From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
East Tennessee
Unlike the geographic designations of regions of most
U.S. states, the term East Tennessee has legal as well as
socioeconomic meaning. East Tennessee, along with Mid-
dle Tennessee and West Tennessee, comprises one of the
state’s three Grand Divisions. According to the Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the
State Constitution, no more than two of the Tennessee
eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the
Supreme Court’s five justices can come from any one
three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law.
Grand Division.[5] A similar rule applies to certain other
East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within
commissions and boards as well, to prevent them from
the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central
showing a geographic bias.
Time Zone, namely Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion.[1]
East Tennessee is entirely located within the Appalachian
Topography
Mountains, although the landforms range from densely-
forested 6,000-foot (1,800 m) mountains to broad river East Tennessee includes parts of three major geological
valleys. divisions— the Blue Ridge on the border with North
East Tennessee is both geographically and culturally Carolina in the east, the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians
part of Appalachia, and has been included— along with (usually called the "Great Valley" or "Tennessee Valley")
Western North Carolina, North Georgia, Eastern Ken- in the center, and the Cumberland Plateau in the west,
tucky, West Virginia, and Southwest Virginia— in every bordering Middle Tennessee. The Blue Ridge section
major definition of the Appalachian region since the ear- comprises the western (or "Unaka") section of the Blue
ly 20th century.[2] East Tennessee is home to the nation’s Ridge Province, the crest of which forms most of the
most visited national park— the Great Smoky Mountains Tennessee-North Carolina border and consists of the
National Park— and hundreds of smaller recreational ar- highest parts of the state (including Clingmans Dome, the
eas. East Tennessee is often called the birthplace of coun- state’s highest point).[6] The Blue Ridge is subdivided into
try music, due largely to the 1927 Victor recording ses- several subranges— the Iron Mountains, Roan Highlands,
sions in Bristol, and throughout the 20th and 21st cen- and Bald Mountains in the north, the Great Smoky Moun-
turies has produced a steady stream of musicians of na- tains in the center, and the Unicoi Mountains and Little
tional and international fame.[3] Oak Ridge was the site of Frog and Big Frog Mountain areas in the south.[7] Most of
the world’s first successful uranium enrichment opera- the Blue Ridge section is heavily forested and protected
tions which paved the way for the atomic age.[4] The Ten- by various state and federal entities, the largest of which
nessee Valley Authority is headquartered in Knoxville. include the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and
the Cherokee National Forest.[6]
Geography
Major landforms of East Tennessee
The Ridge-and-Valley section, often called the Ten-
nessee Valley or "Great Valley," is the region’s largest
and most populous section. It consists of a series of al-
Hills in East Tennessee
ternating elongate ridges and broad river valleys roughly
oriented northeast-to-southwest. This section’s most no-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
table feature, the Tennessee River, forms at the conflu- • Roane
ence of the Holston and French Broad rivers in Knoxville, • Scott
and flows southwestward to Chattanooga, where it en- • Sevier
ters the Tennessee River Gorge. Other notable rivers in • Sullivan
the upper Tennessee watershed include the Clinch, • Unicoi
Nolichucky, Watauga, Emory, Little Tennessee, Hiwassee, • Union
Sequatchie, and Ocoee rivers. Notable "ridges" in the • Washington
Ridge-and-Valley range include Clinch Mountain, Bays
Mountain, and Powell Mountain.[6] Cities
The Cumberland Plateau rises nearly 1,000 feet
(300 m) above the Tennessee Valley, stretching from
Cumberland Gap at the Tennessee-Kentucky-Virginia
border southwestward to the Alabama border.[6] The
"Tennessee Divide" runs along the western part of the
plateau, and separates the watersheds of the Tennessee
and Cumberland rivers. Plateau counties mostly east of
this divide— i.e. Cumberland, Morgan, and Scott— are
grouped with East Tennessee, whereas plateau counties
west of this divide (Fentress, Van Buren, and Grundy)
are considered part of Middle Tennessee. Three coun-
ties— Bledsoe, Sequatchie, and Marion— are located in
the Sequatchie Valley, a long narrow valley in the south-
ern part of the Cumberland Plateau. They are tradition-
ally part of East Tennessee, although Sequatchie has re- East Tennessee Sunset
cently been regrouped with Middle Tennessee.[1] One no-
table detached section of the Plateau is Lookout Moun- The major cities of East Tennessee are Knoxville (near
tain, which overlooks Chattanooga.[8] the center of East Tennessee), Chattanooga (in southeast-
ern Tennessee at the Georgia border), and the "Tri-Ci-
Counties ties" of Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport located in the
• Anderson extreme northeastern most part of the state. The Blue
• Bledsoe Ridge section of the state is much more sparsely popu-
• Blount lated, its main cities being Elizabethton, Gatlinburg, and
• Bradley Tellico Plains. Crossville and Jasper are prominent cities
• Campbell in the Plateau region.
