Tennessee ( (listen), locally ; Cherokee:
ᏔᎾᏏ, translit. Tanasi) is a state located
in the southeastern region of the United States.
Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 16th
most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee
is bordered by Kentucky to the north, Virginia
to the northeast, North Carolina to the east,
Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south,
Arkansas to the west, and Missouri to the
northwest. The Appalachian Mountains dominate
the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi
River forms the state's western border. Nashville
is the state's capital and largest city, with
a population of 660,388. Tennessee's second
largest city is Memphis, which has a population
of 652,717.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. 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
American Civil War in 1861. Occupied by Union
forces from 1862, it was the first state to
be readmitted to the Union at the end of the
war.Tennessee furnished more soldiers for
the Confederate Army than any other state
besides Virginia, and more soldiers for the
Union Army than the rest of the Confederacy
combined. Beginning during Reconstruction,
it had competitive party politics, but a Democratic
takeover in the late 1880s resulted in passage
of disenfranchisement laws that excluded most
blacks and many poor whites from voting. This
sharply reduced competition in politics in
the state until after passage of civil rights
legislation in the mid-20th century. In the
20th century, Tennessee transitioned from
an agrarian economy to a more diversified
economy, aided by massive federal investment
in the Tennessee Valley Authority and, in
the early 1940s, the city of Oak Ridge. This
city was established to house the Manhattan
Project's uranium enrichment facilities, helping
to build the world's first atomic bombs, two
of which were dropped on Imperial Japan near
the end of World War II.
Tennessee's major industries include agriculture,
manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans,
and cattle are the state's primary agricultural
products, and major manufacturing exports
include chemicals, transportation equipment,
and electrical equipment. The Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, the nation's most
visited national park, 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 the Tennessee
Aquarium in Chattanooga; Dollywood in Pigeon
Forge; Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and
Ober Gatlinburg in Gatlinburg; the Parthenon,
the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum,
and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville; the Jack
Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg; Elvis Presley's
Graceland residence and tomb, the Memphis
Zoo, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis;
and Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol.
== Etymology ==
The earliest variant of the name that became
Tennessee was recorded by Captain Juan Pardo,
the Spanish explorer, when he and his men
passed through an American Indian village
named "Tanasqui" in 1567 while traveling inland
from South Carolina. In the early 18th century,
British traders encountered a Cherokee town
named Tanasi (or "Tanase") in present-day
Monroe County, Tennessee. The town was located
on a river of the same name (now known as
the Little Tennessee River), and appears on
maps as early as 1725. It is not known whether
this was the same town as the one encountered
by Juan Pardo, although recent research suggests
that Pardo's "Tanasqui" was located at the
confluence of the Pigeon River and the French
Broad River, near modern Newport.The meaning
and origin of the word are uncertain. Some
accounts suggest it is a Cherokee modification
of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said
to mean "meeting place", "winding river",
or "river of the great bend". According to
ethnographer James Mooney, the name "can not
be analyzed" and its meaning is lost.The modern
spelling, Tennessee, is attributed to James
Glen, the governor of South Carolina, who
used this spelling in his official correspondence
during the 1750s. The spelling was popularized
by the publication of Henry Timberlake's "Draught
of the Cherokee Country" in 1765. In 1788,
North Carolina created "Tennessee County",
the third county to be established in what
is now Middle Tennessee. (Tennessee County
was the predecessor to current-day Montgomery
County and Robertson County.) When a constitutional
convention met in 1796 to organize a new state
out of the Southwest Territory, it adopted
"Tennessee" as the name of the state.
=== Nickname ===
Tennessee is known as The Volunteer State,
a nickname some claimed was earned during
the War of 1812 because of the prominent role
played by volunteer soldiers from Tennessee,
especially during the Battle of New Orleans.
Other sources differ on the origin of the
state nickname; according to The Columbia
Encyclopedia, the name refers to volunteers
for the Mexican–American War. This explanation
is more likely, because President Polk's call
for 2,600 nationwide volunteers at the beginning
of the Mexican–American War resulted in
30,000 volunteers from Tennessee alone, largely
in response to the death of Davy Crockett
and appeals by former Tennessee Governor and
then Texas politician, Sam Houston.
