Who was the first permanent settler in Tennessee?
William Bean, supposedly the first permanent settler in Tennessee built a cabin on Boone’s Creek near the Watauga River. Photo Courtesey of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh, NC.
What is the prehistory of Tennessee?
Prehistory and European settlement. The earliest inhabitants of Tennessee are believed to have been Ice Age peoples descended from Asians who crossed the former Bering Strait land bridge more than 20,000 years ago. These peoples were of Paleo-Indian culture, and, like their Archaic successors, they lived primarily by hunting.
Who was the first person to explore the Tennessee Valley?
The first explorations by Europeans in what is now Tennessee took place in 1540, when a Spanish expedition under the command of Hernando de Soto entered the region from the southeast. Soto had set out from Florida the year before with 625 men in search of gold and other treasures, hoping to duplicate the success...
When was the first unclaimed land in Tennessee?
When territorial administration began in 1790, numerous settlements were in the Tennessee country. By the 1820s very little unclaimed marketable land existed in the state, although exploration of some of the more remote areas would continue for years to come.
When did Tennessee first settle?
1769. The first settler in Tennessee. William Bean, supposedly the first permanent settler in Tennessee built a cabin on Boone's Creek near the Watauga River.
Who settled first in Tennessee?
The earliest inhabitants of Tennessee are believed to have been Ice Age peoples descended from Asians who crossed the former Bering Strait land bridge more than 20,000 years ago. These peoples were of Paleo-Indian culture, and, like their Archaic successors, they lived primarily by hunting.
Who were the first families to settle in Tennessee?
William Bean and James Robertson were the early leaders of this group. The first settler in the area that is now Knoxville was James White in 1786. He and James Connor built a fort named White's Fort on the banks of First Creek. In 1790 White's son-in-law, Charles McClung, drew up lots for the establishment of a town.
What was Tennessee first called?
Volunteer StateCalled the "Volunteer State," Tennessee became the 16th state of the Union in 1796. It was the first territory admitted as a state under the federal Constitution. Before statehood, it was known as the Territory South of the River Ohio. The name Tennessee is derived from the name of a Cherokee village, Tanasi.
Who was the first person to live in Tennessee?
The Paleo-Indians (lived 15,000BCE to 8,000BCE) were the first known people to inhabit our state. They were considered nomadic people because they followed animals wherever they roamed and hardly ever stayed in one place.
What does Tennessee mean in Cherokee?
TENNESSEE: Name is of Cherokee origin from a tribe located at a village site called Tanasse (also spelled Tennese). The State is named for its principal river, which has been interpreted as meaning "bend in the river." However, this has not been substantiated, and the meaning is considered to be lost.
Who was the first white man born in Tennessee?
In 1769, he constructed a cabin at this site and relocate his family. Shortly after the cabin's completion, Lydia Bean gave birth to a son, Russell Bean, who would be historically accepted as the first European-American born in present-day Tennessee.
What immigrants settled in Tennessee?
The Scotch-Irish ancestor who immigrated to America during the 18th century without delay headed for western North Carolina, now known as Tennessee. The first farming settlements in the interior of North Carolina were created by a group of people who came from the ocean side area of Maryland and Virginia.
Did Settlers Burn Tennessee?
By the time European settlers came on the scene, the enormous grasslands were being overtaken by trees. The European settlers found fire to be useful for clearing "new ground" for cultivation. As time passed there became too many settlers to allow fires to burn uninterrupted.
What is TN famous for?
Tennessee Facts. Tennessee is known for: Country music. Whiskey.
How was Tennessee originally spelled?
The earliest known written variant of the name that became Tennessee was recorded by Spanish explorer Captain Juan Pardo when he and his men passed through a Native American village named "Tanasqui" in 1567 while traveling inland from modern-day South Carolina.
What were the last 2 states to join America?
