Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into threeGrand Divisions ofEast,Middle, andWest Tennessee.Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Tennessee has diverse terrain and landforms, and from east to west, contains a mix of cultural features characteristic ofAppalachia, theUpland South, and theDeep South. TheBlue Ridge Mountains along the eastern border reach some of the highest elevations in eastern North America, and theCumberland Plateau contains many scenic valleys andwaterfalls. The central part of the state is marked by cavernous bedrock and irregular rolling hills, and level, fertile plains define West Tennessee. The state is twice bisected by theTennessee River, and theMississippi River forms its western border. TheGreat Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation's most visited national park, is in eastern Tennessee.[13]
Tennessee is rooted in theWatauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of theAppalachian Mountains.[14] Its name derives fromTanasi (ᏔᎾᏏ), aCherokee town preceding the first European American settlement.[15] Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later theSouthwest Territory, before its admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. It earned the nickname "The Volunteer State" due to a strong tradition of military service.[16] Aslave state until theAmerican Civil War, Tennessee was politically divided, with most of its western and middle parts supporting theConfederacy, and most of the eastern region harboringpro-Union sentiment. As a result, Tennessee was the last state to officiallysecede from the Union and join theConfederacy, and the first formerConfederate state readmitted to the Union after the war had ended during theReconstruction era.[17]
Tennessee derives its name most directly from theCherokee town ofTanasi (or "Tanase", insyllabary: ᏔᎾᏏ) in present-dayMonroe County, Tennessee, on the Tanasi River, now known as theLittle Tennessee River. In 1567,Spanish explorer CaptainJuan Pardo and his party encountered aNative American village named "Tanasqui" in the area while traveling inland from modern-daySouth Carolina; however, it is unknown if this was the same settlement as Tanasi.[b] The town appeared on British maps as early as 1725. Recent research suggests that the Cherokees adapted the name from theYuchi wordTana-tsee-dgee, meaning "brother-waters-place" or "where-the-waters-meet".[20][21][22] The modern spelling,Tennessee, is attributed to GovernorJames Glen of South Carolina, who used this spelling in his official correspondence during the 1750s. In 1788, North Carolina created "Tennessee County", and in 1796, aconstitutional convention, organizing the new state from theSouthwest Territory, adopted "Tennessee" as the state's name.[23]
The first inhabitants of Tennessee werePaleo-Indians who arrived about 12,000 years ago at the end of theLast Glacial Period. Archaeological excavations indicate that the lower Tennessee Valley was heavily populated by Ice Agehunter-gatherers, and Middle Tennessee is believed to have been rich withgame animals such asmastodons.[24] The names of the cultural groups who inhabited the area before European contact are unknown, but archaeologists have named several distinct cultural phases, including theArchaic (8000–1000 BC),Woodland (1000 BC–1000 AD), andMississippian (1000–1600 AD) periods.[25] The Archaic peoples first domesticated dogs, and plants such assquash,corn,gourds, andsunflowers were first grown in Tennessee during the Woodland period.[26] Later generations of Woodland peoples constructed the first mounds. Rapid civilizational development occurred during the Mississippian period, when Indigenous peoples developed organizedchiefdoms and constructed numerous ceremonial structures throughout the state.[27]
Spanish conquistadors who explored the region in the 16th century encountered some of the Mississippian peoples, including theMuscogee Creek,Yuchi, andShawnee.[28][29] By the early 18th century, most Natives in Tennessee had disappeared, most likely wiped out by diseases introduced by the Spaniards.[28] The Cherokee began migrating into what is now eastern Tennessee from what is now Virginia in the latter 17th century, possibly to escape expanding European settlement and diseases in the north.[30] They forced the Creek, Yuchi, and Shawnee out of the state in the early 18th century.[30][31] The Chickasaw remained confined to West Tennessee, and the middle part of the state contained few Native Americans, although both the Cherokee and the Shawnee claimed the region as their hunting ground.[32] Cherokee peoples in Tennessee were known by European settlers as theOverhill Cherokee because they lived west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.[33] Overhill settlements grew along the rivers in East Tennessee in the early 18th century.[34]
Reconstruction ofFort Loudoun, the first British settlement in Tennessee
In the 1750s and 1760s,longhunters from Virginia explored much of East and Middle Tennessee.[44] Settlers from theColony of South Carolina builtFort Loudoun on theLittle Tennessee River in 1756, the first British settlement in what is now Tennessee and the westernmost British outpost to that date.[45][46] Hostilities erupted between the British and the Cherokees intoan armed conflict, and asiege of the fort ended with its surrender in 1760.[47] After theFrench and Indian War, Britain issued theRoyal Proclamation of 1763, which forbade settlements west of theAppalachian Mountains in an effort to mitigate conflicts with the Natives.[48] But migration across the mountains continued, and the first permanent European settlers began arriving in northeastern Tennessee in the late 1760s.[49][50] Most of them wereEnglish, but nearly 20% wereScotch-Irish.[51] They formed theWatauga Association in 1772, a semi-autonomous representative government,[52] and three years later reorganized themselves into theWashington District to support the cause of theAmerican Revolutionary War.[53] The next year, after an unsuccessful petition to Virginia, North Carolina agreed to annex the Washington District to provide protection from Native American attacks.[54]
Three counties of theWashington District broke off fromNorth Carolina in 1784 and formed theState of Franklin.[65] Efforts to obtain admission to theUnion failed, and the counties, now numbering eight, rejoined North Carolina by 1788.[66] North Carolina ceded the area to the federal government in 1790, after which it was organized into theSouthwest Territory on May 26 of that year.[67] The act allowed the territory to petition for statehood once the population reached 60,000.[67] Administration of the territory was divided between the Washington District and the Mero District, the latter of which consisted of the Cumberland Association and was named for Spanish territorial governorEsteban Rodríguez Miró.[68] PresidentGeorge Washington appointedWilliam Blount as territorial governor.[69] The Southwest Territory recorded a population of 35,691 in thefirst United States census that year, including 3,417 slaves.[70]
SurveyorDaniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796)
As support for statehood grew among the settlers, Governor Blount called for elections, which were held in December 1793.[71] The 13-member territorial House of Representatives first convened in Knoxville on February 24, 1794, to select ten members for the legislature's upper house, the council.[71] The full legislature convened on August 25, 1794.[72] In June 1795, the legislature conducted a census of the territory, which recorded a population of 77,263, including 10,613 slaves, and a poll that showed 6,504 in favor of statehood and 2,562 opposed.[73][74] Elections for a constitutional convention were held in December 1795, and the delegates convened in Knoxville on January 17, 1796, to begin drafting a state constitution.[75] During this convention, the name Tennessee was chosen for the new state.[23] The constitution was completed on February 6, which authorized elections for the state's new legislature, theTennessee General Assembly.[76][77] The legislature convened on March 28, 1796, and the next day, John Sevier was announced as the state's first governor.[76][77] Tennessee was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796, as the 16th state and the first created from federal territory.[78][79]
Tennessee reportedly earned the nickname "The Volunteer State" during theWar of 1812, when 3,500 Tennesseans answered a recruitment call by the General Assembly for the war effort.[80] These soldiers, underAndrew Jackson's command, played a major role in the American victory at theBattle of New Orleans in 1815, the last major battle of the war.[80] Several Tennesseans took part in theTexas Revolution of 1835–36, including GovernorSam Houston and Congressman and frontiersmanDavy Crockett, who was killed at theBattle of the Alamo.[81] The state's nickname was solidified during theMexican–American War when PresidentJames K. Polk of Tennessee issued a call for 2,800 soldiers from the state, and more than 30,000 volunteered.[82]
Between the 1790s and 1820s, additional land cessions were negotiated with the Cherokee, who had establisheda national government modeled on theU.S. Constitution.[83][84] In 1818, Jackson and Kentucky governorIsaac Shelby reached an agreement with the Chickasaw to sell the land between the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers to the United States, which included all of West Tennessee and became known as the "Jackson Purchase".[85] The Cherokee moved their capital from Georgia to theRed Clay Council Grounds in southeastern Tennessee in 1832, due to new laws forcing them from their previous capital atNew Echota.[86] In 1838 and 1839, U.S. troopsforcibly removed thousands of Cherokees and their black slaves from their homes in southeastern Tennessee and forced them to march toIndian Territory in modern-dayOklahoma. This event is known as theTrail of Tears, and an estimated 4,000 died along the way.[87][88]
in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued acommemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood.
As settlers pushed west of the Cumberland Plateau, a slavery-basedagrarian economy took hold in these regions.[89] Cotton planters used extensive slave labor on largeplantation complexes in West Tennessee's fertile and flat terrain after the Jackson Purchase.[90] Cotton also took hold in the Nashville Basin during this time.[90] Entrepreneurs such asMontgomery Bell used slaves in the production of iron in the Western Highland Rim, and slaves also cultivated such crops as tobacco and corn throughout the Highland Rim.[89] East Tennessee's geography did not allow for large plantations as in the middle and western parts of the state, and as a result, slavery became increasingly rare in the region.[91] A strongabolition movement developed in East Tennessee, beginning as early as 1797, and in 1819,Elihu Embree ofJonesborough began publishing theManumission Intelligencier (laterThe Emancipator), the nation's first exclusively anti-slavery newspaper.[92][93]
At the onset of theAmerican Civil War, most Middle and West Tennesseans favored efforts to preserve their slavery-based economies, but many Middle Tennesseans were initially skeptical of secession. In East Tennessee, most people favored remaining in the Union.[94] In 1860, slaves composed about 25% of Tennessee's population, the lowest share among the states that joined theConfederacy.[95] Tennessee provided more Union troops than any other Confederate state, and the second-highest number of Confederate troops, behind Virginia.[17][96] Due to its central location, Tennessee was a crucial state during the war and saw more military engagements than any state except Virginia.[97]
AfterAbraham Lincoln was elected president in1860, secessionists in the state government led by GovernorIsham Harrissought voter approval to sever ties with the United States, which was rejected in a referendum by a 54–46% margin in February 1861.[98] After the Confederateattack on Fort Sumter in April and Lincoln's call for troops in response, the legislature ratified an agreement to enter a military league with the Confederacy on May 7, 1861.[99] On June 8, with Middle Tennesseans having significantly changed their position, voters approved a second referendum on secession by a 69–31% margin, becoming the last state to secede.[100] In response, East Tennessee Unionists organizeda convention in Knoxville with the goal of splitting the region to form a new state loyal to the Union.[101] In the fall of 1861, Unionist guerrillas in East Tennesseeburned bridges and attacked Confederate sympathizers, leading the Confederacy to invokemartial law in parts of the region. Because of this, many southern unionists were sent fleeing to nearby Union states, particularly theborder state ofKentucky. Other southern unionists, who stayed in Tennessee after the state's secession, either resisted the Confederate cause or eventually joined it.[102] In March 1862, Lincoln appointed native Tennessean andWar DemocratAndrew Johnson as military governor of the state.[103]
GeneralUlysses S. Grant and theU.S. Navy captured the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers in February 1862 at the battles ofFort Henry andFort Donelson.[104] Grant then proceeded south to Pittsburg Landing and held off a Confederate counterattack atShiloh in April in what was at the time the bloodiest battle of the war.[105] Memphis fell to the Union in June after anaval battle on the Mississippi River.[106] Union strength in Middle Tennessee was tested in a series of Confederate offensives beginning in the summer of 1862, which culminated in GeneralWilliam Rosecrans'sArmy of the Cumberland routing GeneralBraxton Bragg'sArmy of Tennessee atStones River, another one of the war's costliest engagements.[107] The next summer, Rosecrans'sTullahoma campaign forced Bragg's remaining troops in Middle Tennessee to retreat to Chattanooga with little fighting.[108]