== Geography ==
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 is
tied with 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). Clingmans Dome,
which lies on Tennessee's eastern border,
is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail,
and is the third highest peak in the United
States east of the Mississippi River. The
state line between Tennessee and North Carolina
crosses the summit. The state's lowest point
is the Mississippi River at the Mississippi
state line: 178 feet (54 m). The geographical
center of the state is located in Murfreesboro.
The state of Tennessee is geographically,
culturally, economically, and legally divided
into three Grand Divisions: East Tennessee,
Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee. The
state constitution allows no more than two
justices of the five-member Tennessee Supreme
Court to be from one Grand Division and a
similar rule applies to certain commissions
and boards.
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 10,000 documented caves to date.
=== 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 third largest city in the state, and Chattanooga,
the fourth largest city in the state. The
third urban area, the Tri-Cities, comprising
Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport and their
environs, is located to the northeast of Knoxville.
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 about 2,000 feet (460
to about 610 m) above sea level.
East Tennessee has several important transportation
links with Middle and West Tennessee, as well
as the rest of the nation and the world, including
several major airports and interstates. Knoxville's
McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) and Chattanooga's
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), as
well as the Tri-Cities' Tri-Cities Regional
Airport (TRI), provide air service to numerous
destinations. I-24, I-81, I-40, I-75, and
I-26 along with numerous state highways and
other important roads, traverse the Grand
Division and connect Chattanooga, Knoxville,
and the Tri-Cities, along with other cities
and towns such as Cleveland, Athens, and Sevierville.
=== Middle Tennessee ===
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 American Indians, 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 capital), Clarksville, and Murfreesboro
are its largest cities. Fifty percent of the
US population is within 600 miles (970 km)
of Nashville. Interstates I-24, I-40, I-65,
and I-840 service the Division, with the first
three meeting in Nashville.
=== West Tennessee ===
West of the Highland Rim and Nashville Basin
is the Gulf Coastal Plain, which includes
the Mississippi embayment. The Gulf Coastal
Plain is, in terms of area, the predominant
land region in Tennessee. It is part of the
large geographic land area that begins at
the Gulf of Mexico and extends north into
southern Illinois. In Tennessee, the Gulf
Coastal Plain is divided into three sections
that extend from the Tennessee River in the
east to the Mississippi River in the west.
The easternmost section, 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 (91 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.
Most of West Tennessee remained Indian land
until the Chickasaw Cession of 1818, when
the Chickasaw ceded their land between the
Tennessee River and the Mississippi River.
The portion of the Chickasaw Cession that
lies in Kentucky is known today as the Jackson
Purchase.
=== Public lands ===
Areas under the control and management of
the National Park Service include the following:
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 TrailFifty-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 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes; 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 ===
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
or humid continental climate due to cooler
temperatures. 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, with highest average monthly precipitation
generally in the winter and spring months,
between December and April. The driest months,
on average, are August to October. 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.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 and Hurricane Opal in 1995.
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, such as
the devastating April 2011 tornadoes that
killed 20 people in North Georgia and Southeast
Tennessee. On average, the state has 15 tornadoes
per year. Tornadoes in Tennessee can be severe,
and Tennessee leads the nation in the percentage
of total tornadoes which have fatalities.
Winter storms are an occasional problem, such
as the infamous Blizzard of 1993, although
ice storms are a more likely occurrence. Fog
is a persistent problem in parts of the state,
especially in East Tennessee.
== Major cities ==
The capital and largest city is Nashville,
though Knoxville, Kingston, and Murfreesboro
have all served as state capitals in the past.
