Tennessee

Contents

• LAND AND RESOURCES
• POPULATION
• EDUCATION AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY
• GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
• ECONOMY
• HISTORY

TENNESSEE, one of the East South Central states of the U.S., bordered on the N by Kentucky and Virginia; on the E by North Carolina; on the S by Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi; and on the W by Arkansas and Missouri. The Mississippi R. forms the W boundary.

Tennessee entered the Union on June 1, 1796, as the 16th state. Many battles of the American Civil War were fought here. Tennessee had an agricultural economy until the mid-20th century, when service industries and manufacturing became predominant. Nashville, the state's capital, is noted as a center of country and western music, and Memphis, its largest city, was a major site for the development of blues and jazz music. The city of Oak Ridge is a leading center for the research and development of nuclear power. Presidents Andrew Jackson, James Polk, and Andrew Johnson lived in Tennessee. The name of the state is taken from the Tennessee R., the name of which is derived from that of a Cherokee Indian village. Tennessee is called the Volunteer State.

Tennessee, with an area of 109,158 sq km (42,146 sq mi), is the 36th largest state in the U.S.; 5.1% of its land area is owned by the federal government. The state is rhomboid in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 700 km (about 435 mi) from E to W and about 185 km (about 115 mi) from N to S. Elevations range from 54 m (178 ft), along the Mississippi R., to 2025 m (6643 ft), atop Clingmans Dome, in the E. The approximate mean elevation in the state is 274 m (900 ft).

The easternmost region of Tennessee is part of the Blue Ridge mountain system. The highest elevations and most rugged topography of the region are in the Unaka Mts., along the SE border of the state. Most of the area is heavily forested, and soils are thin, stony, moderately acid, and generally of low utility. To the W is the Valley and Ridge Region. It consists of parallel low ridges and broad intervening valleys. Valley soils found in Tennessee are moderately fertile.

Central Tennessee is made up of the Appalachian Plateau and the Interior Low Plateau. The Appalachian, or Cumberland, Plateau has relatively flat-topped summits with comparatively narrow, deep valleys. Soils are thin, sandy, and only moderately productive. The Interior Low Plateau consists of the Nashville Basin surrounded by the Highland Rim. The Highland Rim includes gently rolling plains, rounded hills (knobs), and some exceedingly irregular topography. Soils of the Highland Rim are thin, generally sandy, and not highly productive. By contrast, the Nashville Basin has some of the best soil in the state.

Most of W Tennessee is made up of the rolling hills and flat lowlands of the Gulf Coastal Plain. The soil of the region generally consists of sandy to silty loam of moderate to high fertility. The plain is bounded on the W by a narrow region composed of bluffs and bottomlands along the Mississippi R. The alluvial soil of the bottomlands, when drained, is excellent for agriculture.

Practically all of Tennessee lies in the Mississippi R. Basin and is either drained directly into the Mississippi or indirectly via the Tennessee or Cumberland rivers, which flow into the Mississippi by way of the Ohio R. Among the tributaries of the Tennessee in the state are the Holston, French Broad, Little Tennessee, Clinch, Hiwassee, Duck, and Big Sandy rivers. Major affluents of the Cumberland R. include the Stones and Harpeth rivers.

No less than 25 artificial lakes and reservoirs are held behind dams in Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has created several large and beautiful lakes, including Kentucky, Pickwick, Chickamauga, Watts Bar, Douglas, Cherokee, and Norris. Along the Cumberland R. are such artificial lakes as Barkley, Old Hickory, and Cordell Hull. Reelfoot Lake, in NW Tennessee, is the only large natural lake in the state. It was formed by the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812.

