"Tennessee Flat Top Box" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Cash. It was released as a single in late 1961, reaching 11 on the Billboard country singles charts and 84 on the pop charts.^[1] The song's name refers to a steel stringed acoustic guitar.

Content[link]

The song is a story of a little boy aspiring to be a country singer, who starts his career at a local cabaret in a South Texas border town. He has no physical abilities, only his ability to play the guitar, which he loves so much that making money is secondary to him. He becomes so popular that girls "from there to Austin" would secretly leave home and pawn jewelry for money to make the trip to hear him play.

Chart performance[link]

Rosanne Cash version[link]

Cash's daughter Rosanne Cash recorded a cover version of "Tennessee Flat Top Box" in 1987 on her album King's Record Shop. Released in November 1987 as that album's third single, it was also the third of four consecutive number-one country hits from that album,^[2] peaking in February 1988. Randy Scruggs played the acoustic guitar solos on it.^[3]

Rosanne Cash recorded the song at the suggestion of her then-husband and fellow country singer, Rodney Crowell. When she recorded the song, she was unaware that her father wrote it, and assumed that it was in the public domain.^[4] Johnny later told Rosanne that her success with the song was "one of [his] greatest fulfillments."^[4] The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll cited Rosanne's cover as a "healing of her strained relationship with her dad."^[5]

Chart performance[link]

References[link]

v t e Johnny Cash Studio albums With His Hot and Blue Guitar Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous The Fabulous Johnny Cash Greatest! Sings Hank Williams Now, There Was a Song! Now Here's Johnny Cash The Sound of Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash I Walk the Line Orange Blossom Special Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness is You Old Golden Throat More of Old Golden Throat Hello, I'm Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love Any Old Wind That Blows Ragged Old Flag Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver Rockabilly Blues The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Rainbow Johnny Cash is Coming to Town Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series Water from the Wells of Home Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life American Recordings Unchained American III: Solitary Man American IV: The Man Comes Around American V: A Hundred Highways American VI: Ain't No Grave Concept albums Songs of Our Soil Ride This Train The Lure of the Grand Canyon Blood, Sweat and Tears Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Sings the Ballads of the True West From Sea to Shining Sea America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Children's Album The Rambler Gospel albums Hymns by Johnny Cash Hymns from the Heart The Holy Land Sings Precious Memories A Believer Sings the Truth Believe in Him My Mother's Hymn Book Christmas albums The Christmas Spirit The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Classic Christmas Johnny Cash Country Christmas Collaborations Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter Johnny Cash and His Woman The Legend of Jesse James The Survivors Live Highwayman Heroes Class of '55 Highwayman 2 The Road Goes on Forever VH1 Storytellers Live albums At Folsom Prison At San Quentin The Johnny Cash Show På Österåker Strawberry Cake At Madison Square Garden A Concert Behind Prison Walls Soundtrack albums I Walk the Line Little Fauss and Big Halsy The Gospel Road Return to the Promised Land Compilation albums Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash The World of Johnny Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down International Superstar Five Feet High and Rising Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954–1958 The Man in Black 1959–1962 Come Along and Ride this Train Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963–1969 16 Biggest Hits Love, God and Murder The Essential Johnny Cash Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash Personal File The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II Songs "25 Minutes to Go" "Any Old Wind That Blows" "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" "Big River" "Blistered" "A Boy Named Sue" "Busted" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Cocaine Blues" "Cry! Cry! Cry!" "Daddy Sang Bass" "Dark as a Dungeon" "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" "Engine 143" "Flesh and Blood" "Folsom Prison Blues" "Get Rhythm" "Goodnight, Irene" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "Greystone Chapel" "Guess Things Happen That Way" "Hey Porter" "Home of the Blues" "Hurt" "I Still Miss Someone" "I Walk the Line" "If I Were a Carpenter" "It Ain't Me Babe" "In My Life" "In the Jailhouse Now" "Jackson" "Kate" "The Man Comes Around" "Man in Black" "The Matador" "Oh Lonesome Me" "One Piece at a Time" "Oney" "Orange Blossom Special" "The One on the Right Is on the Left" "Remember the Alamo" "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" "Ring of Fire" "Rock Island Line" "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" "Tennessee Flat Top Box" "A Thing Called Love" "Understand Your Man" "What Is Truth" "What'd I Say" Family June Carter Cash John Carter Cash Rosanne Cash Carlene Carter Vivian Liberto Tommy Cash Carter Family Related articles Discography Sun Records discography Highwaymen Walk the Line Book:Johnny Cash