When theEmancipation Proclamation was announced, Tennessee was largely held by Union forces and thus not among the states enumerated, so it freed no slaves there.[115] Andrew Johnson declared all slaves in Tennessee free on October 24, 1864.[115] On February 22, 1865, the legislature approved an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting slavery, which was approved by voters the following month, and would go into effect later on in the year. This made Tennessee the only Southern state to abolish slavery at the time.[116][117] Tennessee ratified theThirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery in every state, on April 7, 1865,[118] and theFourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to former slaves, on July 18, 1866. Both amendments went into effect after Tennessee's readmission to the union due to the fact that other states had not yet ratified it.[119] Johnson became vice president when Lincoln wasreelected, and president after Lincoln'sassassination in May 1865.[103] On July 24, 1866, Tennessee became the first Confederate state to have its elected members readmitted to Congress.[120]
The years after the Civil War were characterized by tension and unrest between blacks and former Confederates, the worst of which occurred inMemphis in 1866.[121] Because Tennessee had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment before its readmission to the Union, it was the only former secessionist state that did not have a military governor duringReconstruction.[119] TheRadical Republicans seized control of the state government toward the end of the war, and appointedWilliam G. "Parson" Brownlow governor. Under Brownlow's administration from 1865 to 1869, the legislature allowed African American men to vote, disenfranchised former Confederates, and with martial law, took action against theKu Klux Klan, which was founded in December 1865 inPulaski as a vigilante group to advance former Confederates' interests.[122] In 1870,Southern Democrats regained control of the state legislature,[123] and over the next two decades, passedJim Crow laws to enforceracial segregation.[124] A total of 251lynchings, predominately of Black people, took place in Tennessee.[125][126]
Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War
A number of epidemics swept through Tennessee in the years after the Civil War, includingcholera in 1873, which devastated the Nashville area,[127] andyellow fever in 1878, which killed more than one-tenth of Memphis's residents.[128][129] Reformers worked to modernize Tennessee into a "New South" economy during this time. With the help of Northern investors, Chattanooga became one of the first industrialized cities in the South.[130] Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" during the late 19th century, and Nashville, Knoxville, and several smaller cities saw modest industrialization.[130] Northerners also began exploiting the coalfields and mineral resources in the Appalachian Mountains. To pay off debts and alleviate overcrowded prisons, the state turned toconvict leasing, providing prisoners to mining companies asstrikebreakers, which was protested by miners forced to compete with the system.[131] An armed uprising in the Cumberland Mountains known as theCoal Creek War in 1891 and 1892 resulted in the state ending convict leasing.[132][133]
Despite New South promoters' efforts, agriculture continued to dominate Tennessee's economy.[134] The majority of freed slaves were forced intosharecropping during the latter 19th century, and many others worked as agricultural wage laborers.[135] In 1897, Tennessee celebrated its statehood centennial one year late with theTennessee Centennial and International Exposition in Nashville.[136] Afull-scale replica of theParthenon inAthens was designed by architectWilliam Crawford Smith and constructed for the celebration, owing to the city's reputation as the "Athens of the South".[137][138]
Workers at theNorris Dam construction camp site in 1933
Due to increasing racial segregation and poor standards of living, many black Tennesseans fled to industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest as part of the first wave of theGreat Migration between 1915 and 1930.[139] Many residents of rural parts of Tennessee relocated to larger cities during this time for more lucrative employment opportunities.[130] As part of theTemperance movement, Tennessee became the first state in the nation to effectively ban the sale, transportation, and production of alcohol in a series of laws passed between 1907 and 1917.[140] DuringProhibition, illicit production ofmoonshine became extremely common in East Tennessee, particularly in the mountains, and continued for many decades afterward.[141]
When theGreat Depression struck in 1929, much of Tennessee was severely impoverished even by national standards.[149] As part of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Deal, theTennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created in 1933 to provide electricity, jobs, flood control, improved waterway navigation, agricultural development, and economic modernization to theTennessee River Valley.[150] The TVA built several hydroelectric dams in the state in the 1930s and 1940s, which inundated communities and thousands of farmland acreage, and forcibly displaced families viaeminent domain.[151][152] The agency quickly grew into the country's largest electric utility and initiated a period of dramatic economic growth and transformation that brought many new industries and employment opportunities to the state.[150][153]
DuringWorld War II, East Tennessee was chosen for the production of weapons-gradefissileenriched uranium as part of theManhattan Project, aresearch and development undertaking led by the U.S. to produce the world's firstatomic bombs. Theplanned community ofOak Ridge was built to provide accommodations for the facilities and workers; the site was chosen due to the abundance of TVA electric power, its low population density, and its inland geography and topography, which allowed for the natural separation of the facilities and a low vulnerability to attack.[154][155] TheClinton Engineer Works was established as the production arm of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, which enriched uranium at three major facilities for use in atomic bombs. The first of the bombs was detonated inAlamogordo, New Mexico, in a test code-namedTrinity, and the second, nicknamed "Little Boy", wasdropped on Imperial Japan at the end of World War II.[156] After the war, theOak Ridge National Laboratory became an institution for scientific and technological research.[157]
TheOcoee River was home to the1996 Summer Olympics whitewater slalom events, the only Olympic sporting event ever held in the state.
