, and at the same time new parties emerged, in particular, the Nativist Party, to which some of the Whigs had gone, and the Republican Party, which was unpopular in Tennessee. As a result, the gubernatorial elections of 1855 were no longer between the Democrats and the Whigs, but between the Democrats and the Nativists. Johnson won and was elected for a second term.

In those years, Tennesseean William Walker became famous, who seized power in Nicaragua, was recognized by the United States, visited Tennessee on an official visit, but was overthrown in 1857, and subsequently attempted to seize Honduras, but was captured and shot in September 1860.

The main event during Johnson's second term was the presidential elections of 1856. The nativists nominated Millard Fillmore and Tennessee's Andrew Donelson (a relative of Andrew Jackson), the Republicans nominated John Fremont, and the Democrats nominated James Buchanan. Whig Senator Jones supported Buchanan and predicted that the election of Republican Fremont would lead to the collapse of the Union. In the end, the Democrats won in Tennessee (for the first time since 1832) and in the country as a whole. The failure of the nativists led to the rapid decline of the party. They tried to promote their candidate in the gubernatorial election in Tennessee in 1857, but Democrat Isham Harris won, and nativism disappeared from the agenda, replaced by discussions about slavery. Former Governor Johnson went to the U.S. Senate. Harris won again in the 1859 election, but by a smaller margin. In 1859, the conflict between the Democrats and the Republicans intensified, mainly because of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. This raid alienated even those Tennesseans who were in opposition to the Democratic Party from the Republicans. Secessionist ideas gradually began to spread, to which even Governor Harris was inclined. When preparations for the 1860 elections began, the Tennessee Democrats nominated Johnson as a candidate, and the opposition, which formed the Unionist Party, nominated John Bell. At the national convention, Bell beat Sam Houston and became the Unionist candidate, Lincoln beat Seward and became the Republican candidate, and at the Democratic Party convention, some supported Stephen Douglas, and some supported Breckinridge. In the voting in Tennessee, Breckinridge won in the Central counties, Bell and Douglas dominated in the Western counties, and Bell won statewide. But Lincoln won nationally, leading to the secession of South Carolina in December 1860. Several more southern states soon left the Union. Tennessee was not ready for secession, and its politicians considered reconciling the conflicting parties: Senator Johnson and Governor Harris proposed their own versions of a compromise, but they were not considered, although a compromise by Kentuckian Crittenden, close in spirit to Harris's proposal, was discussed. In February, a referendum was held in Tennessee, which rejected the proposal to call a convention to decide the question of secession, while residents of the western state were largely in favor of convening it. The bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861 increased secessionist sentiment, but when Lincoln declared war on the South and called on Tennessee to provide a military contingent, Governor Harris replied that he would not provide a single man, but was ready to raise 50,000 men to protect the southern states. The state legislature met in special session and on May 6 drafted a "Declaration of Independence" which was submitted to a referendum on June 8. In the referendum, the center and west of the state voted for secession, while the east voted against.

 

Civil War

By July 2, the Army of Tennessee was formed with 22 infantry regiments under the command of Gideon Pillow, but on July 4, Leonidas Polk assumed command. On July 22, the Confederate Congress approved Tennessee's application to join the Confederacy. Langdon Haynes and Gustavus Henry were elected to the Confederate Senate. Harris was re-elected governor later that year. In September, Tennessee became part of the Second Military Department under Albert Sidney Johnston. By the end of the year, Johnston had 40,000 men and needed to hold the Cumberland River line.

In the spring of 1862, General Grant's army began an offensive into Tennessee. On February 6, the Confederates abandoned Fort Henry and retreated to Fort Donelson, which was surrounded by Union forces. On February 16, its garrison surrendered. Only Forrest's cavalry was able to escape from the besieged fort. The entire Tennessee defense line collapsed, and the Southerners abandoned Nashville, where Buell's federal army entered on February 24. Johnston led the army to Mississippi, where his army increased to 40,000 men, and he decided to attack Grant. On April 6, the Battle of Shiloh took place, in which Johnston was killed, and the army of the South (the Army of Mississippi) retreated. Command passed to Braxton Bragg, who decided to attack Kentucky. In August, the Kentucky Campaign began; the armies of Bragg and Smith entered Kentucky and the Battle of Perreville took place, after which Bragg decided to retreat to Central Tennessee. On November 20, his army was renamed the Tennessee Army. On December 31, Bragg attacked Rosecrans's army at Stone River, but failed to defeat it. In the summer of 1863, Rosecrans launched an offensive and drove Bragg into Chattanooga and then into Georgia during the Tullahoma Campaign. In September, Rosecrans entered Georgia but was defeated by the Confederates at the Battle of Chickamauga. The Confederates retreated to Chattanooga, where they were besieged by Bragg's army. While Bragg was besieging Chattanooga, General Longstreet launched the Knoxville Campaign and besieged Knoxville, but the fighting went poorly for the Confederates. Meanwhile, in late November, Grant attacked and defeated the Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Chattanooga. After the defeat, Bragg was removed from command and the army was led by Joseph Johnston. The Southerners retreated from Tennessee to Georgia, where in the spring of 1864, Federal General Sherman launched an offensive on Atlanta. In July, John Bell Hood assumed command of the Army of Tennessee, who, after the capitulation of Atlanta, decided to raid Sherman's rear, known as the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. On November 30, 1864, the Battle of Franklin took place, after which the Northerners retreated to Nashville. On December 16, Hood was defeated at the Battle of Nashville, and the Army of Tennessee practically ceased to exist. The Battle of Nashville was the last major battle of the war in Tennessee, and the small Battle of Anthony's Hill on December 25 was the last combat clash of the war on the territory of the state.