Nashville's 13-county metropolitan area has
been the state's largest since c. 1990. Chattanooga
and Knoxville, both in the eastern part of
the state near the Great Smoky Mountains,
each has approximately one-third of the population
of Memphis or Nashville. The city of Clarksville
is a fifth significant population center,
45 miles (72 km) northwest of Nashville. Murfreesboro
is the sixth-largest city in Tennessee, consisting
of 108,755 residents.
== History ==
=== 
Early history ===
The area now known as Tennessee was first
inhabited by Paleo-Indians nearly 12,000 years
ago. The names of the cultural groups that
inhabited the area between first settlement
and the time of European contact are unknown,
but several distinct cultural phases have
been named by archaeologists, including Archaic
(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 before 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 Indian
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 Indian
populations were forcibly displaced to the
south and west, including all Muscogee and
Yuchi peoples, the Chickasaw and Choctaw,
and ultimately, the Cherokee in 1838.
The first British settlement in what is now
Tennessee was built in 1756 by settlers from
the colony of South Carolina at 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 most of the rest of the garrison was taken
prisoner.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 majority
of 18th century settlers were English or of
primarily English descent but nearly 20% of
them were also Scotch-Irish. 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 South 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) ===
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.
The Constitution of the State of Tennessee,
Article I, Section 31, states that the beginning
point for identifying the boundary is the
extreme height of the Stone Mountain, at the
place where the line of Virginia intersects
it, and basically runs 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 (now the state of Oklahoma). During
this relocation an estimated 4,000 Cherokees
died along the way west. In the Cherokee language,
the event is called Nunna daul Isunyi—"the
Trail Where We Cried." The Cherokees were
not the only American Indians 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 American Indian 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 ===
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.
Despite the strength of Unionist sentiment
in East Tennessee (with the exception of Sullivan
County, which was heavily pro-Confederate),
Confederates held the area. The Confederates,
led by General James Longstreet, did attack
General Burnside's Fort Sanders at Knoxville
and lost. It was a big blow to East Tennessee
Confederate momentum, but Longstreet won the
Battle of Bean's Station a few weeks later.
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 another 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
dispersed 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 largely 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.
Tennessee's legislature approved an amendment
to the state constitution prohibiting slavery
on February 22, 1865. Voters in the state
approved the amendment in March. 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. 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.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 ===
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. Political scientist
V. O. Key, Jr. argued in 1949 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.
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.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.
The state has had major disasters, such as
the Great Train Wreck of 1918, one of the
worst train accidents in U.S. history, and
the Sultana explosion on the Mississippi River
near Memphis, the deadliest maritime disaster
in U.S. history.
=== 21st century ===
In 2002, businessman Phil Bredesen was elected
to become the 48th governor in January 2003.
Also in 2002, Tennessee amended the state
constitution to allow for the establishment
of a lottery. Tennessee's Bob Corker was the
only freshman Republican elected to the United
States Senate in the 2006 midterm elections.
The state constitution was amended to reject
same-sex marriage. In January 2007, Ron Ramsey
became the first Republican elected as Speaker
of the State Senate since Reconstruction,
as a result of the realignment of the Democratic
and Republican parties in the South since
the late 20th century, with Republicans now
elected by conservative voters, who previously
had supported Democrats.
In 2010, during the 2010 midterm elections,
Bill Haslam was elected to succeed Bredesen,
who was term-limited, to become the 49th Governor
of Tennessee in January 2011. In April and
May 2010, flooding in Middle Tennessee devastated
Nashville and other parts of Middle Tennessee.
In 2011, parts of East Tennessee, including
Hamilton County and Apison in Bradley County,
were devastated by the April 2011 tornado
outbreak.
== Demographics ==
The United States Census Bureau estimates
that the population of Tennessee was 6,715,984
on July 1, 2017, an increase of 369,689 people
since the 2010 United States Census, or 5.8%.