State of Tennessee
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Volunteer State
Motto(s): Agriculture and Commerce
Official language(s)	English
Demonym	Tennessean
Capital	Nashville
Largest city	Memphis
Largest metro area	Nashville Metropolitan Area
Area	Ranked 36th in the U.S.
- Total	42,143 sq mi (109,247 km2)
- Width	120 miles (195 km)
- Length	440 miles (710 km)
- % water	2.2
- Latitude	34° 59′ N to 36° 41′ N
- Longitude	81° 39′ W to 90° 19′ W
Population	Ranked 17th in the U.S.
- Total	6,346,105 (2010); 6,403,353 (2011 est)[1]
- Density	153.9/sq mi  (398.6/km2) Ranked 21st in the U.S.
Elevation
- Highest point	Clingmans Dome[2][3] 6,643 ft (2025 m)
- Mean	900 ft  (270 m)
- Lowest point	Mississippi River at Mississippi border[2][3] 178 ft (54 m)
Before statehood	Southwest Territory
Admission to Union	June 1, 1796 (16th)
Governor	Bill Haslam (R)
Lieutenant Governor	Ron Ramsey (R)
Legislature	General Assembly
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Lamar Alexander (R) Bob Corker (R)
U.S. House delegation	7 Republicans, 2 Democrats (list)
Time zones
- East Tennessee	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
- Middle and West	Central: UTC-6/-5
Abbreviations	TN Tenn. US-TN
Website	www.tennessee.gov

Tennessee State symbols
The Flag of Tennessee.
250px
The Seal of Tennessee.
Animate insignia
Amphibian	Salamander
Bird(s)	Mockingbird
Fish	Channel Catfish Bass
Flower(s)	Iris
Insect	Honeybee
Reptile	Eastern Box Turtle
Tree	Tulip Poplar
Inanimate insignia
Gemstone	Tennessee River Pearl
Rock	Limestone
Song(s)	7 Songs
Tartan	Tennessee State Tartan
Route marker(s)
[[File:|125px|Tennessee Route Marker]]
State Quarter
Released in 2002
Lists of United States state insignia

Tennessee (ⁱ/tɛnɨˈsiː/) (Cherokee: ᏔᎾᏏ) is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. Tennessee is the 36th most extensive and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 626,144.^[4] Memphis is the state's largest city, with a population of 670,902.^[5]

The state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians.^[6] What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, and the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.^[7]

Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state, and more soldiers for the Union Army than any other Southern state.^[7] Tennessee has seen some of the nation's worst racial strife, from the formation of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski in 1866 to the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968. In the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from an agrarian economy to a more diversified economy, aided at times by federal entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the early 1940s, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was established to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the world's first atomic bomb.

Tennessee has played a critical role in the development of rock and roll and early blues music. Beale Street in Memphis is considered by many to be the birthplace of the blues, with musicians such as W.C. Handy performing in its clubs as early as 1909.^[8] Memphis was also home to Sun Records, where musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich began their recording careers, and where rock and roll took shape in the 1950s.^[9] The 1927 Victor recording sessions in Bristol generally mark the beginning of the country music genre,^[10] and the rise of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1930s helped make Nashville the center of the country music recording industry.^[11]

Tennessee's major industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans, and cattle are the state's primary agricultural products,^[12] and major manufacturing exports include chemicals, transportation equipment, and electrical equipment.^[13] The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation's most visited national park,^[14] is headquartered in the eastern part of the state, and a section of the Appalachian Trail roughly follows the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Other major tourist attractions include Elvis Presley's Graceland in Memphis and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

Geography[link]

Map of Tennessee.

Tennessee borders eight other states: Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi on the south; Arkansas and Missouri on the Mississippi River to the west. Tennessee ties Missouri as the state bordering the most other states. The state is trisected by the Tennessee River.

The highest point in the state is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet (2,025 m).^[15] Clingmans Dome, which lies on Tennessee's eastern border, is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. The state line between Tennessee and North Carolina crosses the summit. The lowest point is the Mississippi River at the Mississippi state line. The geographical center of the state is located in Murfreesboro.

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. Tennessee is home to the most caves in the United States, with over 8,350 caves registered to date.