The1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville.[168] Also known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, the fair's theme was "Energy Turns the World". The exposition was one of the most successful, and the most recent world's fair to be held in the U.S.[169] In 1986, Tennessee held a yearlong celebration of the state's heritage and culture called "Homecoming '86".[170][171] Tennessee celebrated its bicentennial in 1996 with a yearlong celebration called "Tennessee 200". A new state park that traces the state's history,Bicentennial Mall, was opened at the foot of Capitol Hill in Nashville.[172] The same year, thewhitewater slalom events at the AtlantaSummer Olympic Games were held on theOcoee River inPolk County.[173]
Tennessee is in theSoutheastern United States. Culturally, most of the state is considered part of theUpland South, and the eastern third is part ofAppalachia.[179] Tennessee covers roughly 42,143 square miles (109,150 km2), of which 926 square miles (2,400 km2), or 2.2%, is water. It is the16th smallest state in land area. The state is about 440 miles (710 km) long from east to west and 112 miles (180 km) wide from north to south. Tennessee is geographically, culturally, economically, and legally divided into threeGrand Divisions:East Tennessee,Middle Tennessee, andWest Tennessee.[180] It borders eight other states:Kentucky andVirginia to the north,North Carolina to the east,Georgia,Alabama, andMississippi on the south, andArkansas andMissouri on the west. It is tied with Missouri as the state bordering the most other states.[181] Tennessee is trisected by theTennessee River, and its geographical center is inMurfreesboro. Nearly three–fourths of the state is in theCentral Time Zone, with most of East Tennessee onEastern Time.[182] The Tennessee River forms most of the division between Middle and West Tennessee.[180]
Tennessee's eastern boundary roughly follows the highest crests of theBlue Ridge Mountains, and theMississippi River forms its western boundary.[183] Due to flooding of the Mississippi that has changed its path, the state's western boundary deviates from the river in some places.[184] The northern border was originally defined as36°30′ north latitude and theRoyal Colonial Boundary of 1665, but due to faulty surveys, begins north of this line in the east, and to the west, gradually veers north before shifting south onto the actual 36°30′ parallel at the Tennessee River in West Tennessee.[183][185] Uncertainties in the latter 19th century over the location of the state's border with Virginia culminated in the U.S. Supreme Courtsettling the matter in 1893, which resulted in the division ofBristol between the two states.[186] An 1818 survey erroneously placed Tennessee's southern border 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the35th parallel; Georgia legislatorscontinue to dispute this placement, as it prevents Georgia from accessing the Tennessee River.[187]
Geological formations in Tennessee largely correspond with the state's topographic features, and, in general, decrease in age from east to west. The state's oldest rocks areigneous strata more than 1 billion years old found in the Blue Ridge Mountains,[192][193] and the youngest deposits in Tennessee are sands and silts in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and river valleys that drain into the Mississippi River.[194] Tennessee is considered seismically active and contains two major seismic zones, although destructive earthquakes rarely occur there.[195][196] TheEastern Tennessee seismic zone spans the entirety of East Tennessee from northwestern Alabama to southwestern Virginia, and is considered one of the most active zones in the Southeastern United States, frequently producing low-magnitude earthquakes.[197] TheNew Madrid seismic zone in the northwestern part of the state produceda series of devastating earthquakes between December 1811 and February 1812 that formedReelfoot Lake nearTiptonville.[198]
The southwesternBlue Ridge Mountains lie within Tennessee's eastern edge, and are divided into several subranges, namely theGreat Smoky Mountains,Bald Mountains,Unicoi Mountains,Unaka Mountains, andIron Mountains. These mountains, which average 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level in Tennessee, contain some of the highest elevations in eastern North America. The state's border with North Carolina roughly follows the highest peaks of this range, including Kuwohi. Most of the Blue Ridge area is protected by theCherokee National Forest, theGreat Smoky Mountains National Park, and several federal wilderness areas and state parks.[199] TheAppalachian Trail roughly follows the North Carolina state line before shifting westward into Tennessee.[200]
Stretching west from the Blue Ridge Mountains for about 55 miles (89 km) are theRidge-and-Valley Appalachians, also known as the Tennessee Valley[c] or Great Valley of East Tennessee. This area consists of linear parallel ridges separated by valleys that trend northeast to southwest, the general direction of the entire Appalachian range.[201] Most of these ridges are low, but some of the higher ones are commonly called mountains.[201] Numerous tributaries join to form the Tennessee River in the Ridge and Valley region.[202]
Fall Creek Falls, the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau
TheCumberland Plateau rises to the west of the Tennessee Valley, with an average elevation of 2,000 feet (610 m).[203] This landform is part of the largerAppalachian Plateau and consists mostly of flat-toppedtablelands.[204] The plateau's eastern edge is relatively distinct, but the westernescarpment is irregular, containing several long, crooked stream valleys separated by rocky cliffs with numerouswaterfalls.[205] TheCumberland Mountains, with peaks above 3,500 feet (1,100 m), comprise the northeastern part of the Appalachian Plateau in Tennessee, and the southeastern part of the Cumberland Plateau is divided by theSequatchie Valley.[205] TheCumberland Trail traverses the eastern escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains.[206]
West of the Cumberland Plateau is theHighland Rim, an elevated plain that surrounds theNashville Basin, ageological dome.[207] Both of these physiographic provinces are part of theInterior Low Plateaus of the largerInterior Plains. The Highland Rim is Tennessee's largest geographic region, and is often split into eastern and western halves.[208] The Eastern Highland Rim is characterized by relatively level plains dotted by rolling hills, and the Western Highland Rim and western Nashville Basin are covered with uneven rounded knobs with steepravines separated by meandering streams.[209] The Nashville Basin has rich, fertile farmland,[210] and porous limestone bedrock very close to the surface underlies both the Nashville Basin and Eastern Highland Rim.[211] This results inkarst that forms numerous caves, sinkholes, depressions, and underground streams.[212]
West of the Highland Rim is theWestern Tennessee Valley, which consists of about 10 miles (16 km) in width of hilly land along the banks of the Tennessee River.[213] West of this is theGulf Coastal Plain, a broad feature that begins at theGulf of Mexico and extends northward into southernIllinois.[214] The plain begins in the east with low rolling hills and wide stream valleys, known as the West Tennessee Highlands, and gradually levels out to the west.[215] It ends at steeploess bluffs overlooking theMississippi embayment, the westernmost physiographic division of Tennessee, which is part of the largerMississippi Alluvial Plain.[216] This flat 10 to 14 miles (16 to 23 km) wide strip is commonly known as the Mississippi Bottoms, and contains lowlands,floodplains, andswamps.[217][218]