This includes a natural increase since the
last census of 124,385 people (that is 584,236
births minus 459,851 deaths), and an increase
from net migration of 244,537 people into
the state. Immigration from outside the United
States resulted in a net increase of 66,412
people, and migration within the country produced
a net increase of 178,125 people.Twenty percent
of Tennesseans were born outside the South
in 2008, compared to a figure of 13.5% in
1990. In recent years, Tennessee has received
an influx of people relocating from California,
Florida, and several northern states 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.The center
of population of Tennessee is located in Rutherford
County, in the city of Murfreesboro.As of
the 2010 census, the racial composition of
Tennessee's population was as follows:
In the same year 4.6% of the total population
was of Hispanic or Latino origin (they may
be of any race).
In 2000, the five most common self-reported
ethnic groups in the state were: American
(17.3%), African American (13.0%), Irish (9.3%),
English (9.1%), and German (8.3%). 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. 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.According to the 2010
census, 6.4% of Tennessee's population were
reported as under 5 years of age, 23.6% under
18, and 13.4% 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.
=== Birth data ===
As of 2011, 36.3% of Tennessee's population
younger than age 1 were minorities.Note: Births
in table do not add up, because Hispanics
are counted both by their ethnicity and by
their race, giving a higher overall number.
Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic
origin are not collected, but included in
one Hispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin
may be of any race.
=== Religion ===
The religious affiliations of the people of
Tennessee as of 2014:
Christian: 81%
Protestant: 73%
Evangelical Protestant: 52%
Mainline Protestant: 13%
Historically Black Protestant: 8%
Roman Catholic: 6%
Mormon: 1%
Orthodox Christian: <1%
Other Christian (includes unspecified "Christian"
and "Protestant"): <1%
Islam: 1%
Jewish: 1%
Other religions: 3%
Non-religious: 14%
Atheist: 1%
Agnostic: 3%
Nothing in particular: 11%The largest denominations
by number of adherents in 2010 were the Southern
Baptist Convention with 1,483,356; the United
Methodist Church with 375,693; the Roman Catholic
Church with 222,343; and the Churches of Christ
with 214,118.As of January 1, 2009, The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS
Church) reported 43,179 members, 10 stakes,
92 Congregations (68 wards and 24 branches),
two missions, and two temples in Tennessee.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 (both headquartered
in Cleveland). The Free Will Baptist denomination
is headquartered in Antioch; 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 ==
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis,
in 2011 Tennessee's real gross state product
was $233.997 billion.
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.
For 2012, the state held an asset surplus
of $533 million, one of only eight states
in the nation to report a surplus.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. 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. Soybeans are also heavily
planted in West Tennessee, focusing on the
northwest corner of the state.Large corporations
with headquarters in Tennessee include FedEx,
AutoZone 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 Motor Company, based
in Franklin; Hospital Corporation of America
and Caterpillar Financial, based in Nashville;
and Unum, based in Chattanooga. Tennessee
is also the location of the Volkswagen assembly
plant in Chattanooga, a $2 billion polysilicon
production facility by Wacker Chemie in Bradley
County, and a $1.2 billion polysilicon production
facility by Hemlock Semiconductor 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 May 2016, the state had an unemployment
rate of 4.3%. As of 2015, 16.7% of the population
of Tennessee lives below the poverty line,
which is higher than the national average
of 14.7%.
=== Tax ===
Tennessee's Hall income tax does not apply
to salaries and wages, but most dividends
and interest are taxable. The tax rate was
6% from 1937 to 2016, but is 3% for the 2018
tax year and is set to ramp down to zero in
2021. The first $1,250 of individual income
and $2,500 of joint income is exempt from
this tax.
The state's sales and use tax rate for most
items is 7%. Food is taxed at a lower rate
of 5.25%, 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 tax 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 in 2006 and
thereafter).
