The Flag of Tennessee
Tennessee ( TEN -iss-EE , TEN -iss-ee ), officially the State of Tennessee , is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States . It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia , Alabama , and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions of East , Middle , and West Tennessee . Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Other major cities include Memphis , Knoxville , Chattanooga , and Clarksville . Tennessee's population as of the 2020 United States census is approximately 6.9 million.
Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association , a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachian Mountains . Its name derives from Tanasi (ᏔᎾᏏ ), a Cherokee town in the eastern part of the state that existed before the first European American settlement. Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later the Southwest Territory , before its admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. It earned the nickname "The Volunteer State" early in its history due to a strong tradition of military service. A slave state until the American Civil War , Tennessee was politically divided, with its western and middle parts supporting the Confederacy and the eastern region harboring pro -Union sentiment. As a result, Tennessee was the last state to secede and the first readmitted to the Union after the war.
During the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to a more diversified economy. This was aided in part by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the city of Oak Ridge , which was established during World War II to house the Manhattan Project 's uranium enrichment facilities for the construction of the world's first atomic bombs . After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory became a key center of scientific research. In 2016, the element tennessine was named for the state, largely in recognition of the roles played by Oak Ridge, Vanderbilt University , and the University of Tennessee in its discovery. Tennessee has also played a major role in the development of many forms of popular music , including country , blues , rock and roll , soul , and gospel . (Full article... )
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Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter , general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before his presidency , he gained fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress . Often praised as an advocate for ordinary Americans and for his work in preserving the union of states , Jackson has also been criticized for his racial policies, particularly his treatment of Native Americans .
Jackson was born in the colonial
Carolinas before the
American Revolutionary War . He became a
frontier lawyer and married
Rachel Donelson Robards . He briefly served in the
U.S. House of Representatives and the
U.S. Senate , representing
Tennessee . After resigning, he served as a justice on the
Tennessee Superior Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as
the Hermitage , becoming a wealthy planter who owned hundreds of
African-American slaves during his lifetime. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander. He led troops during the
Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend and negotiating the
Treaty of Fort Jackson that required the indigenous
Creek population to surrender vast tracts of present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent
war against the British , Jackson's victory at the
Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero. He later commanded U.S. forces in the
First Seminole War , which led to the
annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in
1824 . He won a
plurality of the popular and electoral vote, but no candidate won the electoral majority. With the help of
Henry Clay , the House of Representatives elected
John Quincy Adams in a
contingent election . Jackson's supporters alleged that there was a "
corrupt bargain " between Adams and Clay and began creating their own political organization that would eventually become the
Democratic Party . (
Full article... )
List of recognized articles
Bombardment and capture of Fort Henry, Tenn ,
1860s lithograph by
Currier and Ives
The Battle of Fort Henry was fought on February 6, 1862, in Stewart County , Tennessee , during the American Civil War . It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater .
On February 4 and 5, Grant landed two divisions just north of
Fort Henry on the
Tennessee River . (The troops serving under Grant were the nucleus of the Union's successful
Army of the Tennessee , although that name was not yet in use.) Grant's plan was to advance upon the fort on February 6 while it was being simultaneously attacked by Union gunboats commanded by
Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote . A combination of accurate and effective naval gunfire, heavy rain, and the poor siting of the fort, nearly inundated by rising river waters, caused its commander,
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman , to surrender to Foote before the
Union Army arrived. (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
History of Tennessee List of Tennessee state symbols Nashville, Tennessee List of governors of Tennessee Governor of Tennessee East Tennessee Middle Tennessee West Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee Tennessee River Memphis, Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee Clarksville, Tennessee Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Cleveland, Tennessee Dolly Parton Tennessee State Guard University of Memphis Toqua (Tennessee) Great Smoky Mountains Great Smoky Mountains Interstate 40 in Tennessee Old Crow Medicine Show Swaggerty Blockhouse Unicoi Mountains Old City, Knoxville Nashville Americans Valerie June Battle of Fort Donelson Collierville, Tennessee Vanderbilt University Tennessee whiskey Jack Daniel's Grand Ole Opry Battle of Nashville Nashville Superspeedway Johnny Cash Carl Perkins Tennessee Waltz Morristown, Tennessee Fainting goat Bessie Smith Cookeville, Tennessee Murfreesboro, Tennessee Bob Corker Edgar Evins State Park Graceland Bledsoe Creek State Park Dollywood Tennessee Valley Authority Black Patch Tobacco Wars Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The following are images from various Tennessee-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
Image 2 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 3 The
Grand Ole Opry , which was recorded in
Nashville 's
Ryman Auditorium from 1943 to 1974, is the longest-running
radio broadcast in US history. (from
Tennessee )
Image 5 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 6 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 8 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 9 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991-2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
Image 10 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 11 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 12 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 15 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 16 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
Image 18 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 19 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 20 The
Grand Ole Opry , which was recorded in
Nashville 's
Ryman Auditorium from 1943 to 1974, is the longest-running
radio broadcast in US history. (from
Tennessee )
Image 21 Conquistador Hernando de Soto , first European to visit Tennessee (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 22 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 23 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 24 Nashville's replica of the
Parthenon (built 1897) (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 25 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 26 The
resort city of
Gatlinburg borders the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park , which is the most visited national park in the United States. (from
Tennessee )
Image 27 The
Ocoee River was home to the
1996 Summer Olympics whitewater slalom events, the only Olympic sporting event ever held in the state. (from
Tennessee )
Image 28 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 29 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 30 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991-2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
Image 31 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 32 The
Ocoee River was home to the
1996 Summer Olympics whitewater slalom events, the only Olympic sporting event ever held in the state. (from
Tennessee )
Image 33 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 34 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
Image 36 The
resort city of
Gatlinburg borders the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park , which is the most visited national park in the United States. (from
Tennessee )
Image 37 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 38 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 40 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 41 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 42 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 43 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 44 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 45 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson , now a museum in
Davidson County (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 46 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 48 1861 Bank of Tennessee 1 dollar banknote (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 49 Map of counties in Tennessee by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Non-Hispanic White 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American 50–60%
(from
Tennessee )
Image 50 Al Gore served as a
United States Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as
Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) (from
Tennessee )
Image 51 Al Gore served as a
United States Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as
Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) (from
Tennessee )
Image 52 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 53 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 54 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 55 A View of Memphis, Tennessee , 1871 (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 58 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 62 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 63 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 64 The Tennessee at Chattanooga , 1872, by
Harry Fenn (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 65 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 68 Map of counties in Tennessee by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Non-Hispanic White 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American 50–60%
(from
Tennessee )
Image 69 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 70 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 71 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 72 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 73 John Bell (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 74 A
Nissan Leaf , one of six models manufactured at the
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant , the largest automotive assembly plant in North America (from
Tennessee )
Image 75 A
Nissan Leaf , one of six models manufactured at the
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant , the largest automotive assembly plant in North America (from
Tennessee )
Image 76 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 77 The
Ryman Auditorium , home of the "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 78 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 79 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
... that Mister Rogers said that Mr. Chuck, the host of a children's show on the public TV station in Memphis, Tennessee , was "truly remarkable" and "achieving things I still struggle to achieve"?
... that WLOK , the first Black-owned radio station in Memphis, Tennessee , organizes an annual "Stone Soul Picnic" gospel concert series?
... that a section of Interstate 65 in Tennessee was the first part of the Interstate Highway System to open in the state?
... that Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park , modeled on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. , was created to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the statehood of Tennessee in 1996?
... that the owner of a Tennessee TV station denied that he had named it after himself, telling a reporter, "I'm not that much of an egotist"?
... that Mary Shadow , the first unmarried woman in the Tennessee House of Representatives , received fourteen marriage proposals after her election?
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