East Tennessee[link]

Map of Tennessee highlighting East Tennessee

The Blue Ridge area lies on the eastern edge of Tennessee, bordering North Carolina. This region of Tennessee is characterized by the high mountains and rugged terrain of the western Blue Ridge Mountains, which are subdivided into several subranges, namely the Great Smoky Mountains, the Bald Mountains, the Unicoi Mountains, the Unaka Mountains and Roan Highlands, and the Iron Mountains.

The average elevation of the Blue Ridge area is 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. Clingmans Dome, the state's highest point, is located in this region. The Blue Ridge area was never more than sparsely populated, and today much of it is protected by the Cherokee National Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and several federal wilderness areas and state parks.

Stretching west from the Blue Ridge for approximately 55 miles (89 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. In this valley are numerous towns and two of the region's three urban areas, Knoxville, the 3rd largest city in the state, and Chattanooga, the 4th largest city in the state.

The Cumberland Plateau rises to the west of the Tennessee Valley; this area is covered with flat-topped mountains separated by sharp valleys. The elevation of the Cumberland Plateau ranges from 1,500 to over 2,000 feet (450 to over 600 m) above sea level.

Middle Tennessee[link]

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; it is located primarily in Southwestern Kentucky. The Nashville Basin is characterized by rich, fertile farm country and great diversity of natural wildlife.

Middle Tennessee was a common destination of settlers' crossing the Appalachians from Virginia in the late 18th century and early 19th century. An important trading route called the Natchez Trace, created and used for many generations by Native Americans, connected Middle Tennessee to the lower Mississippi River town of Natchez. The route of the Natchez Trace was used as the basis for a scenic highway called the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Some of the last remaining large American Chestnut trees grow in this region. They are being used to help breed blight-resistant trees.

Middle Tennessee is one of the primary state population and transportation centers along with the heart of state government. Nashville (the capitol), Clarksville and Murfreesboro are its largest cities. Fifty percent of the US population is within 600 miles of Nashville.^[16] US Interstate Highways I-24, I-40 and I-65 trisect the Division.

West Tennessee[link]

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, about 10 miles (16 km) in width, consists of hilly land that runs along the western bank of the Tennessee River. To the west of this narrow strip of land is a wide area of rolling hills and streams that stretches all the way to the Mississippi River; this area is called the Tennessee Bottoms or bottom land. In Memphis, the Tennessee Bottoms end in steep bluffs overlooking the 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. Memphis is the economic center of West Tennessee and the largest city in the state.

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[link]

View from atop Mount Le Conte in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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
• Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
• Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
• Foothills Parkway
• 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

Fifty-four state parks, covering some 132,000 acres (530 km²) as well as parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cherokee National Forest, and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park are in Tennessee. Sportsmen and visitors are attracted to Reelfoot Lake, originally formed by the New Madrid earthquake; stumps and other remains of a once dense forest, together with the lotus bed covering the shallow waters, give the lake an eerie beauty.

Climate[link]

Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, with the exception of some of the higher elevations in the Appalachians, which are classified as having a mountain temperate climate or a humid continental climate due to cooler temperatures.^[17] 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 annually. Snowfall ranges from 5 inches (13 cm) in West Tennessee to over 16 inches (41 cm) in the higher mountains in East Tennessee.^[18]

Summers in the state are generally hot and humid, with most of the state averaging a high of around 90 °F (32 °C) during the summer months. Winters tend to be mild to cool, increasing in coolness at higher elevations. Generally, for areas outside the highest mountains, the average overnight lows are near freezing for most of the state. The highest recorded temperature is 113 °F (45 °C) at Perryville on August 9, 1930 while the lowest recorded temperature is −32 °F (−36 °C) at Mountain City on December 30, 1917.

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 can cause significant rainfall, such as Tropical Storm Chris in 1982.^[19] The state averages around 50 days of thunderstorms per year, some of which can be severe with large Hail and damaging winds. Tornadoes are possible throughout the state, with West and Middle Tennessee the most vulnerable. Occasionally, strong or violent tornadoes occur.^[20] On average, the state has 15 tornadoes per year.^[21] Tornadoes in Tennessee can be severe, and Tennessee leads the nation in the percentage of total tornadoes which have fatalities.^[22] Winter storms are an occasional problem, 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[link]

Early history[link]

Mississippian-period shell gorget,Castalian Springs, Sumner County

Reconstruction of Fort Loudon, the first British settlement in Tennessee

The area now known as Tennessee was first inhabited by Paleo-Indians nearly 12,000 years ago.^[24] 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 (8000–1000 BC), Woodland (1000 BC–1000 AD), and Mississippian (1000–1600 AD), 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.