• Carter Cities and towns with 10,000+ population (2000 U.S.
• Claiborne census)
• Cocke • Knoxville (pop. 173,890)
• Cumberland • Chattanooga (pop. 155,554)
• Grainger • Johnson City (pop. 55,469)
• Greene • Kingsport (pop. 44,905)
• Hamblen • Cleveland (pop. 37,192)
• Hamilton • Oak Ridge (pop. 27,387)
• Hancock • Morristown (pop. 24,965)
• Hawkins • Bristol (pop. 24,821)
• Jefferson • Maryville (pop. 23,120)
• Johnson • East Ridge (pop. 20,640)
• Knox • Farragut (pop. 17,720)
• Loudon • Greeneville (pop. 15,198)
• McMinn • Elizabethton (pop. 13,372)
• Marion • Athens (pop. 13,220)
• Meigs • Red Bank (pop. 12,418)
• Monroe • Sevierville (pop. 11,757)
• Morgan • Soddy-Daisy (pop. 11,530)
• Polk
• Rhea
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
Population density the French and Indian War led to the construction of Fort
Loudoun in 1756. An expedition led by Henry Timberlake
East Tennessee is the most populous and most densely in 1761 provided later travelers with invaluable knowl-
populated of the three Grand Divisions. At the 2000 cen- edge regarding the location of the Overhill towns and the
sus it had 2,119,505 inhabitants living in its 33 counties, customs of the Overhill Cherokee. In 1775, a faction of
which have a combined land area of 13,558.27 square Cherokees led by Dragging Canoe— angry over the tribe’s
miles (35,115.76 km²). Its population was 37.25% of the appeasement of European settlers— split off to form what
state’s total, and its land area is 32.90% of the state’s land became known as the Chickamauga faction, which was
area. Its population density was 156.33 inhabitants per concentrated around what is now Chattanooga. In spite
square mile (60.358/km²). of Dragging Canoe’s protests, the Cherokee were contin-
uously induced to sign away most of the tribe’s lands to
Congressional districts the U.S. government in a series of treaties between 1775
East Tennessee includes all of the state’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and 1836. The last such treaty resulted in the tribe’s trag-
congressional districts, and part of the 4th district. The ic removal to Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears in 1838.[13]
First District is concentrated around the Tri-Cities re-
gion and northeastern Tennessee. The Second District in- Pioneer period
cludes Knoxville and the mountain counties to the south.
The Third District includes the Chattanooga area and the
counties north of Knoxville (the two areas are connected
by a narrow corridor in eastern Roane County). The
Fourth, which extends into an area southwest of
Nashville, includes several of East Tennessee’s Cumber-
land Plateau counties.
History
Native Americans
Much of what is known about East Tennessee’s prehis-
toric Native Americans comes as a result of TVA’s reser- Early settlers of East Tennessee developed a unique type of
voir construction, as federal law required archaeological double-cantilever barn, which evolved from an earlier barn
investigations to be conducted in areas that were to be type in Pennsylvania.
