Regions
Each region is known for its distinctive musical heritage: Blues (Western), Country-western (Central), and Bluegrass (Eastern).
Cities
Other destinations
Talk
Native Tennesseans speak in the dialect of the American South. This dialect changes slightly as you cross through each region, and will be especially pronounced in rural areas. Also, be aware that there are noticeable differences in pronunciation according to the race of the speaker; Caucasians and African-Americans will typically employ distinctive accents and vocabulary.
Generally speaking, it is accepted that people in the South speak more slowly and carefully than those from the North. In particular, visitors from larger cities will have to adjust to the different pace of speech if they visit Tennessee's smaller mountain towns; speaking quickly and bluntly can be perceived as inconsiderate and may gather a negative response.
Get in
Interstate 40 criss-crosses the state from west to east, connecting Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and the Smoky Mountain Region. Interstate 55 is entirely situated in Memphis. Interstate 155 crosses from Missouri into northwest Tennessee, ending in Dyersburg. Interstate 24 enters from Kentucky near Clarksville, passes through Nashville and ends in Chattanooga (but not before briefly dipping into Georgia for about three miles). Interstate 65 runs through Nashville in its trek from Kentucky to Alabama. Interstate 75, coming from Kentucky, links Knoxville with Chattanooga before heading into Georgia. Interstate 81 starts at Interstate 40 just east of Knoxville and heads northeast to Bristol before moving into Virginia. In the Kingsport area, Interstate 26 runs south from Interstate 81 into North Carolina (towards Asheville), while Interstate 181 heads toward Kingsport and the Virginia state line.
There are several airports in the state. Memphis International Airport is a hub for Northwest Airlines and is served by several other airlines. Nashville International Airport is also served by many other airlines. There is air service at smaller airports at Maryville (Knoxville), Chattanooga and Bristol. Southern Tennessee is easily accessible to the Huntsville, AL, airport.
Get around
As in most American states, automobiles are the primary form of travel. In larger cities you will find public bus systems, and Grayhound buses are an option for travel in between cities. There are also major airports in all large cities (Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri-Cities) and many smaller airports scattered across the state.
Unfortunately there is no option for rail travel to the central or eastern parts of the state. However, Amtrak runs the fabled "City of New Orleans" line through Memphis and Newbern. This is certainly worth considering if you are planning to visit those areas, especially if you are heading along the Mississippi River. Also, the city of Nashville operates a commuter rail from the suburbs to the downtown area.
Get out
To the west is Arkansas, home of former President Bill Clinton (who chose Tennessee Senator Al Gore as his vice presidential running mate) and Hot Springs National Park. Across from northwest Tennessee is Missouri, where you'll find Branson, a music mecca similar to Nashville (but nowhere near as large).
To the north is the Bluegrass State of Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby, Mammoth Cave National Park and Corvette Museum are located here. Virginia is across Tennessee's northeast corner. Here you'll find the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park.
To the east is North Carolina, where you'll find Chimney Rock, Biltmore Estate and Grandfather Mountain.
Three states border Tennessee to the south. Mississippi lies south of Memphis and boasts several riverboat casinos. Alabama has the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ava Maria Grotto in Cullman and Birmingham, home of American Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks and finalist Bo Bice. Georgia is across the border from Chattanooga. Located here are Rock City, the historic village of Helen, and the vibrant city of Atlanta.
Tennessee (IPA: /ˌtɛ.nɪˈsi/) is a state located in the Southern United States. In 1796, it became the sixteenth state to join the Union. Tennessee is known as the "Volunteer State", a nickname it earned during the War of 1812, in which volunteer soldiers from Tennessee played a prominent role, especially during the Battle of New Orleans. The capital is Nashville and the largest city is Memphis.
Geography
Tennessee lies adjacent to eight other states: Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi on the south; and Arkansas and Missouri on the Mississippi River to the west. Tennessee ties Missouri as the states bordering the most other states. The state is trisected by the Tennessee River. The highest point in the state is the peak of Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet (2,025 m), which lies on Tennessee's eastern border, and is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. The lowest point is the Mississippi River at the Mississippi state line. The geographical center of the state is located in Murfreesboro on Old Lascassas Pike (just down the road from Middle Tennessee State University) and is marked by a roadside monument.
The state of Tennessee is geographically and constitutionally divided into three Grand Divisions: East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee.