Tennessee has a temperate climate, with warm, humid summers and cool winters. Temperatures generally are cooler at higher elevations. Both Nashville and Knoxville have average annual temperatures of about 15.6° C (about 60° F). The recorded temperature in the state has ranged from —35.6° C (—32° F), in 1917 at Mountain City in the NE, to 45° C (113° F), in 1930 at Perryville in the W. Yearly precipitation varies from about 1145 to 1400 mm (about 45 to 55 in) in most parts of the state. Annual snowfall in Tennessee is generally about 100 to 200 mm (about 4 to 8 in), but parts of the mountains in the E receive some 380 mm (some 15 in) of snow per year. The annual growing season varies from approximately 150 days in the E to about 250 days in the SW.

Almost one-half of Tennessee is covered with forest, predominantly composed of deciduous trees. Among the more than 150 species of trees in the state are ash, beech, elm, chestnut, maple, tulip poplar (the state tree), walnut, cedar, fir, pine, and spruce. Flowering plants include azalea, dogwood, mountain laurel, iris (the state flower), redbud, and rhododendron.

Wild mammals in Tennessee include black bear, white-tailed deer, opossum, fox, rabbit, skunk, and squirrel. Among the state's birds are the bluebird, crow, ruffed grouse, hawk, mockingbird (the state bird), robin, and wild turkey. Thousands of migratory birds move along the Mississippi Flyway in W Tennessee. The copperhead, rattlesnake, and a few cottonmouths are the only venomous snakes found here. Game fish are plentiful in Tennessee and include bass, bream, crappie, pike, and trout.

Tennessee contains substantial deposits of a number of minerals. Bituminous coal is found in the E part of the state, and much phosphate rock is in the central region. Other mineral resources include gems, limestone, marble, zinc, cement, sand and gravel, copper, clay, and petroleum.

According to the 2000 census, Tennessee had 5,689,283 inhabitants, an increase of 16.7% over 1990. The average population density in 2000 was 138.0 people per sq mi of land area. Whites made up 80.2% of the population and blacks 16.4%; additional population groups included 15,152 American Indians, 56,662 Asians, and 2205 Native Hawaiian and othe Pacific Islanders. (These figures do not include the 1.1% of the population who reported more than one race.) A total of 123,838 persons reported being of Hispanic background. The state's largest cities were Memphis; Nashville, the capital; Knoxville; Chattanooga; and Clarksville.

According to the 1990 census, Baptists (43%) formed the single largest religious group in Tennessee, followed by Methodists (10.7%), Roman Catholics (4.7%), Presbyterians (4.3%), and Pentecostals (2.6%). In 1990 about 61% of all people in Tennessee lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest dwelled in rural areas.

Tennessee has a comprehensive statewide educational system and a variety of cultural institutions and historical sites.

In 1873 the Tennessee legislature established a free educational system for all children. By the late 1980s the state had 1535 public elementary and secondary schools with a combined enrollment of about 590,100 elementary pupils and 229,500 secondary students. About 60,000 students attended private schools. In the same period, Tennessee had 86 institutions of higher education, with a combined enrollment of more than 218,000 students. Among the most notable of these schools were the following: the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (1794); Vanderbilt University (1873), Fisk University (1866), Tennessee State University (1912), and Meharry Medical College (1876), in Nashville; Carson-Newman College (1851), in Jefferson City; the University of the South (1858), in Sewanee; Lincoln Memorial University (1897), in Harrogate; Austin Peay State University (1927), in Clarksville; Memphis State University (1912), in Memphis; and Middle Tennessee State University (1911), in Murfreesboro.

Memphis and Nashville are the homes of some of Tennessee's most notable museums. These include the Memphis Pink Palace Museum (1928; with displays on the cultural and natural history of the region), the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (1913), the National Civil Rights Museum (1991; located at the site of the assassination of the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.), and the C. H. Nash Museum-Chucalissa Archaeological Museum (1955), in Memphis; and the Tennessee State Museum (1937), the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art (1960), the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (1964), and the Cumberland Science Museum (1944), in Nashville. Also of interest are the Carroll Reece Museum (1965), in Johnson City, and the American Museum of Science & Energy (1949), in Oak Ridge. Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, and Chattanooga support symphony orchestras, and Memphis has an opera company.