flooded. Excavations at the Icehouse Bottom site near
Vonore revealed that Native Americans were living in The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 brought a
East Tennessee on at least a semi-annual basis as early stream of explorers and traders into the region, among
as 7,500 B.C.[9] The region’s significant Woodland period them the so-called long hunters, whose hunting expedi-
(1000 B.C. – 1000 A.D.) sites include Rose Island (also near tions lasted several months or even years. In 1769, Wil-
Vonore) and Moccasin Bend (near Chattanooga).[9][10] liam Bean— an associate of famed explorer Daniel
During what archaeologists call the Mississippian period Boone— built what is generally acknowledged as Ten-
(c. 1000–1600 A.D.), East Tennessee’s Native American in- nessee’s first permanent Euro-American residence in
habitants were living in complex agrarian societies at Tennessee along the Watauga River. Shortly thereafter,
places such as Toqua and Hiwassee Island,[11] and had James Robertson and a group of migrants from North
formed a minor chiefdom known as Chiaha in the French Carolina (some historians suggest they were refugees of
Broad Valley. Spanish expeditions led by Hernando de the Regulator wars) formed the Watauga settlement at
Soto, Tristan de Luna, and Juan Pardo all visited East Sycamore Shoals in modern Elizabethton. In 1772, the
Tennessee’s Mississippian-period inhabitants during the Wataugans established the Watauga Association, which
16th century.[12] was the first constitutional government west of the Ap-
By the time English explorers began arriving in what palachians, and the "germ cell" of the state of Ten-
is now East Tennessee in the late 17th century, the nessee.[14]
Cherokee had become the region’s dominant tribe. The During the American Revolution, the Wataugans sup-
Cherokee established a series of towns concentrated in plied 240 militiamen (led by John Sevier) to the frontier
the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee valleys that became force known as the Overmountain Men, which defeated
known as the "Overhill towns," as traders from South British loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain.[15] Ten-
Carolina and Virginia had to cross "over" the mountains nessee’s first attempt at statehood was the State of
to reach them. The Cherokee alliance with Britain during Franklin, formed in the 1780s with its capital initially
at Jonesborough and later Greeneville, but the state was
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
never admitted by Congress.[16] The Southwest Territory, for secession in February 1861, more than 80% of East
which encompassed much of what is now Tennessee and Tennesseans voted against it, including majorities in
Kentucky, was created in 1790 with William Blount as every county except Sullivan and Meigs. In June 1861,
its first governor. Blount and James White established nearly 70% of East Tennesseans voted against the Or-
the city of Knoxville as the territory’s capital. Knoxville dinance of Secession (which succeeded statewide), al-
would later serve as Tennessee’s first capital.[17] though along with Sullivan and Meigs, there were pro-
secession majorities in Monroe, Rhea, Sequatchie, and
Antebellum period Polk counties.[20] There were also pro-secession majori-
East Tennessee was home to one of the nation’s first abo- ties within the cities of Knoxville and Chattanooga, al-
litionist movements, which arose in the early 19th centu- though these cities’ respective counties voted decisively
ry. Quakers, who had migrated to the region from Penn- against secession.[19][21]
sylvania in the 1790s, formed the Manumission Society In June 1861, the pro-Unionist East Tennessee Con-
of Tennessee in 1814. Notable supporters included Pres- vention met in Greeneville, where it drafted a petition
byterian clergyman Samuel Doak, Tusculum College co- to the Tennessee state legislature demanding that East
founder Hezekiah Balch, and Maryville College president Tennessee be allowed to form a separate Union-aligned
Isaac Anderson. In 1820, Elihu Embree established The state.[20] The legislature rejected the petition, however,
Emancipator— the nation’s first exclusively abolitionist and Tennessee Governor Isham Harris ordered Confed-
newspaper— in Jonesborough. After Embree’s death, erate troops to occupy East Tennessee. Senator Andrew
Benjamin Lundy established the Genius of Universal Eman- Johnson and Congressman Horace Maynard— who in
cipation in Greeneville in 1821 to continue Embree’s work. spite of being from a Confederate state retained their
By the 1830s, however, the region’s abolitionist move- seats in Congress— continuously pressed President Abra-
ment had declined in the face of fierce opposition.[18] ham Lincoln to send troops into East Tennessee, and Lin-
The arrival of the railroad in the 1850s brought im- coln subsequently made the "liberation" of East Ten-
mediate economic benefits to East Tennessee, primarily nessee a top priority. Knoxville Whig editor William "Par-
to Chattanooga, which had been founded in 1839. Chat- son" Brownlow, who had been one of slavery’s most out-
tanooga quickly developed into a nexus between the spoken defenders, attacked secessionism with equal fer-
mountain communities of Southern Appalachia and the vor, and embarked on a speaking tour of the Northern
cotton states of the Deep South. Chattanooga’s strategic states to rally support for East Tennessee.[22] Union
position made it one of the most active theaters of the troops didn’t secure Knoxville until late 1863, however,
Civil War, as Confederate armies considered the city vital and Chattanooga was only secured after a series of
for supply lines between Virginia and the Deep South.[19] bloody campaigns late in the same year.