The first recorded European excursions into what is now called Tennessee were three expeditions led by Spanish explorers, namely Hernando de Soto in 1540, Tristan de Luna in 1559, and Juan Pardo in 1567. Pardo recorded the name "Tanasqui" from a local Indian village, which evolved to the state's current name. At that time, Tennessee 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.

The first British settlement in what is now Tennessee was Fort Loudoun, near present-day Vonore. Fort Loudoun became the westernmost British outpost to that date. The fort was designed by John William Gerard de Brahm and constructed by forces under British Captain Raymond Demeré. After its completion, Captain Raymond Demeré relinquished command on August 14, 1757 to his brother, Captain Paul Demeré. Hostilities erupted between the British and the neighboring Overhill Cherokees, and a siege of Fort Loudoun ended with its surrender on August 7, 1760. The following morning, Captain Paul Demeré and a number of his men were killed in an ambush nearby, and the most of the rest of the garrison was taken prisoner.^[25]

In the 1760s, long hunters from Virginia explored much of East and Middle Tennessee, and the first permanent European settlers began arriving late in the decade. The vast majority of 18th century settlers were English or of primarily English descent but nearly 20% of them were also Scotch-Irish.^[26] These settlers formed the Watauga Association, a community built on lands leased from the Cherokee peoples.

During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals (in present-day Elizabethton) was attacked (1776) by Dragging Canoe and his warring faction of Cherokee who were aligned with the British Loyalists. These renegade Cherokee were referred to by settlers as the Chickamauga. They opposed North Carolina's annexation of the Washington District and the concurrent settling of the Transylvania Colony further north and west. The lives of many settlers were spared from the initial warrior attacks through the warnings of Dragging Canoe's cousin, Nancy Ward. 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 Appalachian Mountains, to engage, and to later defeat the British Army at the Battle of Kings Mountain in North Carolina.

Three counties of the Washington District (now part of Tennessee) broke off from North Carolina in 1784 and formed the State of Franklin. Efforts to obtain admission to the Union failed, and the counties (now numbering eight) had re-joined North Carolina by 1789. North Carolina ceded the area to the federal government in 1790, after which it was organized into the Southwest Territory. In an effort to encourage settlers to move west into the new territory, 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 (although it should not be confused with Daniel Boone's "Wilderness Road" through the Cumberland Gap).

Statehood (1796)[link]

Tennessee was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796 as the 16th state. It was the first state created from territory under the jurisdiction of the United States federal government. Apart from the former Thirteen Colonies only Vermont and Kentucky predate Tennessee's statehood, and neither was ever a federal territory.^[27] The state boundaries, according to the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, Article I, Section 31, stated that the beginning point for identifying the boundary was the extreme height of the Stone Mountain, at the place where the line of Virginia intersects it, and basically ran the extreme heights of mountain chains through the Appalachian Mountains separating North Carolina from Tennessee past the Indian towns of Cowee and Old Chota, thence along the main ridge of the said mountain (Unicoi Mountain) to the southern boundary of the state; all the territory, lands and waters lying west of said line are included in the boundaries and limits of the newly formed state of Tennessee. Part of the provision also stated that the limits and jurisdiction of the state would include future land acquisition, referencing possible land trade with other states, or the acquisition of territory from west of the Mississippi River.

During the administration of U.S. President Martin Van Buren, nearly 17,000 Cherokees—along with approximately 2,000 black slaves owned by 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) toward the more distant Indian Territory west of Arkansas.^[28] During this relocation an estimated 4,000 Cherokees died along the way west.^[29] 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.

Civil War and Reconstruction[link]

In February 1861, secessionists in Tennessee's state government—led by Governor Isham Harris—sought voter approval for a convention to sever ties with the United States, but Tennessee voters rejected the referendum by a 54–46% margin. The strongest opposition to secession came from East Tennessee (which later tried to form a separate Union-aligned state). Following the Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter in April and Lincoln's call for troops from Tennessee and other states in response, Governor Isham Harris began military mobilization, submitted an ordinance of secession to the General Assembly, and made direct overtures to the Confederate government. The Tennessee legislature ratified an agreement to enter a military league with the Confederate States on May 7, 1861. On June 8, 1861, with people in Middle Tennessee having significantly changed their position, voters approved a second referendum calling for secession, becoming the last state to do so.