=== Tourism ===
Tourism contributes billions of dollars every
year to the state's economy and Tennessee
is ranked among the Top 10 destinations in
the US. In 2014 a record 100 million people
visited the state resulting in $17.7 billion
in tourism related spending within the state,
an increase of 6.3% over 2013; tax revenue
from tourism equaled $1.5 billion. Each county
in Tennessee saw at least $1 million from
tourism while 19 counties received at least
$100 million (Davidson, Shelby, and Sevier
counties were the top three). Tourism-generated
jobs for the state reached 152,900, a 2.8%
increase. International travelers to Tennessee
accounted for $533 million in spending.In
2013 tourism within the state from local citizens
accounted for 39.9% of tourists, the second
highest originating location for tourists
to Tennessee is the state of Georgia, accounting
for 8.4% of tourists. Forty-four percent of
stays in the state were "day trips", 25% stayed
one night, 15% stayed two nights, and 11%
stayed 4 or more nights. The average stay
was 2.16 nights, compared to 2.03 nights for
the US as a whole. The average person spent
$118 per day: 29% on transportation, 24% on
food, 17% on accommodation, and 28% on shopping
and entertainment.Some of the top tourist
attractions in the state are: the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, Graceland, Dollywood,
Beale Street, Pigeon Forge, Lower Broadway,
the Ryman Auditorium, Gaylord Opryland Resort,
Lookout Mountain, the Ocoee River, and the
Tennessee Aquarium.
== Culture ==
=== Music ===
Tennessee has played a critical role in the
development of many forms of American popular
music, including rock and roll, blues, country,
and rockabilly. 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.
Memphis is 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. The 1927 Victor recording sessions
in Bristol generally mark the beginning of
the country music genre and the rise of the
Grand Ole Opry in the 1930s helped make Nashville
the center of the country music recording
industry. Three brick-and-mortar museums recognize
Tennessee's role in nurturing various forms
of popular music: the Memphis Rock N' Soul
Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame and
Museum in Nashville, and the International
Rock-A-Billy Museum in Jackson. Moreover,
the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, an online site
recognizing the development of rockabilly
in which Tennessee played a crucial role,
is based in Nashville.
=== Literature ===
=== Sports ===
Tennessee is home to three major professional
sports franchises: the Tennessee Titans have
played in the National Football League since
1997, the Memphis Grizzlies have played in
the National Basketball Association since
2001, and the Nashville Predators have played
in the National Hockey League since 1998.
A yet-to-be-named Major League Soccer franchise
is scheduled to begin play in Nashville in
2020.The state is also home to 14 teams playing
in minor leagues. Nine Minor League Baseball
teams call the state their home. The Memphis
Redbirds and Nashville Sounds, each of the
Pacific Coast League, compete at the Triple-A
level, the highest before Major League Baseball.
The Chattanooga Lookouts, Jackson Generals,
and Tennessee Smokies play in the Double-A
Southern League. The Elizabethton Twins, Greeneville
Reds, Johnson City Cardinals, and Kingsport
Mets are Rookie League teams of the Appalachian
League.
The Knoxville Ice Bears are a minor league
ice hockey team of the Southern Professional
Hockey League. Nashville SC plays in the United
Soccer League. Memphis 901 FC is set to join
the USL in 2019. Three soccer teams compete
in the National Premier Soccer League: Chattanooga
FC, the Knoxville Force, and Memphis City
FC.
In Knoxville, the Tennessee Volunteers college
team has played in the Southeastern Conference
(SEC) of the National Collegiate Athletic
Association since the conference was formed
in 1932. The football team has won 13 SEC
championships and 28 bowls, including four
Sugar Bowls, three Cotton Bowls, an Orange
Bowl and a Fiesta Bowl. Meanwhile, the men's
basketball team has won four SEC championships
and reached the NCAA Elite Eight in 2010.
In addition, the women's basketball team has
won a host of SEC regular-season and tournament
titles along with 8 national titles.
In Nashville, the Vanderbilt Commodores are
also charter members of the SEC. The Tennessee–Vanderbilt
football rivalry began in 1892, having since
played over 100 times. In June 2014, the Vanderbilt
Commodores baseball team won its first men's
national championship by winning the 2014
College World Series.