Tennessee features six principal physiographic regions: the Blue Ridge, the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region, the Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, the Nashville Basin, and the Gulf Coastal Plain.
See also: List of Tennessee counties
East Tennessee
The Blue Ridge area lies on the eastern edge of Tennessee, bordering North Carolina. This region of Tennessee is characterized by high mountains, including the Great Smoky Mountains, the Chilhowee Mountains, the Unicoi Range, and the Iron Mountains range. The average elevation of the Blue Ridge area is 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. Clingman's Dome is located in this region.
Stretching west from the Blue Ridge for approximately 55 miles (88 km) is the Ridge and Valley region, in which numerous tributaries join to form the Tennessee River in the Tennessee Valley. This area of Tennessee is covered by fertile valleys separated by wooded ridges, such as Bays Mountain and Clinch Mountain. The western section of the Tennessee valley, where the depressions become broader and the ridges become lower, is called the Great Valley.he
Middle Tennessee
To the west of East Tennessee lies the Cumberland Plateau. This area is covered with flat-topped mountains separated by sharp valleys. The elevation of the Cumberland Plateau ranges from 1,500 to 1,800 feet (450 to 550 m) above sea level.
To the west of the Cumberland Plateau is the Highland Rim, an elevated plain that surrounds the Nashville Basin. The northern section of the Highland Rim, known for its high tobacco production, is sometimes called the Pennyroyal Plateau and is located in primarily in Southwestern Kentucky. The Nashville Basin is characterized by rich, fertile farm country and high natural wildlife diversity.
Many biologists study the area's salamander species because the diversity is greater there than anywhere else in the U.S. This is thought to be because of the clean Appalachian foothill springs that abound in the area. Some of the last remaining large American Chestnut trees still grow in this region and are being used to help breed blight resistant trees. Middle Tennessee was a common destination of settlers crossing the Appalachians in the late 1700s and early 1800s. An important trading route called the Natchez Trace connected Middle Tennessee to the lower Mississippi River town of Natchez. Today the route of the Natchez Trace is a scenic highway called the Natchez Trace Parkway.
West Tennessee
West of the Highland Rim and Nashville Basin is the Gulf Coastal Plain, which includes the Mississippi embayment. The Gulf Coastal Plain is, in terms of area, the predominant land region in Tennessee. It is part of the large geographic land area that begins at the Gulf of Mexico and extends north into southern Illinois. In Tennessee, the Gulf Coastal Plain is divided into three sections that extend from the Tennessee River in the east to the Mississippi River in the west. The easternmost section consists of hilly land that runs along the western bank of the Tennessee River. This section of the Gulf Coastal Plain is about 10 miles (16 km) wide. To the west of this narrow strip of land is a wide area of rolling hills and streams that stretches all the way to Memphis. This area is called the Tennessee Bottoms or bottom land. In Memphis, the Tennessee Bottoms end in steep bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. To the west of the Tennessee Bottoms is the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, less than 300 feet (90 m) above sea level. This area of lowlands, flood plains, and swamp land is sometimes referred to as The Delta region.
Most of West Tennessee remained Indian land until the Chickasaw Cession of 1818, when the Chickasaw ceded their land between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi River. The portion of the Chickasaw Cession that lies in Kentucky is known today as the Jackson Purchase.
Public lands
Areas under the control and management of the National Park Service include:
- Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
- Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Fort Donelson National Cemetery near Dover
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Natchez Trace Parkway
- Obed Wild and Scenic River near Wartburg
- Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
- Shiloh National Cemetery and Shiloh National Military Park near Shiloh
- Stones River National Battlefield and Stones River National Cemetery near Murfreesboro
- Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
See also: List of Tennessee state parks
Climate
Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, with the exception of the higher mountains, which have a humid continental climate. The Gulf of Mexico is the dominant factor in the climate of Tennessee, with winds from the south being responsible for most of the state's annual precipitation. Generally the state has hot summers and mild to cool winters with generous precipitation throughout the year. On average the state receives 50 inches (130 cm) of precipitation throughout the year. Snowfall ranges from 5 inches (13 cm) in West Tennessee to over 16 inches (41 cm) in the higher mountains in East Tennessee.