In total, about 100,000 Tennesseans fought in the ranks of the Southern army and 32,000 in the Northern armies during the war. In addition to this number, approximately 20,000 blacks were recruited into the federal army.

 

Post-War Period

Reconstruction Era

Since the spring of 1862, the state of Tennessee had been under federal military administration, headed by Governor Andrew Johnson. In January 1865, the state's unionists gathered for a convention that adopted amendments to the state constitution: slavery was banned, the ordinance of secession and membership in the Confederacy were repealed, all decisions taken by the state government after May 6, 1861, were declared invalid, all Johnson's administrative appointments were approved, and gubernatorial elections were scheduled for March 4. The only candidate for the election was the Unionist William Gannaway Brownlow. The amendments were adopted on February 22 (the turnout was small, only 25,293 people voted). Johnson resigned as military governor and went to Washington, where he became vice president under Abraham Lincoln.

The state of Tennessee was so devastated by the war that the road from Memphis to Chattanooga was compared to the road from Moscow in the days of Napoleon's retreat. The devastated economy and social life required careful measures to restore, but the wrong person turned out to be in power in the state. Brownlow became governor on March 5. His biographer wrote that "it was strange and rather dangerous to give a man like Brownlow power over a million people." He immediately demanded stricter criminal laws, the deprivation of all former confederates of the right to vote, called for the ratification of the 13th Amendment and the election of delegates to the U.S. Congress as soon as possible. The amendment was ratified by the legislature unanimously, and laws on sedition were introduced at the same time. But the Conservative opposition also began to form: in early 1866, Brownlow and his supporters barely managed to pass a new, more stringent election law.

On July 19, 1864, the state Legislature ratified the 14th Amendment, and 3 days later, the U.S. Congress recognized the Tennessee government, admitted congressmen from Tennessee to Congress, and restored the state's former position in the Union. The Congressional resolution was signed by the President on July 23. The new senators from Tennessee are Joseph Fowler and David Patterson. In early 1867, Tennessee radicals began fighting for Brownlow's re-election, and on February 26, in order to gain additional votes, they passed a law on the right to vote for blacks. Brownlow was given the right to personally command the National Guard of the state and the right to invalidate elections in any district of the state. On election day, Brownlow received 74,034 votes in favor and 22,550 votes against, and all radical candidates went to the U.S. Congress. In the fall of 1867, when Congress was considering impeachment of President Johnson, the Tennessee congressmen unanimously voted for impeachment.

Conservative discontent resulted in the formation of numerous secret societies, the most famous of which was the Ku Klux Klan, which originated in the Tennessee town of Pulaski. By 1867, it had evolved from a private club into a large political organization. It was active for two years and contributed to the Tennessee Republicans winning the 1868 presidential election by a small margin. On February 25, 1865, Brownlow resigned as governor and ran for the U.S. Senate (Patterson's seat), and since the Ku Klux Klan had effectively achieved its goal, it was presumably dissolved in Tennessee. Senate Speaker DeWitt Senter took over as governor. He slightly relaxed the laws introduced by Brownlow. In the summer of 1869, Senter won the election, but the conservatives seized control of the legislature. This meant the end of radical power and the end of reconstruction policy in Tennessee. Senter himself felt that radicalism had no future in Tennessee and went over to the conservatives.

The new legislature immediately repealed the most odious laws passed during the Brownlow era. The radicals resisted, hoping to persuade the federal authorities to recognize Senter's election as illegal, asking Congress to return Tennessee to the regime of military reconstruction, but these attempts led to nothing.

