Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/171

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
TENNESSEE.
133
TENNESSEE.

ing that all the advantages of the Ordinance of 1787 (q.v.) should be preserved to the inhabitants, except that slavery should not be prohibited. The act of government for the ‘Territory South of the Ohio’ was passed in April, 1790, and the seat of government was moved from Rogersville to Knoxville. The Indians were severely punished in 1794 and the Spanish influence was broken. In the same year the first Territorial Assembly met. In 1795, as the territory was found to contain more than 60,000 white inhabitants, a constitutional convention was called, which met in January, 1796. A constitution for the ‘State of Tennessee’ modeled after that of North Carolina was adopted without submission to popular vote; the first General Assembly met March 28th, and the State was admitted June 1, 1796. Almost from the date of admission there was a sharp distinction between East and Middle (West) Tennessee, which was recognized in the appointment of the judiciary. In wealth and material progress the mountainous eastern part lagged behind. The western part of the State began to fill up after 1818. Memphis was laid out in 1819, and three sections came now to be recognized in law. The progress of the State was rapid, though the growth was almost entirely along agricultural lines. The State early began to construct internal improvements. Turnpike roads were built in 1804, and after 1823 roads and canals were pushed forward. The first railroad was chartered in 1831, but the Memphis and Charleston road was not built until 1857. Much State aid was voted to the railroads, and the redemption of the bonds issued for this purpose was a political issue as late as 1882. The eastern part of the State did not share equally in these benefits.

There was a strong Union party in the State at the outbreak of the Civil War, and in February, 1861, the people refused to hold a convention to consider secession, but with President Lincoln's call for troops sentiment changed, and through the influence of Governor Harris the State declared itself by popular vote out of the Union, June 8th, though East Tennessee had voted against secession more than two to one. On June 17th a Union convention of delegates from the eastern counties and a few middle counties met at Greeneville and petitioned to be allowed to form a separate State. The request was ignored by the Legislature, and the presence of a Confederate army prevented further action on the part of the Unionists. During the war the State furnished about 115,000 soldiers to the Confederate cause and 31,092 to the Federal army. When the advance of Federal troops drove Governor Harris from Nashville, Andrew Johnson (q.v.), who had refused to resign his seat in the United States Senate on the secession of the State, was appointed military governor. He attempted to reorganize the State in 1864, and sent up Lincoln electors, who were rejected by Congress. In 1865 the Radical Legislature proceeded to extreme measures. Suffrage was extended to negroes under the Constitution of 1834, which gave that right to every freeman. The State was readmitted July 23, 1866, but there was much disorder. The Ku-Klux Klan (q.v.) appeared, and in 1869 nine counties in Middle and West Tennessee were declared under martial law. For a time after the war the recovery of the State was slow, but the development of the past twenty years has been exceedingly rapid. The principal events have been the conflicts between convict and free labor in the mines in 1891-93, and the Tennessee Centennial Exposition (q.v.), held at Nashville in 1897.

In the Presidential elections Tennessee chose Democratic-Republican electors from 1796 to 1824. In 1828 and again in 1832 the only issue was Jackson, and the voters were almost unanimous for him. In 1836, however, Hugh Lawson White, the States-Rights Democrat, was successful in spite of Jackson's efforts. From 1840 to 1852 Whig electors were chosen. Clay receiving the vote in 1844, though Polk was a resident of the State. In 1856 the vote was cast for Buchanan. The Constitutional Union ticket headed by John Bell was successful in 1860. The State voted for Grant in 1868, but since that time it has been Democratic. From the State have come many men of national reputation, including three Presidents, Jackson, Polk, and Johnson.

Governors of Tennessee
STATE OF FRANKLIN
John Sevier 1785-88
TERRITORY SOUTH OF THE OHIO
William Blount 1790-96
STATE OF TENNESSEE
John Sevier Democratic-Republican  1796-1801
Archibald Roan 1801-03
John Sevier 1803-09
Willie Blount 1809-15
Joseph McMinn 1815-21
William Carroll 1821-27
Sam Houston 1827-29
William Hall (acting) 1829
William Carroll Democrat 1829-35
Newton Cannon States-Rights Democrat 1835-39
James K. Polk Democrat 1839-41
James C. Jones Whig 1841-45
Aaron V. Brown Democrat 1845-47
Neil S. Brown Whig 1847-49
William Trousdale Democrat 1849-51
William B. Campbell Whig 1851-53
Andrew Johnson Democrat 1853-57
Isham G. Harris 1857-62
Andrew Johnson Military 1862-65
Interregnum 4th March-5th April, 1865
William G. Brownlow Republican 1865-69
DeWitt C. Senter Conservative-Republican 1869-71
John C. Brown Democrat 1871-75
James D. Porter 1875-79
Albert S. Marks 1879-81
Alvin Hawkins Republican 1881-83
William B. Bate Democrat 1883-87
Robert L. Taylor 1887-91
John P. Buchanan 1891-93
Peter Turney 1893-97
Robert L. Taylor 1897-99
Benton McMillin 1899-1903
James B. Frazier 1903—

Bibliography. Killebrew and Safford, Introduction to the Resources of Tennessee (Nashville, 1874); Killebrew, Tennessee, Its Agricultural and Mineral Wealth (ib., 1877); Wright, “Antiquities of Tennessee,” in Smithsonian Institution Report for 1874 (Washington, 1875); Jones, “Explorations of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee,” in Smithsonian Institution Contributions to Knowledge, vol. xxii. (Washington, 1876); Gates, West Tennessee, Its Advantages and Its Resources (Jackson, Tenn., 1885); Thruston, The Antiquities of Tennessee (2d ed., Cincinnati, 1897). For history, consult: Roosevelt, The Winning of the West (New York, 1889-96); Putnam, History of Middle Tennessee (Nashville, 1859); Phelan, History of Tennessee (Boston, 1889); Haywood, Civil and Political History of