Summers in the state are generally hot, with most of the state averaging a high of around 90°F (32°C) during the summer months. Summer nights tend to be cooler in East Tennessee. Winters tend to be mild to cool, increasing in coolness at higher elevations and in the east. Generally, for areas outside the highest mountains, the average overnight lows are near freezing for most of the state.
Tennessee does have its share of severe weather. While the state is far enough from the coast to avoid any direct impact from a hurricane, the location of the state makes it likely to be impacted from the remnants of tropical cyclones which weaken over land and eventually dump tremendous amounts of rain. The state averages around 50 days of thunderstorms per year, and some of them can be quite severe. Tornadoes are not uncommon, with West Tennessee slightly more vulnerable to tornadoes. On average, the state has 15 tornadoes per year. Tornadoes in Tennessee can be severe, and Tennessee leads the nation in the percentage of total tornadoes which have fatalities. Winter storms are an occasional problem—made worse by a lack of snow removal equipment and a population which might not be accustomed to travel in large amounts of snow—although ice storms are a more likely occurrence. Fog is a persistent problem in parts of the state, especially in much of the Smoky Mountains.
History
The area now known as Tennessee was first settled by Paleo-Indians nearly 11,000 years ago. The names of the cultural groups that inhabited the area between first settlement and the time of European contact are unknown, but several distinct cultural phases have been named by archaeologists, including Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian whose chiefdoms were the cultural predecessors of the Muscogee people who inhabited the Tennessee River Valley prior to Cherokee migration into the river's headwaters.
When Spanish explorers first visited the area, led by Hernando de Soto in 1539–43, it was inhabited by tribes of Muscogee and Yuchi people. Possibly because of European diseases devastating the Native tribes, which would have left a population vacuum, and also from expanding European settlement in the north, the Cherokee moved south from the area now called Virginia. As European colonists spread into the area, the native populations were forcibly displaced to the south and west, including all Muscogee and Yuchi peoples, the Chickasaw, and Choctaw.
Early during the American Revolutionary War, Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals (in present day Elizabethton) was attacked in 1776 by Dragging Canoe and his warring faction of Cherokee (also referred by settlers as the Chickamauga) opposed to the Transylvania Purchase and aligned with the British Loyalists. The frontier fort on the banks of the Watauga River later served as a 1780 staging area for the Overmountain Men in preparation to trek over the Great Smoky Mountains, to engage, and to later defeat the British Army at the Battle of Kings Mountain in North Carolina.
Eight counties of western North Carolina (and now part of Tennessee) broke off from that state in the late 1780s and formed the abortive State of Franklin. Efforts to obtain admission to the Union failed, and the counties had re-joined North Carolina by 1790. In an effort to encourage settlers to move west into the new territory of Tennessee, in 1787 the mother state of North Carolina ordered a road to be cut to take settlers into the Cumberland Settlements—from the south end of Clinch Mountain (in East Tennessee) to French Lick (Nashville). the Trace was called the “North Carolina Road” or “Avery’s Trace,” and sometimes “The Wilderness Road” (not to be confused with Daniel Boone's road through Cumberland Gap).
Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796 as the 16th state; it was created by taking the north and south borders of North Carolina and extending them to the Mississippi River, with one small deviation. The word Tennessee comes from the Cherokee town Tanasi, which along with its neighbor town Chota was one of the most important Cherokee towns and often referred to as the capital city of the Overhill Cherokee. The meaning of the word "tanasi" is lost (Mooney, 1900). Some believe that Tanasi may mean "River with a big bend," referring to the Cumberland.
During the administration of U.S. President Martin Van Buren, nearly 17,000 Cherokees were uprooted from their homes between 1838 and 1839 and were forced by the U.S. military to march from "emigration depots" in Eastern Tennessee (such as Fort Cass) and toward the more distant Indian Territory west of Arkansas, and an estimated 4,000 Cherokees died along the way west. In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nunna daul Isunyi—"the Trail Where We Cried." The Cherokees were not the only Native Americans forced to emigrate as a result of the Indian Removal efforts of the United States, and so the phrase "Trail of Tears" is sometimes used to refer to similar events endured by other Native American peoples, especially among the "Five Civilized Tribes." The phrase originated as a description of the earlier emigration of the Choctaw nation.