 

The Gilded Age

On January 10, 1870, the Tennessee Constitutional Convention met, with four former Confederate generals as delegates. John Brown was elected president of the convention. The convention drafted a new Tennessee constitution, which lasted until 1953. The ratification was scheduled for March 26. The radicals tried to disrupt it and insisted on the introduction of a federal army into the state, but President Grant refused to interfere, as a result of which the Tennessee constitution was ratified on the appointed day (98 128 — 33 872 ). In November, gubernatorial elections were held under the new Constitution, which were won by the Democrats, and John Brown, who performed well at the convention, was elected governor (78 979 — 41 500 ). Democrats won 20 of the 22 seats in the state Senate, 60 of the 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 6 of the 8 seats in the U.S. Congress. In 1872, Brown was re-elected to a second term (97 000 — 84 089 ). In 1875, Andrew Johnson was nominated to the Senate to replace Brownlow, but died in the summer of the same year. Presidential and gubernatorial elections were held in 1876. Governor Porter was re-elected in the gubernatorial election, and Democrat Samuel Tilden won the presidential election in the state, but Rutherford Hayes became president, who appointed Tennessee Senator David Key to the post of Postmaster General.

In 1878, Governor Porter decided not to seek re-election. He was succeeded by Democratic candidate Albert Marks, a former Confederate Army private who lost his leg at the Battle of Stones River. The issue of the state's foreign debt was the main topic of the election race. These disputes threatened the unity of the Democratic Party, but a split was avoided by nominating William Bate, a popular politician and former general of the Confederate Army, as governor in 1882. His popularity helped him to be re-elected in 1884. When his term came to an end, a man capable of uniting the conflicting factions in the party was needed again, and Robert Taylor became him. The Republicans, fearing Telor, nominated his brother, Alfred Taylor, as a candidate. Democrats and Republicans chose scarlet and white roses as their symbols, which is why the 1886 elections were called the "War of the Roses." Robert defeated his brother by a small margin (126 151 — 109 837 ).

In the 1870s and 1880s, many Blacks actively participated in political processes, usually voting for Republicans. Sampson Keeble, a black man, entered the State House of Representatives in 1872, and William Yerdley was a candidate for governor in 1876. In the 1880s, several more blacks entered the state legislature. None, however, made it to the U.S. Congress.

In those years, the difficult situation of agriculture led to the formation of another political party, the Farmers' Alliance, whose Tennessee branch was headed by John Buchanan. As a result, candidates from three parties participated in the gubernatorial elections of 1890. Buchanan won them, and the members of the alliance began to dominate the legislature. However, the new governor lacked personal charisma, he did not run for a second term as a candidate from the party, but participated in the elections as an independent candidate. However, Democrat Peter Terney won. He also managed to win the 1894 elections, but his victory led to a conflict in the party, and in order to preserve the unity of the party, Robert Taylor had to be nominated for governor again.

The last decades of the century went down in the history of the United States as the "Gilded Age"; it was an era of materialism, pragmatism and corruption, but in the same years many social reforms took place. In Tennessee, the school system was improved, colleges and universities were improved, Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga were opened. In 1897, the International Industrial Exhibition was held in Nashville.

 

The Spanish-American War

When the war with Spain broke out in 1898, the state of Tennessee fielded four infantry regiments. The 1st Tennessee, commanded by William Smith, fought in the Philippines, where Smith died. The 2nd Tennessee under the command of Keller Anderson, the 3rd Tennessee under the command of Colonel Fife, and the 4th Tennessee under the command of George Brown were sent to Cuba, but hardly participated in the fighting. Many participants in the war became famous later: Cordell Hull, future Governor Ben Hooper and future Senator Lawrence Tyson. The battleship USS Nashville, commanded by Tennessean Maynard, is considered the ship that fired the first shot in that war.

 

XX century

At the beginning of the century, Tennessee remained a largely agricultural state. Flour milling accounted for 20% of all industry, with Nashville as its center. Lumber production was second in importance, with Memphis becoming the world's largest market for lumber. Iron and steel production was third, employing about 2,000 people. Tennessee had 16 large foundries, which took advantage of its good coal and iron ore reserves. In total, at the beginning of the century, industrial capitalization reached $71,182,966, and the total amount of taxes on workers reached $14,727,506.

 

Progressivism in Tennessee

In the 1902 gubernatorial election, Democrat James Fraser won, calling for better funding for schools in the state. During these years, the prohibition movement, women's rights, and workers' rights were growing in Tennessee. The fight against alcohol led the legislature to ban the sale of alcohol in cities with a population of less than 5,000 in January 1903. Fraser was re-elected in 1904. In March 1905, Senator William Bate died; Governor Fraser took his place, which resulted in a bitter struggle for the vacant governorship, which undermined the unity of the Democratic Party. Malcolm Patterson became governor, and he carried out several progressive reforms in the state. Alcohol was banned in all but the four largest cities. In the 1908 election, Patterson faced a strong challenge from Senator Edward Carmack, who died unexpectedly in a duel. His supporters formed a faction known as the Independents. They united with the Republicans (a process known as "fusion") and succeeded in getting Republican Ben Hooper elected governor in 1910. He received 133,074 votes to his competitor's 121,694. He became the fourth Republican governor in the state's history.