The state is home to 10 other NCAA Division
I programs. Two of these participate in the
top level of college football, the Football
Bowl Subdivision. The Memphis Tigers are members
of the American Athletic Conference, and the
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders from Murfreesboro
play in Conference USA. In addition to the
Commodores, Nashville is also home to the
Belmont Bruins and Tennessee State Tigers,
both members of the Ohio Valley Conference
(OVC), and the Lipscomb Bisons, members of
the Atlantic Sun Conference. Tennessee State
plays football in Division I's second level,
the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS),
while Belmont and Lipscomb do not have football
teams. Belmont and Lipscomb have an intense
rivalry in men's and women's basketball known
as the Battle of the Boulevard, with both
schools' men's and women's teams playing two
games each season against each other (a rare
feature among non-conference rivalries). The
OVC also includes the Austin Peay Governors
from Clarksville, the Tennessee–Martin Skyhawks
from Martin, and the Tennessee Tech Golden
Eagles from Cookeville. These three schools,
along with fellow OVC member Tennessee State,
play each season in football for the Sgt.
York Trophy. The Chattanooga Mocs and Johnson
City's East Tennessee State Buccaneers are
full members, including football, of the Southern
Conference.
Tennessee is also home to Bristol Motor Speedway
which features NASCAR Cup Series racing two
weekends a year, routinely selling out more
than 160,000 seats on each date; it also was
the home of the Nashville Superspeedway, which
held Nationwide and IndyCar races until it
was shut down in 2012. Tennessee's only graded
stakes horse race, the Iroquois Steeplechase,
is also held in Nashville each May.
The FedEx St. Jude Classic is a PGA Tour golf
tournament held at Memphis since 1958. The
U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships
has been held at Memphis since 1976 (men's)
and 2002 (women's).
==== Sports teams ====
== 
Transportation ==
=== 
Interstate highways ===
Interstate 40 crosses the state in a west-east
orientation. Its branch interstate highways
include I-240 in Memphis; I-440 in Nashville;
I-840 in Nashville; I-140 from Knoxville to
Alcoa; 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. 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.
When completed, I-69 will travel through the
western part of the state, from South Fulton
to Memphis. A branch interstate, I-269 also
exists from Millington to Collierville.
=== Airports ===
Major airports within the state include Memphis
International Airport (MEM), Nashville International
Airport (BNA), McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS)
outside of Knoxville in Blount County, 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 ===
For passenger rail service, Memphis and Newbern,
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.
Cargo services in Tennessee are primarily
served by CSX Transportation, which has a
hump yard in Nashville called Radnor Yard.
Norfolk Southern Railway operates lines in
East Tennessee, through cities including Knoxville
and Chattanooga, and operates a classification
yard near Knoxville, the John Sevier Yard.
BNSF operates a major intermodal facility
in Memphis.
== Governance ==
Similar to the United States Federal Government,
Tennessee's government has three parts. The
Executive Branch is led by Tennessee's governor,
who 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 governor
is supported by 22 cabinet-level departments,
most headed by a commissioner who serves at
the pleasure of the governor:
The Executive Branch also includes several
agencies, boards and commissions, some of
which are under the auspices of one of the
cabinet-level departments.The bicameral Legislative
Branch, known as the Tennessee General Assembly,
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. Both
the Court of Appeals and the Court of Criminal
Appeals have 12 judges. 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 1870 Constitution
outlaws martial law within its jurisdiction.
This may be a result of the experience of
Tennessee residents and other Southerners
during the period of military control by Union
(Northern) forces of the U.S. government after
the American Civil War.
=== Politics ===
Tennessee politics, like that of most U.S.
states, are dominated by the Republican and
the Democratic parties. Historian Dewey W.
Grantham traces divisions in the state to
the period of the American Civil War: for
decades afterward, the eastern third of the
state was Republican and the western two thirds
voted Democrat. This division was related
to the state's pattern of farming, plantations
and slaveholding. The eastern section was
made up of yeoman farmers, but Middle and
West Tennessee farmers cultivated crops such
as tobacco and cotton which were dependent
on the use of slave labor. These areas became
defined as Democratic after the war.