Many major battles of the American Civil War were fought in Tennessee—most of them Union victories. It was the last border state to secede from the Union when it joined the Confederate States of America on June 8, 1861. Ulysses S. Grant and the U.S. Navy captured control of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers in February 1862, and they held off the Confederate counterattack at Shiloh in April. Memphis fell to the Union in June following a naval battle on the Mississppi River in front of the city. Capture of Memphis and Nashville gave the Union control of the western and middle sections; this control was confirmed at the battle of Murfreesboro in early January 1863. But the Confederates held East Tennessee despite the strength of Unionist sentiment there, with the exception of extremely pro-Confederate Sullivan County. The Confederates besieged Chattanooga in early fall 1863, but were driven off by Grant in November. Many of the Confederate defeats can be attributed to the poor strategic vision of General Braxton Bragg, who led the Army of Tennessee from Perryville, KY to Confederate defeat at Chattanooga. The last major battles came when the Confederates invaded in November 1864 and were checked at Franklin, then totally destroyed by George Thomas at Nashville, in December. Meanwhile Andrew Johnson, a civilian, was appointed military governor by President Abraham Lincoln, and slavery was abolished.
After the war, Tennessee adopted a new constitution that abolished slavery effective February 22, 1865 and ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 18, 1866. Tennessee was the first state readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866. Because it ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, Tennessee was the only state that seceded from the Union that did not have a military governor during Reconstruction.
In 1897, the state celebrated its centennial of statehood (albeit one year late) with a great exposition in Nashville. A full scale replica of the Parthenon for the celebration and is located within Centennial Park.
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth and final state necessary to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which provided women the right to vote.
The need to create work for the unemployed during the Great Depression, the desire for rural electrification, and the desire to control the annual spring floods and improve shipping on the Tennessee River drove the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933. It quickly became the nation's largest public utility.
During World War II the availability of abundant TVA electrical power led the Manhattan Project to locate one of the principal sites for production and isolation of weapons-grade fissile material in East Tennessee. The planned community of Oak Ridge was built from scratch to provide accommodations for the facility, now named the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Tennessee celebrated its bicentennial in 1996 after a yearlong statewide celebration entitled "Tennessee 200" by opening a new state park (Bicentennial Mall) at the foot of Capitol Hill in Nashville.
Demographics
The center of population of Tennessee is located in Rutherford County, in the city of Murfreesboro [2].
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2006, Tennessee has an estimated population of 6,038,803, which is an increase of 83,058, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 349,541, or 6.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 142,266 people (that is 493,881 births minus 351,615 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 219,551 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 59,385 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 160,166 people.
In 2000, the five most common self-reported ethnic groups in the state were: American (17.3%), African American (16.4%), Irish (9.3%) (Most actually of Scots-Irish descent), English (9.1%), and German (8.3%).[3]
The state's African-American population is concentrated mainly in Western and Middle Tennessee and the cities of Memphis, Nashville, Clarksville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville.
6.6% of Tennessee's population were reported as under 5 years of age, 24.6% under 18, and 12.4% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.3% of the population.
Religion
The religious affiliations of the people of Tennessee are:
- Christian – 83%
- Baptist – 40%
- Methodist – 10%
- Church of Christ – 6%
- Presbyterian – 3%
- Church of God – 2%
- Lutheran – 2%
- Pentecostal – 2%
- Rastafarians – 1%
- Roman Catholic – 6%
- Other Christian (includes unspecified "Christian" and "Protestant") – 12%
- Other Religions – 3%
- Non-Religious – 9%
Economy
According to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2005 Tennessee's gross state product was $226,502 billion, making Tennessee the 18th largest economy in the nation.In 2003, the per capita personal income was $28,641, 36th in the nation, and 91% of the national per capita personal income of $31,472. In 2004, the median household income was $38,550, 41st in the nation, and 87% of the national median of $44,472.
Major outputs for the state include textiles, cotton, cattle, and electrical power.There are 90,000 cattle farms in Tennessee all together.Middle Tennessee's importance in terms of cotton production was increased as richer lands became available. Large-scale cultivation of cotton did not begin until the 1820s with the opening of the land between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. The upper wedge of the Mississippi Delta extends into southwestern Tennessee, and it was in this fertile section that cotton took hold.
Major corporations with headquarters in Tennessee include FedEx Corporation, AutoZone Incorporated and International Paper.