In 1912, the gubernatorial election coincided with the presidential election. Tennessee Progressives nominated their candidate for governor, but the Republicans chose to re-elect Hooper. Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the presidential election, giving Tennessee Democrats hope for victory, but contrary to expectations, Hooper was re-elected with 124,641 votes to his rival Benton McMillan's 116,610. By 1914, the controversy over alcohol prohibition had lost its intensity, weakening the alliance between Republicans and Independents, and this did not allow Hooper to be re-elected for another term. Democrat Thomas Rye became governor, as a result of which Tennessee effectively returned to a two-party system. The new governor immediately demanded strict enforcement of the alcohol laws, but also paid attention to education, public health, and animal welfare. The legislature abolished the death penalty for all crimes except rape. In 1916, Rai was easily re-elected. He proposed calling a convention to amend the Constitution, but the proposal was rejected.

 

World War I

By 1917, the United States was neutral in World War I, but the people of Tennessee were already preparing to enter the conflict: the state national guard was brought back from Mexico and additional recruitment was conducted. On April 6, 1917, Congress decided to enter the war, and Tennessee congressmen unanimously supported this decision. The people of Tennessee agreed to pay higher taxes and save on food. Tennessee Germans were under suspicion, which led to the renaming of a number of settlements and the abolition of teaching German in a number of colleges. A gunpowder factory was built near Nashville, which became the largest military industry enterprise in the state. Professor Harcourt Morgan supervised the state's food industry, who managed to solve the problem of supplying flour and sugar to the army without imposing restrictions on their consumption in the state. In April 1917, the regiments of the Tennessee National Guard were accepted into federal service. On April 13, the 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiments were received in Nashville, and in September they were joined by the 1st Field Artillery Regiment under Colonel Luke Lee and the 2nd Infantry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel James Gleason, bringing the total number of Tennessee units to 7,065. These regiments were combined with regiments from other states to form the 30th Infantry Division, which was sent to France and arrived on the Western Front on August 17, 1918. It took part in the Ypres-Lys Offensive and the Battle of the Somme. Among the naval officers, the most famous Tennessean was Admiral Albert Gleaves, who was responsible for the transportation of American troops to Europe.

The most famous Tennessean of the war was Corporal Alvin York, who served in the 328th Infantry Regiment. During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, he killed 20 German soldiers in a single combat, captured 131 privates and one officer. He was promoted to sergeant, received the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honor. In the United States, he is traditionally considered the most famous private of the war.

A total of 61,069 people were drafted into the army during the war, of which 43,730 were white and 17,339 were black. Of these, 3,836 died and another 6,190 were other types of losses. In 1918, the Spanish flu epidemic broke out in Tennessee, which killed 5,848 people in Chattanooga alone and more than 1,300 in Nashville. A total of 7,721 deaths were recorded in Tennessee. The DuPont arms factory near Nashville was particularly hard hit.

 

Tennessee in the 1920s

In early 1919, Albert Roberts became the governor of Tennessee, under whom the Prohibition Law (the 18th Amendment) was discussed. The amendment was adopted by an overwhelming majority of votes, and Tennessee became the 23rd state to adopt Prohibition. It went into effect on January 16, 1920. In 1919, an amendment to the state constitution was adopted, giving women the right to vote in municipal and presidential elections. In the summer of 1920, the legislature began discussing the 19th Amendment. The Senate adopted it by a vote of 25 to 4, but the House of Representatives ended in a deadlock (48-48). As a result, Representative Harry Byrne changed his vote in favor of ratification (it is believed that under the influence of a letter from his mother) and the amendment was adopted. Republican Warren Harding won the 1920 presidential election, and Roberts lost to Republican Alfred Taylor in the gubernatorial election. 1920 was a rare year when Tennesseans voted Republican. However, Taylor lost the next election, and Democrat Austin Peay became governor.

In the 1920s, disputes in Tennessee intensified between Christian fundamentalists, who insisted on a literal interpretation of the Bible, and modernists, who allowed a free interpretation. Gradually, these disputes boiled down to a discussion of human origins. Tennesseans were well acquainted with Darwin's book "The Origin of Species", often discussed it in the press, and the topic came to the forefront of public debate. During the 1925 legislative session, on the initiative of Representative John Butler, a law known as the Butler Act was passed, which prohibited the teaching of Darwinism in state schools. Governor Peay received many letters asking him to repeal the law, but he was a strong supporter of the measure. That same year, the trial of teacher John Scopes, known as the "Monkey Trial," took place in Dayton. Many prominent lawyers participated in the trial and it attracted national attention. Scopes was eventually found guilty and sentenced to a fine of $100. Religious controversies continued in the state, and Tennessee experienced a period of religious activism comparable to the Revivalist era.

 

Depression and the New Deal

The stock market crash of 1929 led to the Great Depression, which greatly compromised President Hoover and the Republican Party. Governor Horton easily defeated Republican Arthur Bruce in the gubernatorial election. But the crisis continued, banks in Tennessee went bankrupt, and in 1931 the governor was even accused of involvement in these ruins. In this situation, Horton did not run for re-election in 1932, and Harry McAllister became governor, who seemed to know some ways to save the state's economy. Democrat Franklin Roosevelt won the presidential election that year, and immediately began to implement the New Deal program, part of which was aimed at saving the Tennessee economy.