During Reconstruction, freedmen and former
free people of color were granted the right
to vote; most joined the Republican Party.
Numerous African Americans were elected to
local offices, and some to state office. Following
Reconstruction, Tennessee continued to have
competitive party politics; but in the 1880s,
the white-dominated state government passed
four laws, the last of which imposed a poll
tax requirement for voter registration. These
served to disenfranchise most African Americans,
and their power in state and local politics
was markedly reduced. In 1900 African Americans
comprised 23.8 percent of the state's population,
concentrated in Middle and West Tennessee.
In the early 1900s, the state legislature
approved a form of commission government for
cities based on at-large voting for a few
positions on a Board of Commission; several
cities adopted this as another means to limit
African-American political participation.
In 1913 the state legislature enacted a bill
enabling cities to adopt this structure without
legislative approval.After disenfranchisement
of blacks, the Republican Party in Tennessee
became a primarily white sectional party supported
only in the eastern part of the state. In
the 20th century, except for 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. In that postwar decade,
it twice voted for Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower,
former Allied Commander of the Armed Forces
during World War II. Since then, more of the
state's voters have shifted to supporting
Republicans, and Democratic presidential candidates
have carried Tennessee only four times.
By 1960 African Americans comprised 16.45%
of the state's population. It was not until
after the mid-1960s and passage of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 that they were able to
vote in full again, but new devices, such
as at-large commission city governments, had
been adopted in several jurisdictions to limit
their political participation. Former Gov.
Winfield Dunn and former U.S. Sen. Bill Brock
wins in 1970 helped make the Republican Party
competitive among whites for the statewide
victory. Tennessee has selected governors
from different parties since 1970.
In the early 21st century, Republican voters
control most of the state, especially in the
more rural and suburban areas outside of the
cities; Democratic strength is mostly confined
to the urban cores of the four major cities,
and is particularly strong in the cities of
Nashville and Memphis. The latter area includes
a large African-American population. Historically,
Republicans had their greatest strength in
East Tennessee before the 1960s. Tennessee's
1st and 2nd congressional districts, based
in the Tri-Cities and Knoxville, respectively,
are among the few historically Republican
districts in the South. Those districts' residents
supported the Union over the Confederacy during
the Civil War; they identified with the GOP
after the war and have stayed with that party
ever since. The first has been in Republican
hands continuously since 1881, and Republicans
(or their antecedents) have held it for all
but four years since 1859. The second has
been held continuously by Republicans or their
antecedents since 1859.
In the 2000 presidential election, Vice President
Al Gore, a Democratic U.S. Senator from Tennessee,
failed to carry his home state, an unusual
occurrence but indicative of strengthening
Republican support. Republican George W. Bush
received increased support in 2004, with his
margin of victory in the state increasing
from 4% in 2000 to 14% in 2004. 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 the 2008 elections, the Republican party
gained control of both houses of the Tennessee
state legislature for the first time since
Reconstruction. In 2008, some 30% of the state's
electorate identified as independents.The
Baker v. Carr (1962) decision of the US Supreme
Court established the principle of "one man,
one vote", requiring state legislatures to
redistrict to bring Congressional apportionment
in line with decennial censuses. It also required
both houses of state legislatures to be based
on population for representation and not geographic
districts such as counties. This case arose
out of a lawsuit challenging the longstanding
rural bias of apportionment of seats in the
Tennessee legislature. After decades in which
urban populations had been underrepresented
in many state legislatures, 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, Vermont,
and Montana.
=== Law enforcement ===
==== 
State agencies ====
The state of Tennessee maintains four dedicated
law enforcement entities: the Tennessee Highway
Patrol, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
(TWRA), the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
(TBI), and the Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation (TDEC).
The Highway Patrol is the primary law enforcement
entity that concentrates on highway safety
regulations and general non-wildlife state
law enforcement and is under the jurisdiction
of the Tennessee Department of Safety. The
TWRA is an independent agency tasked with
enforcing all wildlife, boating, and fisheries
regulations outside of state parks. The TBI
maintains state-of-the-art investigative facilities
and is the primary state-level criminal investigative
department. Tennessee State Park Rangers are
responsible for all activities and law enforcement
inside the Tennessee State Parks system.