The Tennessee income tax does not apply to salaries and wages, but most income from stocks, bonds and notes receivable is taxable. All taxable dividends and interest which exceed the $1,250 single exemption or the $2,500 joint exemption are taxable at the rate of 6%. The state's sales and use tax rate for most items is 7%. Food is taxed at a lower rate of 6%, but candy, dietary supplements and prepared food are taxed at the full 7% rate. Local sales taxes are collected in most jurisdictions, at rates varying from 1.5% to 2.75%, bringing the total sales tax to between 8.5% and 9.75%, one of the highest levels in the nation. Intangible property is assessed on the shares of stock of stockholders of any loan company, investment company, insurance company or for-profit cemetery companies. The assessment ratio is 40% of the value multiplied by the tax rate for the jurisdiction. Tennessee imposes an inheritance tax on decedents' estates that exceed maximum single exemption limits ($1,000,000 for deaths 2006 and after; [4]).
Tennessee is a right to work state.
Transportation
Interstate highways
Interstate 40 crosses the state in an east-west orientation. Its branch interstate highways include I-240 in Memphis; I-440 and I-840 in Nashville; and I-140 and I-640 in Knoxville. I-26, although technically an east-west interstate, runs from the North Carolina border below Johnson City to its terminus at Kingsport. I-24 is the other east-west interstate crossing Tennessee.
In a north-south orientation are highways I-55, I-65, I-75, and I-81. Interstate 65 crosses the state through Nashville, while Interstate 75 serves Knoxville and Interstate 55 serves Memphis. Interstate 81 enters the state at Bristol and terminates at its junction with I-40 near Jefferson City. I-155 is a branch highway from I-55.
Airports
Major airports within the state include Nashville International Airport (BNA), Memphis International Airport (MEM), McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), and Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI).
Law and government
Tennessee's governor holds office for a four year term and may serve a maximum of two terms. The governor is the only official who is elected statewide, making him one of the more powerful chief executives in the nation. The state does not elect the lieutenant-governor directly, contrary to most other states; the Tennessee Senate elects its Speaker who serves as lieutenant governor.
The Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature, consists of the 33-member Senate and the 99-member House of Representatives. Senators serve four year terms, and House members serve two year terms. Each chamber chooses its own speaker. The speaker of the state Senate also holds the title of lieutenant-governor. Most executive officials are elected by the legislature.
The highest court in Tennessee is the state Supreme Court. It has a chief justice and four associate justices. No more than two justices can be from the same Grand Division. The Court of Appeals has 12 judges. The Court of Criminal Appeals has nine judges.
Tennessee's current state constitution was adopted in 1870. The state had two earlier constitutions. The first was adopted in 1796, the year Tennessee joined the union, and the second was adopted in 1834. The Tennessee Constitution outlaws martial law within its jurisdiction. This may be a result of the experience of Tennessee residents and other Southerners during the period of military control by Union (Northern) forces of the U.S. government after the American Civil War.
Politics
Tennessee politics, like that of most U.S. States, is dominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties. Like most southern states, Tennessee tends to be politically conservative and currently tilts towards the Republican Party.
While the Republicans control most of the state, Democrats have strong support in the cities of Memphis and Nashville and in parts of Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee north of Memphis. The Republicans have their greatest strength in East Tennessee, one of the few areas of the South with a Republican voting history that predates the 1960s. Much of East Tennessee has not elected a Democrat to Congress since the Civil War. In contrast, the Democrats generally dominated politics in the rest of the state until the 1960s. Since then, the Republicans gained strength in the conservative suburbs of Memphis and Nashville and moderate support throughout much of Middle Tennessee.
In the 2000 Presidential Election, the majority of Tennessee voters voted for Republican George W. Bush rather than Vice President Al Gore, a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee. Tennessee support for President Bush increased in 2004 and his margin of victory in the state increased from 4% in 2000 to 14% in 2004.
Tennessee sends nine members to the US House of Representatives, currently consisting of five Democrats and four Republicans. The Baker v. Carr decision of the US Supreme Court (1962), which established the principle of one man, one vote was based on a lawsuit over biased apportionment in the Tennessee legislature.
See also: List of Tennessee Governors, U.S. Congressional Delegations from Tennessee
Law enforcement
The State of Tennessee maintains two dedicated law enforcement entities, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, as well as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee State Parks department.