In those years, long droughts dealt a heavy blow to Tennessee agriculture. In addition, there was an excess of cotton, which could not be bought. The ruin of farmers also affected industry. Many factories stopped production, including the Ford Motor Company in Memphis. The state's debt grew, and problems with servicing them began. Roosevelt turned his attention to the state in his first year as president and proposed a program to develop the Tennessee River Valley, for which he proposed creating a special commission known as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Tennessee and the surrounding states supported the initiative, and the Republicans accused Roosevelt of copying the Soviet planning system. Flood prevention systems appeared in the valley, hydroelectric power stations and dams were built. The first was the Wilson Dam, then about 20 more similar structures were built. As a result, electricity production increased tenfold by 1945 and doubled by 1952. Cheap electricity led to rapid industrial development, and the valley's population, previously unaware of electricity, began to actively use electrical goods. In addition, forests expanded, land use was optimized, and the number of industrial workers doubled by 1953. The program gradually transformed Tennessee into a major industrial state and changed the lives of thousands of Tennesseans for the better.

 

World War II

When the war with Japan began in December 1941, Governor Cooper immediately formed the Tennessee Defense Council, to whose management he attracted General Little Brown and two others. A recruiting station was opened near Chattanooga at Fort Oglethorpe, which was later moved to Camp Forrest. It was immediately necessary to introduce restrictions on the consumption of certain goods, primarily on automobile tires, and then on coffee and sugar, for which coupons were introduced. Due to the reduction in gasoline consumption, residents of the state began to use public transport more actively, and the production of civilian cars was suspended. The military industry began to be created even before the war: thus, in 1940, a gunpowder plant of the DuPont company was opened, producing gunpowder for France. In the same year, an aircraft plant of the Vultee Aircraft company was opened in Nashville, which produced aircraft for Great Britain, and later produced P-38 fighters for the US Army. After the United States entered the war, several more factories opened, the most famous of which was the Oak Ridge Atomic Bomb Plant, opened in 1942.

Many training centers were opened in Tennessee, including the Smyrna Aviation Center, which trained pilots for the B-24 bomber. During the war, 308,199 people joined the army - almost 10% of the state's population. Of these, 5,731 people died on the war fronts. Six Tennesseans were awarded the Medal of Honor. The shortage of men led to the recruitment of women to work in industry, and by 1944 their number reached 21,000 people. This was a temporary measure, but nevertheless, the number of women employed in industry increased significantly by the early 1950s. The number of blacks employed in industry also increased. During the war decade, their number in Memphis grew from 121,550 to 150,000, and in Nashville from 7,000 to 59,000. The Roosevelt administration took steps to combat discrimination against women and blacks, although it did not eliminate it completely. At the same time, rural residents began migrating to the cities, so that between 1940 and 1960, the state's rural population was reduced by half.

 

Tennessee in the 1950s

By 1950, Tennessee's population had reached 3,292,178. West Tennessee's population grew fastest, thanks to the city of Memphis. The number of industrial workers approached the number of agricultural workers: in 1950, out of 1,135,646 workers, 247,372 were employed in agriculture and 239,427 in industry. Agricultural production was declining due to federal regulation: in 1958, the state produced 419,000 bales of cotton, compared to 510,000 bales in 1925. In those years, many blacks migrated to the northern states, so that 3/4 of all Tennessean immigrants to Chicago and Cleveland were black, but this outflow was compensated by migration from the south, mainly from Mississippi and Arkansas. These changes created many problems, particularly in terms of race relations. In May 1854, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was illegal in Brown v. Board of Education. Blacks demanded desegregation in other areas of life as well, and many sit-in strikes took place across the state. Another problem was the increase in homeless children, so the state had to take steps to create parks, swimming pools, and other ways to keep children occupied. And yet, correctional facilities remained overloaded. Problems were also created by the oversaturation of cities with traffic. An attempt was made to build bypass roads, but they did not produce the desired effect, especially in Memphis.

In the 1948 elections, war veteran Gordon Browning became governor of the state, but he faced strong opposition, and in the 1952 elections he was defeated by another Democrat and war veteran, Frank Clement. Despite this success for the Democrats, Republican Dwight Eisenhower won the presidential election in Tennessee that year. In 1953, Tennessee held a constitutional convention that extended the governor's term to four years. Clement was re-elected to a new term and became the last governor to serve a two-year term and the first to serve a four-year term. In 1958, he was replaced by Democrat Buford Ellington, who was austere and did not introduce new taxes, so his term was relatively quiet.