About half the state's land area is in theTennessee Valley drainage basin of the Tennessee River.[219] The Cumberland River basin covers the northern half of Middle Tennessee and a small portion of East Tennessee.[220] A small part of north-central Tennessee is in theGreen River watershed.[223] All three of these basins are tributaries of theOhio River watershed. Most of West Tennessee is in theLower Mississippi River watershed.[221] The entirety of the state is in theMississippi River watershed, except for a small sliver near the southeastern corner traversed by theConasauga River, which is part of theMobile Bay watershed.[224]
Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface
Tennessee is within atemperate deciduous forest biome commonly known as the Eastern Deciduous Forest.[225] It has eightecoregions: theBlue Ridge,Ridge and Valley, Central Appalachian, Southwestern Appalachian,Interior Low Plateaus, Southeastern Plains, Mississippi Valley Loess Plains, andMississippi Alluvial Plain regions.[226] Tennessee is the mostbiodiverse inland state,[227] the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most biodiverse national park,[228][229] and theDuck River is the most biologically diverse waterway in North America.[230] The Nashville Basin is renowned for its diversity of flora and fauna.[231] Tennessee is home to 340 species of birds, 325freshwater fish species, 89 mammals, 77 amphibians, and 61 reptiles.[228]
Forests cover about 52% of Tennessee's land area, withoak–hickory the dominant type.[232]Appalachian oak–pine andcove hardwood forests are found in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Cumberland Plateau, andbottomland hardwood forests are common throughout the Gulf Coastal Plain.[233]Pine forests are also found throughout the state.[233] TheSouthern Appalachian spruce–fir forest in the highest elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains is considered the second-most endangered ecosystem in the country.[234] Some of the last remaining largeAmerican chestnut trees grow in the Nashville Basin and are being used to help breedblight-resistant trees.[235] Middle Tennessee is home to many unusual and rare ecosystems known ascedar glades, which occur in areas with shallow limestone bedrock that is largely barren of overlying soil and contain many endemic plant species.[236]
Common mammals found throughout Tennessee includewhite-tailed deer,red andgray foxes,coyotes,raccoons,opossums,wild turkeys,rabbits, andsquirrels.Black bears are found in the Blue Ridge Mountains and on the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee has the third-highest number of amphibian species, with the Great Smoky Mountains home to the mostsalamander species in the world.[237] The state ranks second in the nation for the diversity of its freshwater fish species.[238]
Most of Tennessee has ahumid subtropical climate, with the exception of some of the higher elevations in the Appalachians, which are classified as a coolermountain temperate orhumid continental climate.[239] TheGulf of Mexico is the dominant factor in Tennessee's climate, with winds from the south 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. The highest average monthly precipitation usually occurs between December and April. The driest months, on average, are August to October. The state receives an average of 50 inches (130 cm) of precipitation annually. Snowfall ranges from 5 inches (13 cm) in West Tennessee to over 80 inches (200 cm) in East Tennessee's highest mountains.[240][241]
Summers are generally hot and humid, with most of the state averaging a high of around 90 °F (32 °C). Winters tend to be mild to cool, decreasing in temperature at higher elevations. For areas outside the highest mountains, the average overnight lows are generally near freezing. The highest recorded temperature was 113 °F (45 °C) atPerryville on August 9, 1930, while the lowest recorded temperature was −32 °F (−36 °C) atMountain City on December 30, 1917.[242]
While Tennessee is far enough from the coast to avoid any direct impact from a hurricane, its location makes it susceptible to the remnants of tropicalcyclones, which weaken over land and can cause significant rainfall.[243] The state annually averages about 50 days of thunderstorms, which can be severe with large hail and damaging winds.[244] Tornadoes are possible throughout the state, with West and Middle Tennessee the most vulnerable. The state averages 15 tornadoes annually.[245] They can be severe, and the state leads the nation in the percentage of total tornadoes that have fatalities.[246] Winter storms such as in1993 and2021 occur occasionally, andice storms are fairly common. Fog is a persistent problem in some areas, especially in East Tennessee.[247]
Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Tennessee Cities (F)[248]
Nashville is Tennessee's capital and largest city, with nearly 700,000 residents.[252] Its13-county metropolitan area has been the state's largest since the early 1990s and is one of the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan areas, with about 2 million residents.[253] Memphis, with more than 630,000 inhabitants, was the state's largest city until 2016, when Nashville surpassed it.[2] It is inShelby County, Tennessee's largest county in both population and land area.[254]Knoxville, with about 190,000 inhabitants, andChattanooga, with about 180,000 residents, are the third- and fourth-largest cities, respectively.[252]Clarksville is a significant population center, with about 170,000 residents.[252]Murfreesboro is the sixth-largest city and Nashville's largestsuburb, with more than 150,000 residents.[252] In addition to the major cities, theTri-Cities ofKingsport,Bristol, andJohnson City are considered the sixth major population center.[255]
The2020 United States census reported Tennessee's population at 6,910,840, an increase of 564,735, or 8.90%, since the2010 census.[4] Between 2010 and 2019, the state received a natural increase of 143,253 (744,274 births minus 601,021 deaths), and an increase from net migration of 338,428 people into the state.Immigration from outside the U.S. resulted in a net increase of 79,086, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 259,342.[257] Tennessee'scenter of population is inMurfreesboro inRutherford County.[258]
According to the 2020 census, 5.7% of Tennessee's population were under age5, 22.1% were under 18, and 17.1% were 65 or older.[259] In recent years, Tennessee has been a top source of domestic migration, receiving an influx of people relocating from places such asCalifornia, theNortheast, and theMidwest due to the low cost of living and booming employment opportunities.[260][261] In 2019, about 5.5% of Tennessee's population was foreign-born. Of the foreign-born population, approximately 42.7% were naturalized citizens and 57.3% non-citizens.[262] The foreign-born population consisted of approximately 49.9% fromLatin America, 27.1% fromAsia, 11.9% fromEurope, 7.7% fromAfrica, 2.7% fromNorthern America, and 0.6% fromOceania.[263] In 2018, The top countries of origin for Tennessee's immigrants wereMexico,India,Honduras,China andEgypt.[264]
With the exception of a slump in the 1980s, Tennessee has been one of the fastest-growing states in the nation since 1970, benefiting from the largerSun Belt phenomenon.[265] The state has been a top destination for people relocating fromNortheastern andMidwestern states. This time period has seen the birth of new economic sectors in the state and has positioned the Nashville and Clarksville metropolitan areas as two of the fastest-growing regions in the country.[266]