The Civil War Progressive Era
June 1861 Ordinance of Secession vote in East Tennessee. Coun-
ties shaded in maroon rejected secession by an 80% or greater
margin. Counties in red rejected secession by a 51% to 79%
margin. Counties in gray voted for secession. Counties in white
didn’t yet exist or their results are unknown.
Millworkers in Chattanooga, photographed by Lewis Wickes
Hine in 1910
The Civil War sentiments of East Tennessee were among
the most complex of any region in the nation. Whig sup- After the Civil War, northern capitalists began investing
port ran high in East Tennessee (especially in Knox and heavily in East Tennessee, helping the region’s ravaged
surrounding counties) in the years leading up to the war, economy recover. Knoxville and Chattanooga experi-
as many people in the region were suspicious of the aris- enced manufacturing booms, and their populations grew
tocratic Southern planter class that dominated the exponentially. Other cities in the region, such as Lenoir
Southern Democratic party and most southern state leg- City, Harriman, Rockwood, Dayton, and Englewood, were
islatures. When Tennessee voted on a referendum calling
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
founded as company towns during this period. In 1899, River. Starting with Norris Dam in 1933, the agency built
the world’s first Coca-cola bottling plant was built in 10 dams in East Tennessee (and five more across the bor-
Chattanooga.[19] In the early 1900s, railroad and sawmill der in North Carolina and Georgia) over a period of two
innovations allowed logging firms such as the Little River decades. Melton Hill and Nickajack were added in the
Lumber Company and Babock Lumber to harvest the vir- 1960s, and the last, Tellico Dam, was completed in 1979
gin forests of the Great Smokies and adjacent ranges. after a contentious five-year legal battle with environ-
The Burra Burra Mine— established in the 1890s in the mentalists.[28] TVA also gained control of TEPCO’s assets
Ducktown Basin— was at its height one of the nation’s after a legal struggle in the 1930s with TEPCO president Jo
largest copper mining operations.[23] Coal mining opera- Conn Guild and attorney Wendell Wilkie that was even-
tions were established in coal-rich areas of the Cumber- tually dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court.[29]
land Plateau, namely in Scott County, northern Camp- East Tennessee’s physiographic layout and rural na-
bell County, and western Anderson County. In the early ture made it the ideal location for the uranium enrich-
1890s, Tennessee’s controversial convict lease system ment facilities of the Manhattan Project— the federal
sparked a miners’ uprising in Anderson County that be- government’s top secret World War II-era initiative to
came known as the Coal Creek War. While the uprising build the atomic bomb. Starting in 1942, the U.S. Army
was eventually crushed, it induced the state to do away Corps of Engineers built what is now the city of Oak
with convict leasing, making Tennessee the first south- Ridge, and the following year work began on the enrich-
ern state to end the controversial practice.[24] ment facilities, K-25 and Y-12.[4] During the same period,
Other ambitious ventures during the period included Tennessee Eastman built the Holston Ordinance Works
the construction of Ocoee Dam No. 1 and Hales Bar Dam in Kingsport for the manufacture of an explosive known
(completed in 1911 and 1913 respectively) by the fore- as Composition B.[30] The ALCOA corporation, seeking
runners of the Tennessee Electric Power Company to meet the wartime demand for aluminum (which was
(TEPCO).[25] In the 1920s, Tennessee Eastman— destined needed for aircraft construction), built its North Plant,
to become the state’s largest employer— was established which at the time of its completion was the world’s
in Kingsport, and in nearby Elizabethton the German- largest plant under a single roof.[31] To meet the region’s
owned Bemberg Corporation built two large rayon skyrocketing demand for electricity, TVA hastened its
mills.[26] Equally ambitious was the Aluminum Company dam construction, completing Cherokee and Douglas
of America’s establishment of a massive aluminum smelt- dams in record time, and building the massive Fontana
ing operation at what is now Alcoa in 1914, which re- Dam just across the state line in North Carolina.[32]
quired the construction of a large plant and company
town and the building of a series of dams along the Little Birthplace of country music
Tennessee River to supply the plant with hydroelectric
power.[27]
The Great Depression and World War II
Norris Dam under construction in the mid-1930s
Banjos on display at the Museum of Appalachia
Over a period of two decades, the Tennessee Valley
Authority, created in 1933 at the height of the Great De-
The traditional music of East Tennessee has evolved from
pression, drastically altered the economic, cultural, and
a blend of English and Scottish ballads, Irish and Scottish
physical landscape of East Tennessee. TVA sought to
fiddle tunes, African-American blues, and religious mu-
build a series of dams across the Tennessee River water-
sic. In 1916 and 1917, British folklorist Cecil Sharp visited
shed to control flooding, bring cheap electricity to East
Flag Pond, Sevierville, Harrogate, and other rural areas
Tennessee, and connect Knoxville and Chattanooga to
in the region where he transcribed dozens of examples