 

Tennessee in the 1960s

During the 1960 presidential election, Governor Ellington was the chairman of the Democratic Party convention and supported Lyndon Johnson. In November of that year, Kennedy became president, although Tennessee voted for Republican Nixon. After that, the Republicans in the state gradually gained strength, taking advantage of the irritation that liberal reforms caused among the population. In 1962, Frank Clement again became governor, but his popularity gradually declined. In November 1863, Kennedy was assassinated and replaced by Lyndon Johnson, who was elected president in 1964. It was a bad year for the Republicans: Tennessee voted for Democrat Johnson in the presidential election and reelected Democrat Albert Gore Sr. as senator. The governor and both senators were now Democrats. This happened because in the 1960s, blacks began to have a greater influence on the outcome of elections.

The Republicans' success began in 1966, when the first Republican won the Senate: Howard Baker. As the civil rights movement spread, Democrats won more and more black votes, and Republicans won more and more white votes. Some southern states prevented blacks from voting, but Tennessee did not. In 1968, the presidential election was approaching, Lyndon Johnson had come under fire for the Vietnam War and lost his chances for reelection, Martin Luther King had been assassinated in April, and New York Senator Robert Kennedy in June. Republican Nixon won the November election, receiving 43% of the vote nationally and 38% in Tennessee. The Republicans were gaining ground in Tennessee. Public opinion was beginning to shift in their favor. Senator Gore was losing popularity, and former Governor Clement had died in a car accident in 1969. Eventually, Republican Winfield Dunn won the 1970 gubernatorial election.

 

Tennessee in the 1970s

By 1970, Tennessee society had grown tired of the Democrats’ liberal agenda, so Dunn, a populist and conservative, was universally liked. For the first time since the peculiar conditions of 1871, the governor and both senators were Republicans. But Democrats still dominated the state House and municipalities. Dunn tried to establish good relations with them. During his term as governor, he tried to cut government spending, sought to increase the number of daycare centers, proposed raising the salaries of state employees, and improved the system of assistance to the mentally ill. His proposals on daycare centers were rejected due to financial problems. Under Dunn, Tennessee legislators ratified the 26th Amendment, which lowered the minimum voting age to 18. Senator Baker was the main supporter of this decision, which gave him the support of young people. In 1971 and 1972, the state and the country prepared for the presidential elections. Despite the Watergate scandal, Nixon won Tennessee and the country, and Senator Baker was re-elected.

In April 1973, Federal Express opened in Memphis, providing mail and freight services. Over time, it became the largest transportation company in the world, operating in 212 countries and with a fleet of 596 aircraft. It became the largest private company in Tennessee, providing 26,000 jobs in Memphis alone, and the Memphis airport became one of the busiest airports in the United States.

In the fall of 1973, President Nixon came to Tennessee for the Republican Governors' Convention, but by the summer of 1974, the Watergate scandal had reached such proportions that he was forced to resign. This was a heavy blow to Tennessee Republicans, who now found it difficult to hold on to their positions in the state. In the November 1974 gubernatorial election, Democrat Ray Blanton defeated Republican candidate Alexander Lamar by a landslide. For the first time in the state's history, a black man (Harold Ford) entered the U.S. Congress. In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter won the presidential election, and at the same time, Albert Gore Jr. entered politics, becoming a congressman from Tennessee. The Democrats now controlled both Congress and the state of Tennessee and became all-powerful. Baker, however, managed to hold on to his seat in the Senate. Blanton, meanwhile, traveled widely, campaigning for foreign investment, defending women's rights, and created the first U.S. Department of Tourism. In 1978, he secured a constitutional amendment giving him the right to run for a second term. That same year, Alexander Lamar, a protégé of Senator Baker, won the gubernatorial election, and the Democrats again lost their monopoly on power in the state.

 

Tennessee in the 1980s

In 1980, amid the crisis associated with the Iranian Revolution, the presidential race began, in which Senator Baker initially participated, but he soon withdrew his candidacy. In the November elections, Ronald Reagan became president, the Republicans returned to power, and Senator Baker became the leader of the party majority. In Tennessee, the governor and one senator were now Republicans, so the governor had to negotiate with the Democratic majority. He raised the salaries of state employees and raised the minimum drinking age for a year, to 19. Reagan's support helped him easily win re-election for a second term in 1982. That same year, Republican Don Sundquist entered the U.S. House of Representatives. The political situation was calm until the fall of 1984, when Reagan was re-elected as president and Al Gore entered the Senate, leaving Governor Lamar the only Republican in the highest office. In the 1986 elections, former Governor Dunn was the Republican candidate, but Democrat Ned McWherter won. Now the Democrats completely controlled Tennessee.

In the following years, the balance of power did not change: in 1988, a Republican again became president, and in 1990, Governor McWherter and Senator Gore were also re-elected for new terms.