A number of Tennessee's historical sites commemorate Civil War battles. The sites of such battles as Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge are part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, near Chattanooga. Other battlefields are contained in Fort Donelson National Battlefield, near Dover; Franklin Battlefield, in Franklin; Stones River National Battlefield, near Murfreesboro; Nashville Battlefield, in Nashville; and Shiloh National Military Park, near Savannah. Historical houses in Tennessee include the home of President James K. Polk, in Columbia; the Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson, near Nashville; and the home of President Andrew Johnson, in Greeneville. Also of interest are the Beale Street Historical District, where blues music was developed in the early 20th century, and Graceland, the home of the American singer Elvis Presley, both in Memphis.

Tennessee's mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, and parks provide sports enthusiasts with ideal conditions for outdoor activities such as fishing, swimming, boating, hunting, horseback riding, hiking, and golfing. Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cherokee National Forest, both in the E part of the state, are particularly popular recreational areas. Professional sports teams in Tennessee include the Tennessee Titans (football) and the Nashville Predators (ice hockey); both teams are based in Nashville. Major automobile races are held in Nashville and at the Bristol Motor Speedway and Bristol Dragway, in Bristol. Gatlinburg is a center for skiing and other winter sports.

In the early 1990s Tennessee had 197 AM and 141 FM radio broadcasting stations and 39 television stations. The first radio station in the state, WNAV in Knoxville, was licensed in 1922, and the first television station, WMCT-TV in Memphis, began operation in 1948. The Knoxville Gazette, the state's first newspaper, was initially published in Rogersville, in 1791. In the early '90s Tennessee had 28 daily newspapers with a combined daily circulation of approximately 969,500. Influential dailies included the Commercial Appeal, in Memphis; the Tennessean, in Nashville; and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Tennessee is governed under a constitution adopted in 1870, as amended. Earlier constitutions had been adopted in 1796 and 1835. An amendment to the constitution may be proposed by the state legislature or by a constitutional convention. To become effective, an amendment originating in the legislature must first be approved by a simple majority of the members of each house, then by a two-thirds majority of each house in a second session, and finally by a majority of all citizens voting in a gubernatorial election. An amendment proposed by a constitutional convention must be approved by a majority of persons voting on the issue in a general election.

The chief executive of Tennessee is a governor, who is popularly elected to a 4-year term. The governor may serve an unlimited number of terms, but not more than two in succession. The Speaker of the state Senate succeeds the governor should the latter resign, die, or be removed from office. The legislature elects the state's secretary of state, treasurer, and comptroller, and the Tennessee Supreme Court chooses the state's attorney general.

The bicameral Tennessee General Assembly is made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The 33 members of the Senate are popularly elected to 4-year terms, and the 99 members of the House are popularly elected to 2-year terms.

Tennessee's highest court, the supreme court, is composed of 5 justices. The two intermediate tribunals are the court of appeals, composed of 12 judges, and the court of criminal appeals, made up of 9 judges. The major trial courts are the chancery courts, with 33 judges, and the circuit courts, with 105 judges. Supreme court justices and major trial court judges are popularly elected to office. Intermediate appeals court judges are initially appointed by the governor and must be popularly elected to additional terms. All judges serve 8-year terms.

Tennessee has 95 counties, including Davidson Co., the government of which is combined with that of the city of Nashville. Most of the counties are governed by a county court. A majority of the state's 336 municipalities employ the mayor-council form of government.

Tennessee elects two senators and nine representatives to the U.S. Congress. The state has 11 electoral votes in presidential elections.

Tennessee was a dependably Democratic state in presidential elections until 1952, when a Republican trend began. In state and local contests eastern Tennessee is a source of Republican strength, while the central region retains its Democratic allegiance. Howard H. Baker, Jr. (1925- ), a Republican first elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee in 1966, was Senate majority leader from 1981 until his retirement in 1984. Bill Frist (1952- ), a former heart surgeon who won election to the Senate in 1994 and was reelected in 2000, took over as majority leader in January 2003. Another Republican, Lamar Alexander (1940- ), was state governor from 1979 to 1987; he headed the U.S. Department of Education (1991-93) and made two unsuccessful presidential bids (1996; 2000) before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 2002.