Many major battles of the American Civil War were fought in Tennessee—most of them Union victories. Ulysses S. Grant and the U.S. Navy captured control of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers in February 1862. They held off the Confederate counterattack at Shiloh in April. Memphis fell to the Union in June, following a naval battle on the Mississippi River in front of the city The 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 and by the subsequent Tullahoma Campaign.

The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864

Confederates held East Tennessee despite the strength of Unionist sentiment there, with the exception of extremely pro-Confederate Sullivan County. The Confederates besieged Chattanooga during the Chattanooga Campaign 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, Kentucky to Confederate defeat at Chattanooga.

The last major battles came when the Confederates invaded Middle Tennessee in November 1864 and were checked at Franklin, then completely diminished by George Thomas at Nashville in December. Meanwhile the civilian Andrew Johnson was appointed military governor of the state by President Abraham Lincoln.

When the Emancipation Proclamation was announced, Tennessee was mostly held by Union forces. Thus, Tennessee was not among the states enumerated in the Proclamation, and the Proclamation did not free any slaves there. Nonetheless, enslaved African Americans escaped to Union lines to gain freedom without waiting for official action. Old and young, men, women and children camped near Union troops. Thousands of former slaves ended up fighting on the Union side, nearly 200,000 in total across the South, and some 30,000 blacks fought for the Confederates.

Tennessee's legislature approved an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting slavery on February 22, 1865.^[30] Voters in the state approved the amendment in March.^[31] It also ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (abolishing slavery in every state) on April 7, 1865.

In 1864, Andrew Johnson (a War Democrat from Tennessee) was elected Vice President under Abraham Lincoln. He became President after Lincoln's assassination in 1865. Under Johnson's lenient re-admission policy, Tennessee was the first of the seceding states to have its elected members readmitted to the U.S. Congress, on July 24, 1866. Because Tennessee had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, it was the only one of the formerly secessionist states that did not have a military governor during the Reconstruction period.

After the formal end of Reconstruction, the struggle over power in Southern society continued. Through violence and intimidation against freedmen and their allies, White Democrats regained political power in Tennessee and other states across the South in the late 1870s and 1880s. Over the next decade, the state legislature passed increasingly restrictive laws to control African Americans. In 1889 the General Assembly passed four laws described as electoral reform, with the cumulative effect of essentially disfranchising most African Americans in rural areas and small towns, as well as many poor Whites. Legislation included implementation of a poll tax, timing of registration, and recording requirements. Tens of thousands of taxpaying citizens were without representation for decades into the 20th century.^[32] Disfranchising legislation accompanied Jim Crow laws passed in the late 19th century, which imposed segregation in the state. In 1900, African Americans made up nearly 24% of the state's population, and numbered 480,430 citizens who lived mostly in the central and western parts of the state.^[33]

In 1897, Tennessee celebrated its centennial of statehood (though one year late of the 1896 anniversary) with a great exposition in Nashville. A full scale replica of the Parthenon was constructed for the celebration, located in what is now Nashville's Centennial Park.

20th century[link]

A group of workers at Norris Dam construction camp site. The TVA was formed as part of Roosevelt's New Deal legislation.

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. Disfranchising voter registration requirements continued to keep most African Americans and many poor whites, both men and women, off the voter rolls.

The need to create work for the unemployed during the Great Depression, a desire for rural electrification, the need to control annual spring flooding and improve shipping capacity on the Tennessee River were all factors that drove the federal creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933. Through the power of the TVA projects, Tennessee quickly became the nation's largest public utility supplier.

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 facilities and workers. These sites are now Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the East Tennessee Technology Park.

Despite recognized effects of limiting voting by poor whites, successive legislatures expanded the reach of the disfranchising laws until they covered the state. In 1949 political scientist V. O. Key Jr. argued that "the size of the poll tax did not inhibit voting as much as the inconvenience of paying it. County officers regulated the vote by providing opportunities to pay the tax (as they did in Knoxville), or conversely by making payment as difficult as possible. Such manipulation of the tax, and therefore the vote, created an opportunity for the rise of urban bosses and political machines. Urban politicians bought large blocks of poll tax receipts and distributed them to blacks and whites, who then voted as instructed."^[32]

In 1953 state legislators amended the state constitution, removing the poll tax. In many areas both blacks and poor whites still faced subjectively applied barriers to voter registration that did not end until after passage of national civil rights legislation, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965.^[32]

Tennessee celebrated its bicentennial in 1996. With a yearlong statewide celebration entitled "Tennessee 200", it opened a new state park (Bicentennial Mall) at the foot of Capitol Hill in Nashville.