In the 1980s, the state had favorable conditions for industrial development (good communications, water and energy resources, etc.). In 1980, the Japanese company Nissan decided that Tennessee was the best place to locate their plant, and in 1983 they began producing trucks near Smyrna. The state provided the company with favorable tax conditions and thus received 2,000 jobs with high wages. At that time, about a dozen Japanese companies worked in Tennessee, but Nissan was the largest of them (it received a 6th of all Japanese investments in the United States). In 1985, General Motors created the Saturn company, which produced cars based on Japanese models, and also located its plant in Tennessee, in Spring Hill. Over the course of a decade, the auto industry became the leading sector of the state's economy.

 

Tennessee in the 1990s

In 1992, Bill Clinton became president of the United States, and Al Gore became vice president and left the Senate. His place in the Senate was taken by Democrat Harlan Matthews. Meanwhile, the situation began to change in Shelby County, the most populous county in the state, which had traditionally been a Democratic stronghold. It experienced an influx of immigrants, most of whom were Republican supporters. In 1994, Republicans occupied all the highest administrative posts in the county, which became their most impressive victory on a national scale. This affected the outcome of the November elections: Republican candidates won the governorship and both senators: Don Sundquist defeated Phil Bredsen by a large margin, and Fred Thompson and Bill Frist became senators. The elections in Tennessee were part of a national Republican victory: now the number of Republican governors increased from 20 to 30, senators from 44 to 53, and members of the House of Representatives from 178 to 230.

 

XXI century

In the 2000 presidential election, the Democratic Party nominated Al Gore as its presidential candidate. However, Tennessee was becoming more and more conservative, and Gore was moving further and further to the left, and he eventually lost the election in Tennessee, his own state, and George W. Bush received 51% of the votes of Tennesseans. In the 2002 gubernatorial election, Tennessee was won by Democrat Phil Bredisen, who promised to improve the state's governance, schools, and health care. Under his leadership, the state experienced economic growth associated with the development of high-tech manufacturing (such as products from Dell or the Hospital Corporation of America). Downtown Nashville and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum were rehabilitated.

In 2004, Tennessee had a population of 5,910,809 and provided 11 delegates to the Electoral College. The Republicans won the presidential election that year again, and Bush received 56.81% of the vote in the state.

In 2010, the state held a gubernatorial election, in which Republican Bill Haslam received 65% of the vote and defeated Democrat and former Governor McWherter. He opposed the Affordable Care Act program initiated by the president, but was unable to prevent the state from joining the program.

In April 2011, Tennessee was hit hard by Mass Tornadoes. That year, 1,700 tornadoes were observed in the United States, of which about half a dozen were EF5. On April 27, the Hecklenberg-Phil-Campbell tornado, an EF5, the strongest since 1955, passed from Alabama through Tennessee.

In 2008, the German company Volkswagen began looking for a place to build its plant in the United States, studied 300 locations and chose Chattanooga. $1 billion was invested in the construction, and in April 2011, the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant opened, producing Volkswagen Passat cars. The plant created 2,400 jobs and indirectly led to the creation of another 12,000 jobs throughout the state.

Barack Obama won the 2012 US presidential election, but Tennessee voted for the Republicans, so Mitt Romney received all 11 electoral votes from Tennessee. Republican Bob Corker was re-elected to the Senate.

The results of the 2016 presidential election were predictable: Donald Trump won by a large margin, gaining 60.7% of the vote and receiving all 11 Tennessean votes.

In 2019, Republican Bill Lee became the 50th governor of Tennessee. During his governorship, Tennessee became the first in the US in terms of economic growth and experienced unprecedented tax cuts. This has led to an influx of investment from major companies such as Ford, SK Innovation, In-N-Out Burger, and General Motors. GM's largest plant in the state is Spring Hill Manufacturing, where it invested $2 billion in 2020 to produce the Cadillac Lyriq.

The state experienced a major tornado on March 3, 2020, the first case of COVID was reported on March 5, and the governor and President Trump visited the tornado-ravaged region on March 6. The governor declared a state of emergency on March 12. The state experienced another tornado on April 13, which hit Hamilton and Bradley counties. Several restrictions were lifted on April 30 and May 1, and social gatherings were allowed on May 20, provided social distancing was observed. Vaccinations began in early January 2021, with more than 221,000 Tennesseans receiving the vaccine in the first month.

In the 2020 presidential election, Trump won with the same number of votes (60.7%), and Republican William Hagerty was elected to the US Senate.

 

Geography

Neighbore states

Tennessee is bounded on the north by the states of Kentucky and Virginia, on the east by North Carolina, on the south by Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and on the west by Arkansas and Missouri. This makes Tennessee (together with Missouri, which also borders eight states) the US state with the largest number of neighboring states. The Tennessee River flows through the state.

 

Climate

Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, with the exception of some of the higher elevations in the Appalachians, which are characterized as having a temperate mountain climate or a humid continental climate due to cooler temperatures. The Gulf of Mexico is the dominant factor in Tennessee's climate, as with southerly winds it is responsible for most of the state's annual precipitation. In general, the state has hot summers and mild, cool winters with generous rainfall throughout the year. On average, the state sees 50 inches (130 cm) of annual precipitation. Snowfall ranges from 5 inches (13 cm) in western Tennessee to more than 16 inches (41 cm) in the highest mountains in eastern Tennessee.