Albert Gore, Sr. (1907-98), a Democrat, was a three-term U.S. senator from Tennessee (1953-71). His son, Al Gore, also represented Tennessee in the U.S. Senate (1985-93) before becoming vice-president of the U.S. (1993-2001); the younger Gore's inability to carry his home state for the Democratic ticket played a key part in his failure to win an electoral-college majority in the 2000 presidential election.

Tennessee was predominantly agricultural as late as 1940. Since World War II the growth of manufacturing has been rapid, encouraged by low-cost power from the TVA, improved transportation facilities, and nearby markets. In the early 1990s manufacturing remained an important source of income and employment, along with trade, tourism and other services, and government.

TENNESSEE STATE ECONOMY (early 1990s)
STATE BUDGET
General revenue	$8.0 billion
General expenditure	$7.9 billion
Accumulated debt	$2.6 billion
STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, PER CAPITA	$1399
PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA	$12,255
POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL	15.7%
ASSETS, INSURED COMMERCIAL BANKS (268)	$44.8 billion
LABOR FORCE (CIVILIAN NONFARM)	2,153,000
Employed in wholesale and retail trade	24%
Employed in manufacturing	24%
Employed in services	22%
Employed in government	16%
MAJOR INDUSTRIES	% CONTRIBUTED TO GSP*
Commercial, financial, and professional services	50%
Manufacturing and construction	28%
Government	12%
Transportation, communications, and public utilities	8%
Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries	2%
Mining	less than 1%
Gross State Product = total value of goods and services produced in a year. Sources: U.S. government publications

PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF TENNESSEE (early 1990s)
	Quantity Produced	Value
FARM PRODUCTS		$2.1 billion
CROPS		$928 million
Soybeans	919,000 metric tons	$203 million
Tobacco	51,000 metric tons	$200 million
Hay	3.0 million metric tons	$156 million
Cotton	107,000 metric tons	$154 million
Corn	1.1 million metric tons	$103 million
Wheat	480,000 metric tons	$54 million
LIVESTOCK AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS		$1.2 billion
Cattle	302,000 metric tons	$507 million
Milk	937,000 metric tons	$324 million
Hogs	116,000 metric tons	$145 million
Chickens (broilers)	198,000 metric tons	$131 million
MINERALS		$823 million
Stone	48 million metric tons	$253 million
Coal	5.8 million metric tons	$172 million
Clays	1.1 million metric tons	$26 million
Sand, gravel	5.5 million metric tons	$22 million
Petroleum	532,000 barrels	$10 million
		Annual Payroll
MANUFACTURING		$11.1 billion
Chemicals and allied products		$1.3 billion
Apparel and textile mill products		$1.1 billion
Industrial machinery and equipment		$964 million
Transportation equipment		$882 million
Food and kindred products		$838 million
Fabricated metal products		$790 million
Printing and publishing		$766 million
Electronic equipment		$733 million
Rubber and plastics products		$651 million
Paper and allied products		$516 million
Primary metals		$426 million
Furniture and fixtures		$405 million
OTHER		$31.3 billion
Services		$8.8 billion
Government		$7.6 billion
Retail trade		$4.0 billion
Wholesale trade		$3.1 billion
Transportation, communications, and public utilities		$2.8 billion
Finance,insurance, and real estate		$2.5 billion
Construction		$1.9 billion
Sources: U.S. government publications

Farm income totals about $2.1 billion annually; agriculture contributes about 1.5% of the yearly gross state product in Tennessee. There are 87,000 farms, averaging 58 ha (143 acres) in size.

Livestock and livestock products are responsible for over half of Tennessee's yearly farm income. Cattle and calves, dairy products, and hogs account for much of the income. In addition, broiler chickens and chicken eggs are important. The Tennessee walking horse is raised in the Nashville area.