Demographics[link]

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Tennessee was 6,403,353 on July 1, 2011, a 0.90% increase since the 2010 United States Census.^[34] The center of population of Tennessee is located in Rutherford County, in the city of Murfreesboro.^[35]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2006, Tennessee had 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. 20% of Tennesseans were born outside the South, compared to a figure of 13.5% in 1990.^[36]

In recent years, Tennessee has received an influx of people relocating from several northern states, California, and Florida, for the low cost of living, and the booming healthcare and automobile industries. Metropolitan Nashville is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country due in part to these factors.

At the 2010 census, 77.6% of the population was White (75.6% non-Hispanic white), 16.7% African American or Black, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 1.7% from two or more races. 4.6% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (they may be of any race).^[37]

Tennessee Population Density Map.

In 2000, the five most common self-reported ethnic groups in the state were: American (17.3%), African American (16.4%), Irish (9.3%), English (9.1%), and German (8.3%).^[38] Most Tennesseans who self-identify as having American ancestry are of English and Scotch-Irish ancestry. An estimated 21–24% of Tennesseans are of predominantly English ancestry.^[39][40] In the 1980 census 1,435,147 Tennesseans claimed "English" or "mostly English" ancestry out of a state population of 3,221,354 making them 45% of the state at the time.^[41]

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.

On June 19, 2010, the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs granted state recognition to six Indian tribes which was later repealed by the state's Attorney General because the action by the commission was illegal. The tribes were as follows:

• The Cherokee Wolf Clan in western Tennessee, with members in Carroll County, Benton, Decatur, Henderson, Henry, Weakley, Gibson and Madison counties.
• The Chikamaka Band based historically on the South Cumberland Plateau, said to have members in Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Sequatchie, Warren and Coffee counties.
• Central Band of Cherokee, also known as the Cherokee of Lawrence County, Tennessee.
• United Eastern Lenapee Nation of Winfield, Tennessee.
• The Tanasi Council, said to have members in Shelby, Dyer, Gibson, Humphreys and Perry counties; and
• Remnant Yuchi Nation, with members in Sullivan, Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Unicoi, Johnson and Washington counties.^[42]

Religion[link]

The religious affiliations of the people of Tennessee are: ^[43]

• Christian: 82%
  • Baptist: 39%
  • Methodist: 10%
  • Church of Christ: 6%
  • Roman Catholic: 6%
  • Presbyterian: 3%
  • Church of God: 2%
  • Lutheran: 2%
  • Pentecostal: 2%
  • Other Christian (includes unspecified "Christian" and "Protestant"): 12%
• Islam: 1%^[44]
• Other religions: 2%
• Non-religious: 9%

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Southern Baptist Convention with 1,414,199; the United Methodist Church with 393,994; the Churches of Christ with 216,648; and the Roman Catholic Church with 183,161.^[45]

Tennessee is home to several Protestant denominations, such as the National Baptist Convention (headquartered in Nashville), the Church of God in Christ and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (both headquartered in Memphis), the Church of God and The Church of God of Prophecy (headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee). The Free Will Baptist denomination is headquartered in Antioch, and its main Bible college is in Nashville. The Southern Baptist Convention maintains its general headquarters in Nashville. Publishing houses of several denominations are located in Nashville.

Economy[link]

According to the 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. Tennessee has over 82,000 farms, roughly 59 percent of which accommodate beef cattle.^[46] Although cotton was an early crop in Tennessee, large-scale cultivation of the fiber 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. Currently West Tennessee is also heavily planted in soybeans, focusing on the northwest corner of the state.^[47]

Major corporations with headquarters in Tennessee include FedEx Corporation, AutoZone Incorporated and International Paper, all based in Memphis; Pilot Corporation and Regal Entertainment Group, based in Knoxville; Eastman Chemical Company, based in Kingsport, the North American headquarters of Nissan, based in Franklin; and the head-quarters of Caterpillar Financial (the finance division of the well known mining company Caterpillar) based in Nashville. Tennessee is also the location of the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant and a $1.2 Billion polysilicon production facility by Hemlock Semiconductor Group in Clarksville.