the nation’s inland waterways by creating a continuous-
of "Old World" ballads that had been passed down gen-
ly navigable channel along the entirety of the Tennessee
5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
eration to generation from the region’s early English set-
tlers.[33] Recording companies discovered the region’s
Economy
music in the early 1920s, and began marketing it as "Hill- Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, East Ten-
billy" music. Uncle Am Stuart, Charlie Bowman, Clarence nessee’s economy relied heavily on subsistence agricul-
Ashley, G. B. Grayson, and Theron Hale were among the ture. By 2000, however, just over 1% of the region’s pop-
most successful early Hillbilly musicians from East Ten- ulation was employed in agriculture or related indus-
nessee. tries. As of the 2000 census, manufacturing accounted for
In 1927, the Victor Talking Machine Company con- roughly 20% of region’s jobs, with the largest employ-
ducted a series of recording sessions in Bristol that saw ers being Eastman Chemical in Kingsport (10,000 employ-
the rise of musicians such as Jimmie Rodgers and the ees), Sea Ray in Knoxville (3,500 employees), and Den-
Carter Family, and are thus often called the "Big Bang" so Manufacturing in Maryville and Athens (over 3,000
of country music. Subsequent recording sessions, such as employees). Health and education services accounted for
the Johnson City sessions in 1928 and the Knoxville St. another 20% of the region’s jobs, with major employers
James Sessions in 1930 proved lucrative, but by the late being Bluecross-Blueshield of Tennessee (4,144 employ-
1930s, the success of the Grand Ole Opry had lured much ees), the Tennessee Department of Health in Chattanooga
of the region’s talent to Nashville. In the 1940s, the Grand (4,000 employees), and the Baptist Hospital system in
Ole Opry and associated music labels began using "coun- Knoxville (4,000 employees). Tourism and recreational
try" instead of "hillbilly" for their genre, hoping to at- industries account for just under 10% of East Tennessee’s
tract a wider audience.[3] workforce, the primary attractions being the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park (9 million visitors per
Tourism year), the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga (one mil-
While the mountain springs of East Tennessee and the lion visitors per year), and historical sites such as the Mu-
cooler upper elevations of its mountainous areas have seum of Appalachia and Rugby. Other significant employ-
long provided a retreat from the region’s summertime ers included the Chattanooga trucking firms U.S. Xpress
heat, much of East Tennessee’s tourism industry is a re- (8,100 employees) and Covenant Transportation (5,000
sult of land conservation movements in the 1920s and employees), and the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge (4,750 em-
1930s. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, es- ployees).[36][37] Mussel shoals in the upper Tennessee
tablished in the early 1930s, led to a tourism boom in River valley, mainly above Knoxville, constitute the only
Blount and Sevier counties, effectively converting the important source of freshwater pearls in the United
tiny mountain hamlets of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge States.[citation needed]
into resort towns. The Appalachian Trail, one of the The Tennessee Valley Authority, headquartered in
world’s most well-known hiking trails, was built in the Knoxville, provides most of the region’s electricity via
mid-1930s, and passes along the Tennessee-North Caroli- its hydroelectric dams as well as coal-fired plants near
na border. The Cherokee National Forest was established Kingston and Rogersville, the Watts Bar Nuclear Gen-
during the same period, preserving or restoring over erating Station, the Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage
600,000 acres (2,400 km2) of forest land, most notably at Plant, and a wind-powered facility atop Buffalo Mountain
Roan Mountain, the Unicoi Mountains (now traversed near Oak Ridge. In recent years, TVA’s effectiveness has
by the Cherohala Skyway), and along the Ocoee River, been debated, with some arguing it saved East Tennessee
which has developed into one of the nation’s most popu- from a bleak future, and others claiming the agency is a
lar whitewater rafting areas.[34] mismanaged, wasteful bureaucracy.[28]
In the early 1930s, entrepreneurs established tourist
attractions at Rock City and Ruby Falls on Lookout Moun- Appalachian Regional Commission
tain, perhaps best known for their unique advertise-
ments painted on barn roofs across the southeast.[35]
TVA considered the creation of recreational opportuni-
ties along its reservoirs a priority, and reservoirs such as
Norris Lake and Chickamauga Lake have since grown in-
to hunting and fishing meccas. The agency was also re-
sponsible for the creation of state parks such as Big Ridge
State Park and Harrison Bay State Park. Knoxville host-
ed the 1982 World’s Fair, which drew over 11 million vis-
Map showing 2001-2003 ARC economic designations for coun-
itors, making it one of the most popular world’s fairs in
ties in "Appalachian" Tennessee, including all counties in East
history. In the early 1990s, the Tennessee Aquarium— Tennessee and the easternmost in Middle Tennessee (the white
one of the world’s largest freshwater aquariums— line indicates the boundary between the two Grand Divisions).
