Tennessee in Pictures

East Tenness

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West Tennesse

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Middle Tenness

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Civil WarExplorers & Early

Settlers

Native Americ

ans

Slavery

Famous Tennesseans

Tennessee Facts

East Tennessee

Middle Tennessee

West Tennessee

East Tennessee • Bordered by the Appalachian Mountains

• Includes Great Smokey Mountains

• Clingman’s Dome is highest elevation in Tennessee

East Tennessee Cities

Chattanooga

Knoxville

Tri-Cities consisting of Bristol, Johnson City, and

Kingsport

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MiddleTennessee

East Tennessee

West Tennessee

Middle Tennessee

• Nashville is capital of Tennessee

• Center of Tennessee government

Middle Tennessee

• Largest Grand Division

• Geographic center of state in Murfreesboro

• Contains Rutherford County and Smyrna

Middle Tennessee

• Raising livestock and farming make it agricultural center

•Shelbyville (Bedford County) known for Tennessee Walking Horse.

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West Tennessee

Middle Tennessee

East Tennessee

West Tennessee

• Major cities– Memphis and Jackson

West Tennessee • Main

agricultural region of the state

• Major crop is cotton

• Soybeans also grown

West Tennessee

• Western boundary of Tennessee is Mississippi

River

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Tennessee Flag • Each star represents one of the three Grand Divisions

• Circle around stars shows the three Divisions are united

Tennessee Seal

• 1796 shows year Tennessee became state

• Roman numeral XVI shows that Tennessee was 16th state

• State motto “Agriculture and Commerce” shows that both equally important

State Bird—Mocking Bird

State Flower--Iris

State Wild Animal--Raccoon

State Fish—Largemouth Bass

State Tree—

Tulip Poplar

State Insect--Ladybug

Important Rivers

Tennessee River flows from TN into Alabama and back

into TN.

Duck River

Cumberland River Clinch River

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Presidents from Tennessee

• Andrew Jackson

• James K. Polk

• Andrew Johnson

Andrew Jackson1767-1845

• Got the nickname “Old Hickory” in War of 1812

• 7th president elected in 1828 & 1832

• Known as a man of the people

• Home in Nashville named the Hermitage

James K. Polk1795-1849• 11th president

elected in 1845

• Led U. S. in war with Mexico over Texas

• Gained Texas, New Mexico, California, and Oregon for U.S.

Andrew Johnson1808-1875

• Became 17th president in 1865 when Lincoln was assassinated

• Had served as Lincoln’s vice president

• President during Reconstruction after Civil War

Davy Crockett1786-1836

• Helped settle West Tennessee

• Hunter, soldier, author, and member of U.S. Congress

• Volunteered to help Texas fight against Mexico for independence

• Killed at the Battle of the Alamo

Sam Houston1793-1863

• Governor of Tennessee in 1827

• Went to Texas in 1832

• General in Texas revolution against Mexico

• Became first governor of Texas

• Houston, Texas named after him

Sam Davis1842-1863

• Grew up in Smyrna, Tennessee

• Confederate scout in Civil War

• Captured by Union Army and refused to reveal information about Confederate positions

• Hanged by Union army as a spy

Casey Jones1864-1900

• Railroad engineer • Saw a parked

train ahead of his speeding locomotive

• He applied the brakes but although Jones was killed; the passengers were saved.

• Popular song was written about him

Alex Haley

1921-1992

• Tennessee author of Roots, a story based on his family history

• Haley traced his roots back to African Kunta Kinte who was kidnapped into slavery

• Wrote about his ancestors in slavery and after the Civil War

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Slavery in Tennessee

• African settlers were important part of those moving to Middle and West Tennessee

• By 1791 about one-tenth of state’s population was of African ancestry.

• Most were slaves

Slavery in Tennessee

• Slaves are people who are held against their will and forced to work for no pay

• Slave jobs included:– Planting & harvesting

crops

– Raising farm animals

• Slaves worked hard for owners

•They were often treated badly •Some ran away to the North where slavery was illegal

Free Blacks in Tennessee

• By 1860 more than 7,300 free Africans lived in Tennessee

• Had same political freedoms as white men at the time

• Owned farms and businesses

Abolition in Tennessee

• Some people wanted to abolish (end) slavery.

• Elihu Embree started first abolitionist newspaper in U.S. in Jonesborough, Tennessee

• Newspaper was caller The Emancipator.

• As more land in Tennessee was used for farming, slavery increased.

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Hernando de Soto

• Led 600 Spanish soldiers

• Found many natural resources, but not the gold they hoped to find

•First Europeans to arrive in Tennessee

Jacques Marquette & Louis Joliet

• Marquetts—Catholic priest

• Joliet—fur trader• French explorers• Led group of

explorers from Canada to West Tennessee in 1673

James Needham &Gabriel Arthur

• In 1673 and 1674, they traveled from North Carolina into Tennessee to establish trade with the Cherokee Indians.