The Highway Patrol is the primary law enforcement entity that concentrates on highway safety regulations and general non-game state law enforcement and is under the jurisdiction of the Tennessee Department of Safety. The TWRA is an independent agency tasked with enforcing all wild game and fisheries regulations outside of state parks. The TBI maintains state of the art investigative facilities and is the primary state-level criminal investigative department. Tennessee State Park Rangers are responsible for all activities and law enforcement inside the Tennessee State Parks system.
Important cities and towns
The capital is Nashville, though Knoxville, Kingston, and Murfreesboro have all served as state capitals in the past. Memphis has the largest population of any city in the state, but Nashville has a larger metropolitan area. Chattanooga and Knoxville, both in the eastern part of the state near the Great Smoky Mountains, each has approximately a third of the population of Memphis or Nashville. The city of Clarksville is the fifth significant population center, some 45 miles (70 km) northwest of Nashville. The Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol metropolitan area (known as Northeast Tennessee and "Tri-Cities") is the state's fourth largest metropolitan area and is located in the extreme northeastern part of the state.
Education
Colleges and universities
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Sports
Professional teams
Miscellaneous topics
Name origin
The earliest variant of the name that became Tennessee was recorded by Captain Juan Pardo, the Spanish explorer, when he and his men passed through a Native American village named "Tanasqui" in 1567 while traveling inland from South Carolina. European settlers later encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi (or "Tanase") in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee. The town was located on a river of the same name (now known as the Little Tennessee River). It is not known whether this was the same town as the one encountered by Juan Pardo.
The meaning and origin of the word are uncertain. Some accounts suggest it is a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said to mean "meeting place", "winding river", or "river of the great bend".[5][6] According to James Mooney, the name "can not be analyzed" and its meaning is lost (Mooney, pg. 534).
The modern spelling, Tennessee, is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, who used this spelling in his official correspondence during the 1750s. In 1788, North Carolina created "Tennessee County", the third county to be established in what is now Middle Tennessee. (Tennessee County was the predecessor to current-day Montgomery County and Robertson County). When a constitutional convention met in 1796 to organize a new state out of the Southwest Territory, it adopted "Tennessee" as the name of the state.
Trivia
- The State of Tennessee has seven State Songs [7].
- On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth and clinching state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.
- USS Tennessee: Four ships of the United States Navy (and two ships of the Confederate States Navy) have been named in honor of Tennessee.
- Crossville, Tennessee is the location of the United States Chess Federation.
- Knoxville, Tennessee is home to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Tennessee was the home of three U.S. Presidents: Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and James K. Polk.
- Tennessee is the home of Miss America's 1947 and 1987 Barbara Walker from Memphis and Kellye Cash from Milan, Miss Teen USA 1997 Shelly Moore from Knoxville, Miss USA's 2000 and 2007 Lynnette Cole from Columbia and Rachel Smith from Clarksville.
- Bergeron, Paul H. Antebellum Politics in Tennessee. University of Kentucky Press, 1982.
- Bontemps, Arna. William C. Handy: Father of the Blues: An Autobiography. Macmillan Company: New York, 1941.
- Brownlow, W. G. Sketches of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Secession: With a Narrative of Personal Adventures among the Rebels (1862)
- Cartwright, Joseph H. The Triumph of Jim Crow: Tennessee’s Race Relations in the 1880s. University of Tennessee Press, 1976.
- Cimprich, John. Slavery's End in Tennessee, 1861-1865 University of Alabama, 1985.
- Finger, John R. "Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition". Indiana University Press, 2001.
- Honey, Michael K. Southern Labor and Black Civil Rights: Organizing Memphis Workers. University of Illinois Press, 1993.
- Lamon, Lester C. Blacks in Tennessee, 1791-1970. University of Tennessee Press, 1980.
- Mooney, James. "Myths of the Cherokee". 1900, reprinted Dover: New York, 1995.
- Norton, Herman. Religion in Tennessee, 1777-1945. University of Tennessee Press, 1981.
- Schaefer, Richard T. "Sociology Matters". New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006. ISBN 0-07-299775-3
- Van West, Carroll. Tennessee history: the land, the people, and the culture University of Tennessee Press, 1998.
- Van West, Carroll, ed. The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. 1998.
External links
- State Government Website
- Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
- Tennessee State Library and Archives
- USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Tennessee
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Tennessee Blue Book - All things Tennessee
- Timeline of Modern Tennessee Politics
- Tennessee State Facts
