Information Tennessee
Tennessee, abbreviation TN, is a state of the United States of America that is also called “the Volunteer State”. The State earned this nickname by supplying many volunteer soldiers during the War of 1812. The capital and second largest city of Tennessee is Nashville. The largest city is Memphis. See all cities in Tennessee.
If you like modern American music, a visit to Tennessee is for you. Tennessee has played an important role in the development of many American music genres, including rock & roll, blues and country.
Memphis is home to Sun Records, where the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison were signed, and where rock & roll first took shape. Beale Street in Memphis is also seen as the birthplace of blues.
If you are more interested in nature, you can also visit Tennessee. On the east side, the state is dominated by the Appalachians, which are also known here as the Great Smoky Mountains. The Mississippi River forms the western border of the state.
Geography
Tennessee is widely stretched east-west, bordering many states, Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The state measures a maximum of 720 kilometers from west to east and 185 kilometers from north to south. The state belongs to the Upper South region and is predominantly hilly, with higher mountains in the east, part of the Appalachian Mountains. The 2,025-foot Clingmans Dome is Tennessee’s tallest mountain.
Tennessee’s western border is formed by the mighty Mississippi River. The Tennessee River and Cumberland River flow through the center and east of the state. Eastern Tennessee is distinctly mountainous and very densely forested, especially the border area with North Carolina is difficult to access. To the west is the Tennessee River valley, beyond which are several narrow ridges running southwest-northeast. West of it are hills in the middle of the state, which are heavily forested especially west of Nashville. West Tennessee is flatter and low-lying.
History
Tennessee was originally home to the Cherokee and Shawnee. It is assumed that Hernan(do) de Soto was the first European to explore the area in 1541, but substantial exploration did not take place until the end of the 17th century by the French, who descended the Mississippi (including La Salle) and the English, who came east. The entire area fell to the English at the end of the Seven Years’ War (1763). In 1769, the first permanent settlement was founded, from Virginia. In 1784, settlers in eastern Tennessee formed the state of Franklin, which existed until 1789. In 1790 the whole area was organized as a territory, in 1796 as a Union state (Tennessee was the 16th state to accede). West Tennessee developed into a quintessential southern cotton area with slavery, the mountainous east to a land of small farmers. Politically, this led to a sharp contradiction, which became apparent when the American Civil War broke out. The west stood behind the secession, the east fought on the side of the Union under the leadership of the future President A. Johnson.
Next to Virginia, Tennessee was the area where the fighting was most intense (Battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Nashville). After the war, Tennessee escaped occupation by the North because it immediately signed the 14th Amendment. The fact that there was later resistance to the North can be deduced from the fact that Tennessee, like the other Southern states, showed a close connection with the Democratic party (with the exception of the mountain people) and at the end of the 19th century the segregation measures against the Negroes. The generally poor and backward area experienced a major boom with the Tennessee Valley Authority (1933), which was created as part of the New Deal. Politically, the state also emerged from its rigidity;
The moderation of the state was confirmed in the calm way in which the integration of the schools was generally accepted after the Supreme Court decision in 1954. Important to Tennessee’s revival was the cultural impetus emanating from the capital Nashville and the Vanderbilt University has been located there since 1873. An important group of poets, the Fugitives, manifested themselves here in the 1920s. In their classic work I’ll take my stand (1930) they preached an agrarian idealism with a conservative tint, but their performance represented a powerful renewal that made itself felt throughout the South. During this same period, Nashville developed as a center for country-and-western music.
Economy
Tennessee has a relatively low income compared to many other states and usually ranks between the 35th and 40th highest income rankings. On the other hand, the cost of living is also low. In Tennessee there is some industry, there are some car manufacturers with assembly plants in Tennessee. FedEx is a well-known company headquartered in Memphis.
However, the state also has economic contradictions, for example Memphis is relatively poor while the Nashville region is growing rapidly. Nashville is nationally known as the country music capital. Tourism also plays a role in Tennessee, known are the Great Smoky Mountains and Graceland in Memphis.
| Abbreviation: | TN |
| Nickname: | Volunteer State |
| Joined the US as the 16th state on: | June 1, 1796 |
| Capital city: | Nashville |
| Census: | 6.346.105 |
| Surface: | 109.247 km² |
| Geography: | Grenzend aan Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri |
| Governor: | Bill Lee |
| state motto: | Agriculture and commerce |
| California official website: | tn.gov |