Robert Cavelier, Sieur

de La Salle

• French explorer led expedition from Canada to Gulf of Mexico

• Built fort near where Memphis is today

Dr. Thomas Walker1715-1794

• Explorer, surveyor, statesman & physician 

• First to record information about the existence of Cumberland Gap

James Robertson

• Led first group of pioneers to East Tennessee in 1771

• Settled the community known as the Watauga Association

• Helped write the Watagua Compact, the state’s first constitution

• In 1779 traveled to Middle Tennessee

• Helped settle Ft. Nashborough

William Blount

• Moved to what became Tennessee in 1790

• Appointed governor of the Territory South of the River Ohio (which included Tennessee) and also as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Department

• Presided over constitutional convention to create state of Tennessee

John Sevier• Led a group of pioneers from what would become Tennessee who went (Overmountain Men) to fight the British in Battle of King’s Mountain

• British defeated and Sevier became hero

• Was elected first governor of Tennessee

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Native Americans in Tennessee

• Chickasaw Indians lived in West Tennessee• Shawnee Indians lived in Middle Tennessee.• Creek Indians had several large villages in

southeastern Tennessee.• Cherokee Indians lived in East Tennessee in the

Appalachian Mountains.

Comparison of Native American Tribes in Tennessee

• Similarities– Skilled hunters,

farmers, and fishers– Built homes using

natural resources from forest around them

– Similar dress

• Differences– Each tribe had own

language, culture, and traditions

– Often fought wars for control of land and its resources

Nancy Ward, Cherokee

Peacemaker

• Cherokee leader named Nanye’hi and later called Nancy Ward

• As young woman saw her Cherokee husband Kingfisher killed in battle against Creeks.

• She picked up his gun and took his place in battle.

• Cherokees won battle and made her a Beloved Woman to show thanks.

• She then had right to be heard in tribal council.

Nancy Ward• Married an English trader and became

known as Nancy Ward• Worked for peace between settlers and

Cherokee• Warned Watauga settlers in 1776 that

Cherokees planned attack which saved lives of most of settlers

• Helped Cherokee Nation reach agreement with U.S. government in 1785.

• Died in 1824

Sequoyah, Creator of Cherokee Writing System

• Created a written language for Cherokee

• Born in Tennessee of Cherokee mother and Virginia fur trader

• Did not read or write English but fascinated that English settlers could read and write

Sequoyah

• Spent 12 years on his writing system called a syllabary

• Had 85 characters or symbols

•Each character stood for a sound in the Cherokee language•Cherokees could write down their laws, publish books, and print newspapers.

Trail of Tears

• During 1800s settlers wanted to gain control of more Native American land.

• Passed Indian Removal Act of 1830 that said all Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River had to leave their lands and move west.

Trail of Tears

• Cherokee were forced from their homes by soldiers• Had to march 1,200 miles to Indian Territory where

Oklahoma is today.

Trail of Tears

• Journey called Trail of Tears passed through Tennessee including area around Murfreesboro and Smyrna

• About 4,000 Cherokees died along the way

• Those who lived suffered from hunger, cold, and sadness at being driven from homes. Click to

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Tennessee in the Civil War

• Lincoln elected president in 1861

• Many thought he would try to end slavery.

• Southern farms depended on slave labor.

• Southern states wanted to decide about slavery for themselves.

Civil War• The struggle seemed likely

to turn into a civil war• A civil war is between

people of the same country.• After Lincoln’s election,

seven states decided to leave the United States or UnionUnion states

Border states

Confederate states

Civil War• These states created their

own government called the Confederate States of America or Confederacy

• After Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to fight for the Union, four more states joined the Confederacy.

• Tennessee was the last of these states to leave the Union

Union states

Border states

Confederate states

Tennessee Divided by War

• Many in Tennessee did not want to join the Confederacy

• People in 26 counties in East Tennessee were so unhappy that they tried to separate from the state, but their plan did not work

• Tennessee regions, towns, and even families were divided

Tennesseans fight on

opposite sides

• About 60,000 Tenesseans, including 20,000 African Americans, fought for the Union.

Tennesseans fight on

opposite sides

• As many as 135,000 Tennesseans fought for the Confederacy.

War in Tennessee

• Each side in the Civil War wanted to make use of Tennessee’s location and resources

• Confederacy needed Tennessee’s crops, livestock, and iron work.

War in Tennessee• The Union wanted to

control Tennessee’s rivers and railroads

• They also wanted to control Chattanooga which would open the way to Atlanta, the railroad center of the Confederacy.

•Both sides needed gunpowder produced in Tennessee

War in Tennessee

• Tennessee was focus of much fighting

• Thousands died in battle

• Tennessee was one of most divided and damaged by war

• It took many years for the state to recover from the Civil War.

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