opened in Chattanooga.[19]
6
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
See also: List of Appalachian Regional Commission coun- lar industry.[39] The university’s football teams play at
ties#Tennessee Neyland Stadium, one of the nation’s largest stadiums,
The Appalachian Regional Commission was formed in which is often sold out on game day.[40] Neyland is
1965 to aide economic development in the Appalachian flanked by the Thompson-Boling Arena, which has bro-
region, which was lagging far behind the rest of the na- ken several attendance records for college men’s and
tion on most economic indicators. The Appalachian re- women’s basketball.[41]
gion currently defined by the Commission includes 420
counties in 13 states, including all counties in East Ten-
nessee. The Commission gives each county one of five
Politics
possible economic designations— distressed, at-risk, East Tennessee is one of the few regions in the South
transitional, competitive, or attainment— with "dis- that has consistently voted Republican since the U.S. Civ-
tressed" counties being the most economically endan- il War. East Tennessee Republican leanings are rooted in
gered and "attainment" counties being the most econom- its antebellum Whig sentiments (historian O.P. Temple
ically prosperous. These designations are based primarily actually traces this sentiment back to the anti-aristocrat-
on three indicators— three-year average unemployment ic Covenanters of Scotland).[42] As in much of Southern
rate, market income per capita, and poverty rate.[38] Appalachia, the region’s yeoman farmers clashed with
In 2003, "Appalachian" Tennessee— which included the large-scale planters and business interests that con-
all of East Tennessee and the easternmost counties in trolled the Democratic Party and dominated most south-
Middle Tennessee— had a three-year average unemploy- ern state legislatures. East Tennesseans revered the likes
ment rate of 4.9%, compared with 5.6% statewide and of John Sevier and Davy Crockett, and were drawn to
5.5% nationwide. In 2002, Appalachian Tennessee had a the political philosophies of Henry Clay and Daniel Web-
per capita market income of $19,936, compared with ster.[42] They tended to reject the policies of the South-
$20,422 statewide and $26,420 nationwide. In 2000, Ap- ern Democrats, who were deemed "aristocratic" (Andrew
palachian Tennessee had a poverty rate of 14.2%, com- Jackson’s popularity in the Chattanooga area— which he
pared to 13.6% statewide and 12.4% nationwide. Three helped open to European-American settlement— created
East Tennessee counties— Scott, Hancock, and Johnson— a stronger Democratic base in southeastern Tennessee,
were designated "distressed," while eight— Morgan, however). In the early 1840s, then-state senator Andrew
Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Cocke, Meigs, Bledsoe, Johnson actually introduced a bill in the state legislature
and Union— were designated "at-risk." No counties in that would have created a separate state in East Ten-
East Tennessee were given the "attainment" designation, nessee.[43]
and only two— Hamilton and Bradley— were designated While the Whigs disintegrated in the 1850s, East Ten-
"competitive." Most East Tennessee counties were desig- nesseans continued their opposition to Southern Democ-
nated "transitional," meaning they lagged behind the na- rats with the Opposition Party and the Constitutional
tional average on one of the three key indicators. Han- Union Party, the latter capturing the state’s electoral
cock had East Tennessee’s highest poverty rating, with votes in 1860. Pro-Union sentiment during the Civil War
29.4% of its residents living below the poverty line. Knox (which was reinforced by the Confederate army’s occu-
had East Tennessee’s highest per capita income ($25,999) pation of the region) evolved into support for President
and the lowest unemployment rate (2.8%), although Lincoln and the Republican Party. The Radical Repub-
Hamilton was a close second on both of these indica- lican post-war policies of Governor William "Parson"
tors.[38] Brownlow greatly polarized the state along party lines,
with East Tennesseans mostly supporting Brownlow and
Middle and West Tennesseans mostly rejecting him. The