==== Local ====
Local law enforcement is divided between County
Sheriff's Offices and Municipal Police Departments.
Tennessee's Constitution requires that each
County have an elected Sheriff. In 94 of the
95 counties the Sheriff is the chief law enforcement
officer in the county and has jurisdiction
over the county as a whole. Each Sheriff's
Office is responsible for warrant service,
court security, jail operations and primary
law enforcement in the unincorporated areas
of a county as well as providing support to
the municipal police departments. Incorporated
municipalities are required to maintain a
police department to provide police services
within their corporate limits.
The three counties in Tennessee to adopt metropolitan
governments have taken different approaches
to resolving the conflict that a Metro government
presents to the requirement to have an elected
Sheriff.
Nashville/Davidson County converted law enforcement
duties entirely to the Metro Nashville Police
Chief. In this instance the Sheriff is no
longer the chief law enforcement officer for
Davidson County. The Davidson County Sheriff's
duties focus on warrant service and jail operations.
The Metropolitan Police Chief is the chief
law enforcement officer and the Metropolitan
Police Department provides primary law enforcement
for the entire county.
Lynchburg/Moore County took a much simpler
approach and abolished the Lynchburg Police
Department when it consolidated and placed
all law enforcement responsibility under the
sheriff's office.
Hartsville/Trousdale County, although the
smallest county in Tennessee, adopted a system
similar to Nashville's that retains the sheriff's
office but also has a metropolitan police
department.
==== Firearms ====
Gun laws in Tennessee regulate the sale, possession,
and use of firearms and ammunition. Concealed
carry and open-carry of a handgun is permitted
with a Tennessee handgun carry permit or an
equivalent permit from a reciprocating state.
As of July 1, 2014, a permit is no longer
required to possess a loaded handgun in a
motor vehicle.
==== Capital punishment ====
Capital punishment has existed in Tennessee
at various times since statehood. Before 1913,
the method of execution was hanging. From
1913 to 1915, there was a hiatus on executions
but they were reinstated in 1916 when electrocution
became the new method. From 1972 to 1978,
after the Supreme Court ruled (Furman v. Georgia)
capital punishment unconstitutional, there
were no further executions. Capital punishment
was restarted in 1978, although those prisoners
awaiting execution between 1960 and 1978 had
their sentences mostly commuted to life in
prison. From 1916 to 1960 the state executed
125 inmates. For a variety of reasons there
were no further executions until 2000. Since
2000, Tennessee has executed seven prisoners.
Tennessee has 59 prisoners on death row (as
of October 2018).Lethal injection was approved
by the legislature in 1998, though those who
were sentenced to death before January 1,
1999, may request electrocution. In May 2014,
the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law
allowing the use of the electric chair for
death row executions when lethal injection
drugs are not available.
=== Tribal ===
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is
the only federally recognized Native American
Indian tribe in the state. It owns 79 acres
(32 ha) in Henning, which was placed into
federal trust by the tribe in 2012. This is
governed directly by the tribe.
== Media ==
== Education ==
Tennessee has a rich variety of public, private,
charter, and specialized education facilities
ranging from pre-school through university
education.
=== Colleges and universities ===
Public higher education is under the oversight
of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission
which provides guidance to two public university
systems – the University of Tennessee system
and the Tennessee Board of Regents. In addition
a number of private colleges and universities
are located throughout the state.
=== Local school districts ===
Public primary and secondary education systems
are operated by county, city, or special school
districts to provide education at the local
level. These school districts operate under
the direction of the Tennessee Department
of Education. Private schools are found in
many counties.
== State symbols ==
State symbols, found in Tennessee Code Annotated;
Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 3, include:
== See also ==
Outline of Tennessee – organized list of
topics about Tennessee
Index of Tennessee-related articles