Tennessee is a right to work state, as are most of its Southern neighbors. Unionization has historically been low and continues to decline as in most of the U.S. generally. As of November 2011, the state had an unemployment rate of 8.4%.^[48]

Tax[link]

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 5.5%, 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.)^[49]

Transportation[link]

Interstate highways[link]

The Hernando de Soto Bridge spans the Mississippi River in Memphis

Interstate 40 crosses the state in a west-east orientation. Its branch interstate highways include I-240 in Memphis; I-440 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 an east-west interstate that runs cross-state from Chattanooga to Clarksville. Interstate 22 is an east-west interstate that will connect with I-240 or I-269 in Memphis to I-65 in Birmingham. 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 Chattanooga and Knoxville and Interstate 55 serves Memphis. Interstate 81 enters the state at Bristol and terminates at its junction with I-40 near Dandridge. I-155 is a branch highway from I-55. The only spur highway of I-75 in Tennessee is I-275, which is in Knoxville.

Airports[link]

Major airports within the state include Nashville International Airport (BNA), Memphis International Airport (MEM), McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI), and McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport (MKL), in Jackson. Because Memphis International Airport is the major hub for FedEx Corporation, it is the world's largest air cargo operation.

Railroads[link]

Memphis and Newbern, Tennessee, are served by the Amtrak City of New Orleans line on its run between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Nashville is served by the Music City Star commuter rail service.

[edit] Governance

Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.

Tennessee's governor holds office for a four-year term and may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. The governor is the only official who is elected statewide. Unlike most states, the state does not elect the lieutenant governor directly; 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. Constitutional officials in the legislative branch are elected by a joint session of 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 Supreme Court of Tennessee also appoints the Attorney General, a practice that is not found in any of the other 49 states in the Union. Both the Court of Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals have 12 judges.^[50] A number of local, circuit, and federal courts provide judicial services.

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[link]

Tennessee politics, like that of most U.S. states, is dominated by the Republican and the Democratic Parties. Except for in two nationwide Republican landslides of the 1920s (in 1920, when Tennessee narrowly supported Warren G. Harding over Ohio Governor James Cox, and in 1928, when it more decisively voted for Herbert Hoover over New York Governor Al Smith), the state was part of the Democratic Solid South until the 1950s, when it twice voted for Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. Tennessee has since voted for Republicans in most presidential elections, though it tends to be somewhat more moderate than its staunchly conservative neighbors to the south.^{[citation needed]}

While the Republicans control slightly more than half of the state, Democrats have moderate support in parts of rural Middle Tennessee and northern West Tennessee and have strong support in the cities of Nashville and Memphis. The latter area includes a large African-American population.^[51] Historically, Republicans had their greatest strength in East Tennessee prior to the 1960s. Tennessee's 1st / 2nd congressional districts based in East Tennessee are one of the few historically Republican districts in the South; the 1st has been in Republican hands continuously since 1881, and the 2nd district has been held continuously by Republicans since 1873.

In contrast, long disfranchisement of African Americans and their proportion as a minority (16.45% in 1960) meant that white Democrats generally dominated politics in the rest of the state until the 1960s. The GOP in Tennessee was essentially a sectional party. Former Gov. Winfield Dunn and former U.S. Sen. Bill Brock wins in 1970 built the Republican Party into a competitive party for the statewide victory. Tennessee has selected governors from different parties since 1970.

In the 2000 presidential election, Vice President Al Gore, a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, failed to carry his home state, an unusual occurrence. Support for Republican George W. Bush increased in 2004, with his margin of victory in the state increasing from 4% in 2000 to 14% in 2004.^[52] Democratic presidential nominees from Southern states (such as Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton) usually fare better than their Northern counterparts do in Tennessee, especially among split-ticket voters outside the metropolitan areas.

Tennessee sends nine members to the US House of Representatives, of whom there are seven Republicans and two Democrats. Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey is the first Republican speaker of the state Senate in 140 years. In 2008 elections, the Republican party gained control of both houses of the Tennessee state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. Now considered as 30% of the state's electorate are independents.^[53]

The Baker v. Carr (1962) decision of the US Supreme Court, which established the principle of one man, one vote, was based on a lawsuit over rural-biased apportionment of seats in the Tennessee legislature.^[54][55][56] This significant ruling led to an increased (and proportional) prominence in state politics by urban and, eventually, suburban, legislators and statewide officeholders in relation to their population within the state. The ruling also applied to numerous other states long controlled by rural minorities, such as Alabama.