Higher education Southern Democrats regained control of the state gov-
The region’s major public universities are the Knoxville ernment in the early 1870s, but Republican sentiment
and Chattanooga campuses of the University of Ten- remained solid in East Tennessee, especially in the 1st
nessee and East Tennessee State University in Johnson and 2nd Districts. By the 1880s, the state’s Democrats
City. Private four-year institutions include Bryan College, had an unwritten agreement with the state’s Republicans
Carson-Newman College, King College, Lee University, whereby Republicans would split presidential patronage
Lincoln Memorial University, Maryville College, Milligan of Republican presidencies with the Democrats so long as
College, Johnson Bible College, Tennessee Wesleyan Col- the Democrats allowed them continued influence in state
lege, and Tusculum College. Several public community affairs.[44]
colleges and vocational/technical schools also are locat- In 1888, Pennsylvania-born Henry Clay Evans was
ed in the region. elected to the congressional seat for the 3rd District (the
The University of Tennessee’s athletic teams, nick- Chattanooga area). Evans, who rejected compromise and
named the "Volunteers," or "Vols," are the region’s most the splitting of presidential patronage with the state’s
popular sports teams, and constitute a multi-million dol- Democrats, strongly supported a bill that would have
7
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
turned over control of state elections to the federal gov- [13] Gerald Schroedl, Overhill Cherokees. Tennessee
ernment. In response, the state legislature gerryman- Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved:
dered the 3rd District, ensuring Evans’ defeat in 1890.[44] 18 August 2009.
After 1901, more than a half-century passed without the [14] Samuel Cole Williams, Dawn of Tennessee Valley and
state legislature redistricting, in spite of population Tennessee History (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga
shifts. In 1959, Memphis resident Charles Baker sued the Press, 1937), pp. 338-348.
legislature in hopes of forcing it to redraw the districts, [15] Pat Alderman, Overmountain Men (Johnson City,
culminating in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 1970), pp. 81-96.
Baker v. Carr.[45] In the decades after this case, the 3rd and [16] Michael Toomey, State of Franklin. Tennessee
4th districts have been redrawn several times, most re- Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved:
cently in 2002 when the boundaries were shifted to make 18 August 2009.
the 3rd more Republican and the 4th more Democrat- [17] Bruce Wheeler, Knoxville. Tennessee Encyclopedia of
ic.[46] History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 18 August 2009.
[18] Anita Goodstein, Slavery. Tennessee Encyclopedia of
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[19] ^ Timothy Ezzell, Chattanooga. Tennessee
[1] ^ TNGenWeb Project, Three Grand Divisions of Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved:
Tennessee. 1999. Retrieved: 17 August 2009. 18 August 2009.
[2] Rudy Abramson, Introduction to the Encyclopedia of [20] ^ Eric Lacy, Vanquished Volunteers: East Tennessee
Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Sectionalism from Statehood to Secession (Johnson
Tennessee Press, 2006), pp. xix-xxv. City, Tenn.: East Tennessee State University Press,
[3] ^ Ted Olson and Ajay Kalra, "Appalachian Music: 1965), pp. 122-126, 217-233.
Examining Popular Assumptions". A Handbook to [21] William MacArthur, Jr., Knoxville: Crossroads of the
Appalachia: An Introduction to the Region (Knoxville, New South (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Continental Heritage
Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), pp. Press, 1982), 42-44.
163-170. [22] Stanley Folmsbee, Robert Corlew, and Enoch
[4] ^ Charles Johnson, Oak Ridge. Tennessee Mitchell, History of Tennessee (New York: Lewis
Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: Historical Publishing Company, 1960), pp. 34-35,
18 August 2009. 69-74.
[5] Ward DeWitt, Jr., Tennessee Supreme Court. [23] Carroll Van West, Ducktown Basin Museum.
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002.
Retrieved: 17 August 2009. Retrieved: 18 August 2009.