Crops contribute less than half of Tennessee's yearly farm income. Soybeans, produced mainly in the W part of the state, are the most valuable crop, followed by tobacco, which is grown in central and E Tennessee. Other important crops include hay, cotton, corn, wheat, sorghum grain, beans, tomatoes, apples, and peaches.

Forests cover nearly one-half of Tennessee. The most important commercial tree varieties are hickory, yellow pine, red and white oak, and tulip poplar. The manufacture of lumber and wood products, wood household furniture, and paper and paper products is of major economic importance.

The state's large lakes and its many small streams offer excellent opportunities for recreational fishing. The size of the commercial catch is small; however, the raising of catfish and trout is important on some farms in Tennessee.

Minerals produced in Tennessee have an annual value of some $823 million, accounting for less than 1 percent of the annual gross state product. The principal minerals are stone, bituminous coal, zinc, cement, clays, sand and gravel, and petroleum. The coal is mined in the E part of the state. Tennessee ranks high among U.S. states in the output of marble, which is quarried near Knoxville, and, along with Missouri, it is a leading producer of zinc. Tennessee is usually among the top states in the production of phosphate rock, most of which is mined in the S central part of the state. Among the state's other mineral products are copper, gems, lead, silver, and natural gas.

Manufacturing firms account for about 24% of the annual gross state product in Tennessee and together employ some 524,000 people. The state's fabricated products have an annual value added by manufacture of more than $27 billion. Memphis and Nashville are the two most important industrial centers.

Tennessee's leading manufactured goods include chemicals, clothing and textiles, industrial machinery, and transportation equipment. Tennessee is one of the leading states in the production of chemicals, such as acids, pharmaceuticals, and plastics. Leading processed foods include meat and canned and frozen fruit and vegetables, and among the industrial equipment produced are refrigeration and heating equipment and farm machinery. The leading centers of machinery production are Chattanooga and Memphis. Clothing is made in many places in the state. Motor vehicle manufacturing is one of the fastest growing industries in Tennessee. Other manufactures include electronic equipment, fabricated metal products, paper products, printed materials, and primary metals. Tennessee is one of the leading U.S. states in the production of aluminum.

Each year some 40 million travelers spend in excess of $6 billion in Tennessee. More than 8 million people each year visit the areas administered by the National Park Service. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (partly in North Carolina) is the most visited national park in the South. Most of the other national areas in Tennessee are Civil War battle sites. In addition, Tennessee maintains a system of 48 state parks. Meeman-Shelby Forest Park, near Memphis, and Montgomery Bell Park, near Nashville, are each visited by more than 1 million people annually. Many visitors to the state are attracted by the country and western music industry of the Nashville area.

Nashville is the hub of a network of about 136,215 km (about 84,640 mi) of federal, state, and local roads that serves all sections of the state. Some 1665 km (1035 mi) of interstate highways link the major cities of Tennessee. The state is served by some 3550 km (2205 mi) of Class I railroad track. Memphis and Nashville are the major rail junctions.

The Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers are the principal waterways serving the state. Memphis, on the Mississippi R., is the leading port; Nashville, on the Cumberland R., and Chattanooga, on the Tennessee R., are the state's second and third ranking ports. Tennessee has 142 airports and 57 heliports. Memphis and Nashville are the busiest air hubs, followed by Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri-Cities (Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City).

Electricity generating plants in Tennessee have a total capacity of 17 million kw and produce some 73.9 billion kwh of electricity each year. Although Tennessee ranks fifth among the U.S. states in hydroelectric capacity, 68% of its electricity is generated from fossil fuels, chiefly coal. Hydroelectric facilities supply about 13% of the power, and nuclear installations provide 19%. The TVA generates almost all of the state's electric power. Among the largest of the TVA plants are those at Memphis, New Johnsonville, Gallatin, Cumberland, and Kingston.