The top languages spoken in Tennessee after English are Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, French, Laotian, Amharic, German, Gujarati, Japanese, Tagalog, Hindi, Russian, and Persian.[269]
In 2020, 6.9% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race), up from 4.6% in 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, Tennessee's Hispanic population grew by 134.2%, the third-highest rate of any state.[273] In 2020,Non-Hispanic or Latino Whites were 70.9% of the population, compared to 57.7% of the population nationwide.[274] In 2010, the five most common self-reported ethnic groups in the state wereAmerican (26.5%),English (8.2%),Irish (6.6%),German (5.5%), andScotch-Irish (2.7%).[275] Most Tennesseans who self-identify as havingAmerican ancestry are ofEnglish andScotch-Irish ancestry. An estimated 21–24% of Tennesseans are of predominantlyEnglish ancestry.[276][277]
A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income.Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female)
As of 2021, Tennessee had agross state product of $418.3 billion.[286] In 2020, the state'sper capita personal income was $30,869. Themedian household income was $54,833.[262] About 13.6% percent of the population was below thepoverty line.[4] In 2019, the state reported a total employment of 2,724,545 and a total number of 139,760 employer establishments.[4] Tennessee is aright-to-work state, like most of its Southern neighbors.[287]Unionization has historically been low and continues to decline, as in most of the U.S.[288]
Tennessee has a reputation as a low-tax state and is usually ranked as one of the five states with the lowest tax burden on residents.[289] Despite being low-tax, it is ranked third among U.S. states for fiscal health.[290] It is one of nine states that do not have ageneral income tax; thesales tax is the primary means of funding the government.[291] TheHall income tax was imposed on mostdividends andinterest at a rate of 6% but was completely phased out by 2021.[292] The first $1,250 of individual income and $2,500 of joint income was exempt from this tax.[293]Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for local governments.[294]
The state's sales anduse tax rate for most items is 7%, the second-highest in the nation, along with Mississippi, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Indiana. Food is taxed at 4%, but candy, dietary supplements, and prepared foods are taxed at 7%.[295] Local sales taxes are collected in most jurisdictions at rates varying from 1.5% to 2.75%, bringing the total sales tax between 8.5% and 9.75%. The average combined rate is about 9.5%, the nation's highest average sales tax.[296]Intangible property tax is assessed on the shares of stockholders of any loan, investment, insurance, or for-profit cemetery companies. The assessment ratio is 40% of the value times the jurisdiction's tax rate.[294] Since 2016, Tennessee has had no inheritance tax.[297]
Tennessee has theeighth-most farms in the nation, which cover more than 40% of its land area and have an average size of about 155 acres (0.63 km2).[298] Cash receipts for crops and livestock have an estimated annual value of $3.5 billion, and the agriculture sector has an estimated annual impact of $81 billion on the state's economy.[298]Beef cattle is the state's largest agricultural commodity, followed bybroilers andpoultry.[18] Tennessee ranks 12th in the nation for the number of cattle, with more than half of its farmland dedicated to cattle grazing.[298][299]Soybeans andcorn are the state's first and second-most common crops, respectively,[18] and are most heavily grown in West and Middle Tennessee, especially the northwestern corner of the state.[300][301] Tennessee ranks seventh in the nation incotton production, most of which is grown in the fertile soils of central West Tennessee.[302]
The state ranks fourth nationwide in the production oftobacco, which is predominantly grown in the Ridge-and-Valley region of East Tennessee.[303] Tennessee farmers are also known worldwide for their cultivation oftomatoes andhorticultural plants.[304][305] Other important cash crops in the state includehay,wheat,eggs, andsnap beans.[298][303] The Nashville Basin is a top equestrian region, due to soils that produce grass favored by horses. TheTennessee Walking Horse, first bred in the region in the late 18th century, is one of the world's most recognized horse breeds.[306] Tennessee also ranks second nationwide formule breeding and the production ofgoat meat.[303] The state's timber industry is largely concentrated on the Cumberland Plateau and ranks as one of the top producers ofhardwood nationwide.[307]
UntilWorld War II, Tennessee, like most Southern states, remained predominantly agrarian. Chattanooga became one of the first industrial cities in the south in the decades after theCivil War, when many factories, including iron foundries, steel mills, and textile mills were constructed there.[130] But most of Tennessee's industrial growth began with the federal investments in theTennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and theManhattan Project in the 1930s and 1940s. The state's industrial and manufacturing sector continued to expand in the succeeding decades, and Tennessee is now home to more than 2,400 advanced manufacturing establishments, which produce a total of more than $29 billion worth of goods annually.[308]
Tennessee's electric utilities are regulated monopolies, as in many other states.[323][324] TheTennessee Valley Authority (TVA) owns over 90% of the state's generating capacity.[325]Nuclear power is Tennessee's largest source of electricity generation, producing about 43.4% of its power in 2021. The same year, 22.4% of the power was produced fromcoal, 17.8% fromnatural gas, 15.8% fromhydroelectricity, and 1.3% from otherrenewables. About 59.7% of the electricity generated in Tennessee producesno greenhouse gas emissions.[326] Tennessee is home to the firstnuclear power reactor in the U.S. to begin operation in the 21st century, which is at theWatts Bar Nuclear Plant inRhea County.[327] Tennessee was also an early leader in hydroelectric power,[328] and today is the third-largest hydroelectric power-producing state east of theRocky Mountains.[329] Tennessee is a net consumer of electricity, receiving power from other TVA facilities in neighboring states.[330]
Tennessee has very little petroleum and natural gas reserves, but is home to one oil refinery, in Memphis.[329]Bituminous coal is mined in small quantities in the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains.[331] There are sizable reserves oflignite coal in West Tennessee that remain untapped.[331] Coal production in Tennessee peaked in 1972, and today less than 0.1% of coal in the U.S. comes from Tennessee.[329] Tennessee is the nation's leading producer ofball clay.[331] Other major mineral products produced in Tennessee includesand,gravel,crushed stone,Portland cement,marble,sandstone,common clay,lime, andzinc.[331][332] TheCopper Basin, in Tennessee's southeastern corner in Polk County, was one of the nation's most productivecopper mining districts between the 1840s and 1980s, and supplied about 90% of the copper the Confederacy used during the Civil War.[333] Mining activities in the basin resulted in a major environmental disaster, which left the surrounding landscape barren for more than a century.[334] Iron ore was another major mineral mined in Tennessee until the early 20th century.[335] Tennessee was also a top producer ofphosphate until the early 1990s.[336]