[6] ^ Harry Moore, A Geologic Trip Across Tennessee by [24] Perry Cotham, Toil, Turmoil & Triumph: A Portrait of
Interstate 40 (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of the Tennessee Labor Movement (Franklin, Tenn.:
Tennessee Press, 1994), pp. 57-58, 64, 68. Hillsboro Press, 1995), pp. 56-80.
[7] USGS GNIS - Unicoi Mountains, USGS GNIS - Bald [25] James Jones, Jr., TEPCO. Tennessee Encyclopedia of
Mountains, USGS GNIS - Unaka Mountains, USGS History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 18 August 2009.
GNIS - Great Smoky Mountains. [26] James Fickle, Industry. Tennessee Encyclopedia of
[8] Lookout Mountain Conservancy, Lookout Mountain History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 18 August 2009.
Conservancy, Retrieved: 17 August 2009. [27] Russell Parker, "Alcoa, Tennessee: The Early Years,
[9] ^ Jefferson Chapman, Tellico Archaeology: 12,000 Years 1919–1939." East Tennessee Historical Society
of Native American History (Knoxville, Tenn.: Publications Vol. 48 (1976), pp. 84-100.
Tennessee Valley Authority, 1985). [28] ^ Bruce Wheeler, Tennessee Valley Authority.
[10] "Moccasin Bend Archeological District". National Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002.
Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Retrieved: 18 August 2009.
Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/ [29] Timothy Ezzell, Jo Conn Guild. Tennessee
detail.cfm?ResourceId=1965&ResourceType=District. Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved:
Retrieved 2008-07-01. 18 August 2009.
[11] Gerald Schroedl, Mississippian Culture. Tennessee [30] Patricia Brake, World War II. Tennessee Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 18 August
18 August 2009. 2009.
[12] Charles Hudson, The Juan Pardo Expeditions: [31] Russell Parker, "Alcoa, Tennessee: The Years of
Explorations of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568 Change, 1940–1960." East Tennessee Historical Society
(Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, Publications Vol. 49 (1977), pp. 99-117.
2005), pp. 10-13, 104. [32] Tennessee Valley Authority, The Douglas Project: A
Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design,
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia East Tennessee
Construction, and Initial Operations of the Douglas [40] Neyland Stadium. UTsports.com, 2009. Retrieved:
Project, Technical Report No. 10 (Washington D.C.: 18 August 2009.
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1949), 1-12, 28. [41] Thompson-Boling Assembly Center & Arena.
[33] Cecil Sharp, Maud Karpeles (ed.), English Folk Songs UTsports.com, 2009. Retrieved: 18 August 2009.
from the Southern Appalachians (London: Oxford [42] ^ Oliver Perry Temple, East Tennessee and the Civil
University Press, 1932), pp. 26, 77, 115, 183, 244, War (Cincinnati: R. Clarke, 1972), pp. 15-17, 547,
310, etc. 556-8.
[34] Ann Toplovich, Conservation. Tennessee [43] Eric Lacy, Vanquished Volunteers: East Tennessee
Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: Sectionalism from Statehood to Secession (Johnson
18 August 2009. City, Tenn.: East Tennessee State University Press,
[35] Gary Jenkins, Lookout Mountain. Tennessee 1965), pp. 122-126.
Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: [44] ^ Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History
18 August 2009. (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp.
[36] U.S. Census Bureau, Fast Facts for Congress 218-219.
(Tennessee 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Congressional [45] John Vile, Baker v. Carr. Tennessee Encyclopedia of
Districts and Marion, Bledsoe, Roane, Cumberland, History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 27 August 2009.
Morgan, Scott, and Campbell counties). Retrieved: [46] Dave Flessner, Lawmakers to Redraw Districts
18 August 2009. Based Upon 2010 Population. Chattanooga Times Free
[37] Tennessee Department of Economic and Press, 2009-05-20. Retrieved: 2009-08-27.
Community Development, Largest Employers in
Tennessee. 11 April 2008. Retrieved: 18 August
2009.
External links
[38] ^ Appalachian Regional Commission Online • East Tennessee Historical Society
Resource Center. Retrieved: 15 May 2009. • DiscoverET.org, a general-purpose community
[39] John Majors and Ann Toplovich, College Football. website
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. • DiscoverGreeneville.com/AndrewJohnson, a website
Retrieved: 18 August 2009. on the Andrew Johnson Bicentennial
• East Tennessee at the Open Directory Project
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Tennessee&oldid=461470186"
Categories:
• Regions of Tennessee
• Appalachian culture
• State of Franklin
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