Evidence of the prehistoric Mound Builders exists in the state. Later, several Indian tribes hunted in and claimed portions of the area that is now Tennessee. Chief among them were the Shawnee, who abandoned the area before the first Europeans arrived; the Chickasaw, who claimed the western part of the area but did not live there; the Creek, who hunted in the midsection; and the Cherokee, who claimed the central and eastern areas but lived only east of the Holston and Tennessee rivers, mainly along and south of the Little Tennessee River.

The Tennessee area was explored by the Spanish in the mid-16th century and by the English and French in the late 17th century. The French explorer Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, built a fort near the mouth of the Hatchie River in 1682. Hunters began crossing the mountains from the British colonies on the Atlantic coast in the 1760s, and they were soon followed by permanent settlers. By the early 1770s, dozens of families from Virginia and North Carolina were living in the valleys of the Holston, Watauga, and Nolichucky rivers. Far from the effective jurisdiction of the colonial authorities, they temporarily met their political needs by forming (1772) a local government known as the Watauga Association. Some settlers, led by James Robertson (1742—1814) and supported by the Transylvania Co. speculator Richard Henderson, pushed westward in 1779—80 to settle the middle part of the state along the Cumberland River near French Lick, which later became Nashville.

After the American Revolution, the eastern settlers organized (1784) the State of Franklin with John Sevier (1745—1815) as governor. North Carolina gained control over the region in 1788, then ceded it to the U.S. government, which organized it as the Territory South of the River Ohio in 1790.

The Franklin experience and participation in territorial government soon encouraged Tennesseans to seek statehood. In January 1796 a convention held in Knoxville drafted a constitution, and Tennessee was admitted to the Union the following June. Sevier was elected governor, William Blount and William Cocke (1748—1828) were chosen U.S. senators, and Andrew Jackson became a congressman.

Much of the frontier Indian fighting in Tennessee ended with the Revolution, but sporadic attacks by the Cherokee and Creek, especially on the exposed Cumberland settlements, continued until Spain withdrew support for the Indians in 1795. An extended diplomatic struggle continued for title to Indian lands. By a series of treaties between 1770 and 1835, the state gradually acquired all of the disputed territory, and the Indians were forced to move farther west. In the early 19th century, plantations and slavery became characteristic of the middle and western sections of the state, but small farms and few slaves were typical of the eastern section. Tennessee sided with the South in the sectional controversy preceding the American Civil War but tried to avoid secession, giving its electoral votes to the Constitutional Union party in the crucial election of 1860. When hostilities broke out the following year, Gov. Isham Harris (1818—97) led a reluctant Tennessee into the Confederacy.

Tennessee was a principal Civil War battleground. Major battles ensued at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Franklin, and Nashville. The Tennessee Unionist Andrew Johnson was military governor of the occupied state from 1862 until 1865, when he became vice-president and later president of the U.S.

After the war an unpopular minority government led by William G. "Parson" Brownlow (1805—77) conciliated the Union victors, thus enabling the state to escape prolonged military occupation. The Democrats dominated state politics in the late 19th century as Tennessee tried to relieve its poverty and supplement its agriculture through industrialization and by exploiting its resources in timber, coal, iron, and copper.

Although deeply factionalized, the Democrats controlled the state government in the early part of the 20th century; after World War II, Tennessee became a viable two-party state, electing Republicans to the U.S. House and Senate even when the governors were Democrats.

The Tennessee Valley Authority alleviated economic distress during the 1930s and prepared the state for future industrial growth. Oak Ridge was one of the leading sites for the development of the atomic bomb, and rapid industrialization followed World War II. As a result, Tennessee in the 1980s and '90s was confronted with the need to counterbalance its industrial growth with stricter environmental controls. In March 1997 flooding of the Ohio River and its tributaries caused damage to many towns in the state.

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The highest (Mt. Whitney, 14,494 feet) and the lowest (Death Valley, -282 feet) points in the lower 48 are only about 85 miles apart in California.