Tennessee blends southernAppalachian andSouthern flavors, which originate from its English, Scotch-Irish, and African roots, and has evolved as it has grown. ItsGrand Divisions also manifest into distinct cultural regions, with East Tennessee commonly associated with Southern Appalachia,[349] and Middle and West Tennessee commonly associated withUpland Southern culture and sometimes evenDeep Southern culture.[350] Parts of West Tennessee, especially Memphis, are sometimes considered part of theDeep South.[351] TheTennessee State Museum in Nashville chronicles the state's history and culture.[352]
Education in Tennessee is administered by the Tennessee Department of Education.[361] The state Board of Education has 11 members: one from each Congressional district, a student member, and the executive director of theTennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), who serves as ex-officio nonvoting member.[362] Public primary and secondary education systems are operated by county, city, or special school districts to provide education at the local level, and operate under the direction of the Tennessee Department of Education.[361] The state also has many private schools.[363]
The state enrolls approximately 1 millionK–12 students in 137 districts.[364] In 2021, the four-year high school graduation rate was 88.7%, a decrease of 1.2% from the previous year.[365] According to the most recent data, Tennessee spends $9,544 per student, the 8th lowest in the nation.[366]
In 2014, the Tennessee General Assembly created theTennessee Promise, which allows in-state high school graduates to enroll in two-year post-secondary education programs such as associate degrees and certificates at community colleges andtrade schools in Tennessee tuition-free, funded by the state lottery, if they meet certain requirements.[370] The Tennessee Promise was created as part of then-governorBill Haslam's "Drive to 55" program, which set a goal of increasing the number of college-educated residents to at least 55% of the state's population.[370] The program has also received national attention, with multiple states having since created similar programs modeled on the Tennessee Promise.[371]
Tennessee has 107 private institutions.[372]Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the nation's leading research institutions.[373] Nashville is often called the "Athens of the South" due to its many colleges and universities.[374] Tennessee is also home to sixhistorically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).[375]
TheTennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is the primary agency that is tasked with regulating and maintaining Tennessee's transportation infrastructure.[379] Tennessee is currently one of five states with no transportation-related debts.[380][381]
Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities.
Tennessee has 96,167 miles (154,766 km) of roads, of which 14,109 miles (22,706 km) are maintained by the state.[382] Of the state's highways, 1,233 miles (1,984 km) are part of theInterstate Highway System. Tennessee has notolled roads or bridges but has the sixth-highest mileage ofhigh-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, which are utilized on freeways in the congestion-prone Nashville and Memphis metropolitan areas.[383]
Interstate 40 (I-40) is the longest Interstate Highway in Tennessee, traversing the state for 455 miles (732 km).[384] Known as "Tennessee's Main Street", I-40 serves the major cities of Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, and throughout its entire length in Tennessee, one can observe the diversity of the state's geography and landforms.[203][385] I-40's branch interstates includeI-240 in Memphis;I-440 in Nashville;I-840 around Nashville;I-140 from Knoxville toMaryville; andI-640 in Knoxville. In a north–south orientation, from west to east, are interstates55, which serves Memphis;65, which passes through Nashville;75, which serves Chattanooga and Knoxville; and81, which begins east of Knoxville, and serves Bristol to the northeast.I-24 is an east–west interstate that enters the state in Clarksville, passes through Nashville, and terminates in Chattanooga.I-26, although technically an east–west interstate, begins in Kingsport and runs southwardly throughJohnson City before exiting into North Carolina.I-155 is a branch route of I-55 that serves the northwestern part of the state.I-275 is a short spur route in Knoxville.I-269 runs fromMillington toCollierville, serving as an outer bypass of Memphis.[384][386]
Tennessee has a total of 976 miles (1,571 km) ofnavigable waterways, the 11th highest in the nation.[382] These include theMississippi,Tennessee, andCumberland rivers.[393] Five inland ports are located in the state, including thePort of Memphis, which is the fifth-largest in the United States and the second largest on the Mississippi River.[394]
TheConstitution of Tennessee was adopted in 1870. The state had two previous constitutions. The first was adopted in 1796, the year Tennessee was admitted to the union, and the second in 1834. Since 1826,Nashville has been the capital of Tennessee. The capital was previously in three other cities.[395]Knoxville was the capital from statehood in 1796 until 1812,[395] except for September 21, 1807, when the legislature met inKingston for a day.[396] The capital was relocated to Nashville in 1812, where it remained until it was relocated back to Knoxville in 1817. The next year, the capital was moved toMurfreesboro, where it remained until 1826. Nashville was officially named Tennessee's permanent capital in 1843.[395]
Like the federal government, Tennessee's government has three branches. The executive branch is led by thegovernor, who holds office for a four-year term and may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.[397] The governor is the only official elected statewide. The current governor isBill Lee, aRepublican. The governor is supported by 22 cabinet-level departments, most headed by a commissioner the governor appoints. The executive branch also includes several agencies, boards, and commissions, some of which are under the auspices of one of the cabinet-level departments.[398]
Thebicameral legislative branch, theTennessee General Assembly, consists of the 33-memberSenate and the 99-memberHouse of Representatives.[399] Senators serve four-year terms and House members serve two-year terms.[400] Each chamber chooses a Speaker, who is elected by a joint session of the legislature.[401] The Speaker of the Senate also serves as thelieutenant governor, a practice found only in one other state, and the House Speaker is third in line for the governorship.[397] The legislature can override aveto by a simple majority, and the state has no "pocket veto".[397] The legislature convenes at noon on the second Tuesday in January and meets for a total of 90 days over two sessions, usually adjourning in late April or early May.[400] Special sessions may be called by the governor or by two-thirds of the members of both chambers.[402]