Summer in the state is generally hot and humid, with most of the territory averaging a high of around 90 °F (32 °C) during the summer months. Winters are usually mild, although the increase in cold is more noticeable at higher elevations. In general, for areas outside of the highest mountains, average minimum temperatures hover around freezing for most of the state. The highest temperature recorded is 113 °F (45 °C) in Perryville on August 9, 1930, while the lowest temperature recorded is -32 °F (-36 °C) in the mountains on December 30, 1930. 1917.

While the state is located far enough from the coast to avoid any direct impact from a hurricane, the state's location makes it likely to be affected by the remnants of tropical cyclones that weaken the land and can cause significant rainfall, such as Tropical Storm Chris of 1982. The average number of thunderstorms per year is 50, some of which can be especially severe, with heavy hail and damaging winds. Tornadoes can be quite common, especially in central and western Tennessee, where they sometimes cause fatalities. Winter storms are an occasional problem, although ice storms are more likely. Fog is quite common throughout the country, especially in much of the Great Smoky Mountains.

 

Politics

Tennessee was the center of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s, which culminated in the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis. Tennessee's political landscape changed earlier than in other southern states. The Tennessee Valley Authority made earlier industrialization and thus a more modern social order possible than, for example, in Mississippi or Alabama. The conservative democrats of the southern states already lost their position of power here during the time of the civil rights movement. The establishment of the Republicans began with the presidential election in 1952. Since then, the Democrats have only won in 1964, 1976 and with Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Al Gore's home state, which today is significantly influenced by the Bible Belt, is considered to be predominantly conservative. It can therefore now be referred to as the Red State. Tennessee has eleven electors in the Electoral College. In 1980 there were ten.

The state is represented in the US Senate by two Republicans, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. The Tennessee delegation to the House of Representatives at the 117th Congress consists of seven Republicans and two Democrats. Republican Bill Lee has been governor since January 2019, replacing fellow party member Bill Haslam.

 

Economy

Already in 2001, marijuana cultivation had displaced tobacco in Tennessee's economy.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2003 Tennessee's GDP reached $199,786,000,000, representing 1.8% of the national total.

In 2003 the per capita income reached $28,641, ranking as the 36th state according to per capita income. Tennessee ranks at 91% of the national median income per capita.

The state sales tax reaches 7%, while counties add 2.25%, for a total of 9.25%. Some cities add other taxes. Tennessee has one of the lowest sales taxes in the United States.

 

Culture

Music

Beale Street in Memphis is considered by many to be the birthplace of blues music, with musicians like W-C Handy beginning their career playing in clubs in the area in early 1909. In 1995, Mexican-American singer Selena recorded one of his songs for her latest English album, called I Could Fall in Love, on Franklin.

Memphis was also the birthplace of Sun Records, where musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Miley Cyrus and Charlie Rich began their careers and where rock and roll took shape in the early 1900s. 1950s.

The 1927 recording sessions in Bristol marked the beginning of country music, and the rise of the Grand Ole Opry, which in the 1930s helped make Nashville the center of the country music recording industry.

 

Language

Most Tennesseans speak in the dialect of the Southern United States. This dialect changes slightly as it travels across the region, and is especially noticeable in rural areas.

Generally speaking, Southerners speak more slowly and politely than Northerners. Visitors, especially those from large cities visiting Tennessee's small mountain towns, will need to get used to the different pace of speech. Speaking quickly and bluntly can be perceived as inconsiderate and may elicit a negative response. Some Tennesseans, especially those who live in rural or mountainous areas, may be difficult to understand if they are not accustomed to the colloquialisms, smoothness, and speaking accents of the southern and Appalachian regions of the United States.

 

Sport

Tennessee has three major league sports teams. The Nashville Tennessee Titans have played in the National Football League since 1997, winning a conference championship in 1999 but losing in Super Bowl XXXIV. Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzlies have played in the National Basketball Association since 2001, reaching the conference finals in 2012/13. Finally, the Nashville Predators have played in the National Hockey League since 1998, and in 2016/2017 they also achieved a conference championship to play for the Stanley Cup.

The Tennessee Volunteers are a college sports team in the Southeastern Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, based in Knoxville. In American football they have achieved 13 conference championships and 25 bowls, highlighting four Sugar Bowls, three Cotton Bowls, one Orange Bowl and one Fiesta Bowl. Meanwhile, in men's basketball they have won four conference championships.

The ovals at Bristol Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and Nashville Speedway USA have hosted NASCAR and IndyCar Series races. Meanwhile, the Memphis Open has been held since 1958 as part of the PGA Tour. The Memphis Tournament is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour since 1976 and the WTA Tour since 2002.