Tennessee's highest court is thestate Supreme Court.[403] It has achief justice and four associate justices.[403] No more than two justices can be from the sameGrand Division.[403] The Supreme Court of Tennessee appoints the state'sAttorney General, a practice only found in Tennessee.[404] Both theCourt of Appeals and theCourt of Criminal Appeals have 12 judges, who are evenly from each Grand Division.[405] Under theTennessee Plan, the governor appoints justices on all three courts to eight-year terms; they must beretained by the voters during the first general election after appointment and at the end of their term.[406] Tennessee is divided into 31 judicial districts, each with a circuit and chancery court, and adistrict attorney and judges elected to eight-year terms. Separate criminal courts serve 13 of the 31 judicial districts; circuit courts handle criminal cases in the remaining districts. Local courts include general sessions, juvenile and domestic, and municipal courts.[407]
Tennessee maintains four dedicated law enforcement agencies: theTennessee Highway Patrol (THP), theTennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), theTennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), and theTennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). The Highway Patrol is the primary entity that enforces highway safety regulations and general non-wildlife state laws. It is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Safety. The TWRA is an independent agency tasked with enforcing all wildlife, boating, and fishery regulations outside of state parks. TDEC enforces state environmental laws and regulations. The TBI is the primary state-level criminal investigative department. Statepark rangers are responsible for all activities and law enforcement inside the Tennessee State Parks system. Tennessee, like many other southern states, has a strong reputation for harsh criminal punishment.Capital punishment is legal in Tennessee and has existed at various times since statehood.[408][409]Lethal injection is the primary means of execution, butelectrocution is also allowed.[410][411]
In 2026, Tennessee will be set to execute Christa Gail Pike, the first female to be executed in over 200 years.[412]
Tennessee is divided into95 counties, with 92 county governments that use acounty commission legislative body and a separately elected county executive. The governments ofDavidson (Nashville),Moore (Lynchburg), andTrousdale (Hartsville) areconsolidated with their county seats. Each county elects a sheriff, property assessor, trustee, register of deeds, and county clerk.[413] Tennessee has more than 340 municipalities. Most cities and towns use theweak mayor-council (mayor-aldermen),strong-mayor council,city commission, orcouncil–manager forms of government. Local law enforcement is divided between county sheriff's offices and municipal police departments. In every county except Davidson, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer.[414]
The politics of Tennessee is dominated by theRepublican Party.[417][418] Republicans currently hold both of the state'sU.S. Senate seats, eight out of nineCongressional seats, 75 of 99 stateHouse seats, and 27 of 33state Senate seats.Democratic strength is largely concentrated inNashville,Memphis, and parts ofKnoxville,Chattanooga, andClarksville. Severalsuburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities. Tennessee is one of thirteen states which holds its presidential primaries onSuper Tuesday.[419] Tennessee does not require voters to declare a party affiliation when registering. The state is one of eight states which require voters to present a form ofphoto identification.[420] Tennessee has one of the highest rates offelony disenfranchisement, with nearly 10% of its voting-age population ineligible to vote. The state also has the highest rate of Black and Latino felony disenfranchisement.[421][422]
Between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century, Tennessee was part of the DemocraticSolid South, but had the largest Republican minority of any former Confederate state.[423] During Reconstruction, freedmen and former free blacks were granted the right to vote; most joined the Republican Party. Numerous African Americans were elected to local offices, and some to state office. However, the Democratic Party regained control of the state in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Following Reconstruction, Tennessee continued to have competitive party politics, but in the 1880s, the White-dominated state government passedJim Crow laws, one of which imposed apoll tax requirement for voter registration. These served todisenfranchise most African Americans, and their power in state and local politics was markedly reduced. After the disenfranchisement of blacks, the Republican Party became a primarily whitesectional party supported mostly in East Tennessee. In the early 1900s, the state legislature approved legislation allowing cities to adopt acommission form of government based onat-large voting as a means to limit African American political participation.[424] Not until after passage of theVoting Rights Act of 1965 were African Americans able to regain their full voting rights.[425]
Between the end of Reconstruction and the mid-20th century, Tennessee voted consistently Democratic in Presidential elections, except in two nationwide Republicanlandslides in the 1920s. Tennesseans narrowly supportedWarren G. Harding over Ohio GovernorJames Cox in 1920,[426] and more decisively voted forHerbert Hoover over New York GovernorAl Smith in 1928.[427] During the first half of the 20th century, state politics were dominated by the DemocraticCrump machine in Memphis.[428] For most of the second half of the 20th century, Tennessee was aswing state in presidential elections.[417] During this time, Democratic presidential nominees from Southern states, includingLyndon B. Johnson,Jimmy Carter, andBill Clinton, tended to fare better in Tennessee than their Northern counterparts, especially among split-ticket voters outside the metropolitan areas. In the 1950s, Tennessee twice voted for RepublicanDwight D. Eisenhower, former Allied Commander of the Armed Forces during World War II.[429]Howard Baker, first elected in 1966, became the first Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee since Reconstruction.[430] The RepublicanSouthern strategy did not have as much of an effect in Tennessee as in most Southern states, but the elections ofWinfield Dunn as governor andBill Brock to the U.S. Senate in 1970 further helped make the GOP competitive among Whites in statewide elections.[431] In the2000 presidential election, Vice PresidentAl Gore, who had previously served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Tennessee, failed to carry his home state, an unusual occurrence but indicative of strengthening Republican support.[432]
Beginning in the early 21st century, Tennessee transitioned into a solid Republican state, primarily due to rural white voters who have rejected the increasingliberalism of the Democratic Party.[433][434] Republican PresidentGeorge W. Bush increased his margin of victory in the state from 4% in 2000 to 14% marginin 2004.[435][436] In 2007,Ron Ramsey became the first Republican Speaker of the State Senate since Reconstruction,[437] and the following year the Republicans gained control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.[438] Voters, however, continued to electmoderate Republicans, such as centristsBill Haslam andLamar Alexander, until the late 2010s with the rise ofTrumpism in the GOP at a nationwide scale.[439] Since 2016, Tennessee has been the most populous state to vote Republican by more than 60% in presidential elections,[440] and in2020 voted Republican by the largest margin of any state in terms of number of votes.[441]
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