There are fifty (50) states and Washington D.C.The last two states to join the Union were Alaska (49th) and Hawaii (50th). Both joined in 1959. Washington D.C. is a federal district under the authority of Congress. Local government is run by a mayor and 13 member city council.
Where did Tennessee settlers come from?
Early British exploration and settlement In the 1750s and 1760s, longhunters from Virginia explored much of East and Middle Tennessee. In 1756, British soldiers from the Colony of South Carolina built Fort Loudoun near present-day Vonore, the first British settlement in what is now Tennessee.
What immigrants settled in Tennessee?
The Scotch-Irish ancestor who immigrated to America during the 18th century without delay headed for western North Carolina, now known as Tennessee. The first farming settlements in the interior of North Carolina were created by a group of people who came from the ocean side area of Maryland and Virginia.
Who was the first white man born in Tennessee?
In 1769, he constructed a cabin at this site and relocate his family. Shortly after the cabin's completion, Lydia Bean gave birth to a son, Russell Bean, who would be historically accepted as the first European-American born in present-day Tennessee.
Who settled Nashville?
Nashville was founded by James Robertson and a party of Wataugans in 1779, and was originally called Fort Nashborough, after the American Revolutionary War hero Francis Nash. Nashville quickly grew because of its prime location, accessibility as a river port, and its later status as a major railroad center.
What was the first British settlement in Tennessee?
In the 1750s and 1760s, longhunters from Virginia explored much of East and Middle Tennessee. In 1756, settlers from the Colony of South Carolina built Fort Loudoun near present-day Vonore, the first British settlement in what is now Tennessee. Fort Loudoun was the westernmost British outpost to that date, and was designed by John William Gerard de Brahm and constructed by forces under Captain Raymond Demeré. Shortly after its completion, Demeré relinquished command of the fort to his brother, Captain Paul Demeré. Hostilities erupted between the British and the Overhill Cherokees into an armed conflict that became known as the Anglo-Cherokee War, and a siege of the fort ended with its surrender in 1760. The next morning, Paul Demeré and a number of his men were killed in an ambush nearby, and most of the rest of the garrison was taken prisoner. After the end of the French and Indian War, Britain issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which forbade settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains in an effort to mitigate conflicts with the Natives. Despite this proclamation, migration across the mountains continued, and the first permanent European settlers began arriving in the northeastern part of the state in the late 1760s. William Bean, a longhunter who settled in a log cabin near present-day Johnson City in 1769, is traditionally accepted as the first permanent European American settler in Tennessee. Most 18th-century settlers were English or of primarily English descent, but nearly 20% of them were Scotch-Irish.
How many counties were there in Tennessee before statehood?
In the days before statehood, Tennesseans struggled to gain a political voice and suffered for lack of the protection afforded by organized government. Six counties— Washington, Sullivan, and Greene in East Tennessee; and Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee County in Middle Tennessee —had been formed as western counties of North Carolina between 1777 and 1788.
What was the Transylvania Purchase?
The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, more popularly referred to as the Transylvania Purchase (after Henderson's Transylvania Company, which had raised money for the endeavor), consisted of two parts. The first, known as the " Path Grant Deed ", regarded the Transylvania Company's purchase of lands in southwest Virginia (including parts of what is now West Virginia) and northeastern Tennessee. The second part, known as the "Great Grant," acknowledged the Transylvania Company's purchase of some 20,000,000 acres (81,000 km 2) of land between the Kentucky River and Cumberland River, which included a large portion of modern Kentucky and a significant portion of Tennessee north of present day Nashville. The Transylvania Company paid for the land with 10,000 pounds sterling of trade goods. After the treaty was signed, frontier explorer Daniel Boone came northward to blaze the Wilderness Road, connecting the Transylvania Purchase lands with the Holston and Watauga settlements.
What is Tennessee known for?
It was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796, as the 16th state. Tennessee would earn the nickname "The Volunteer State" during the War of 1812, when many Tennesseans would step in to help with the war effort. Especially during the Americans victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The nickname would become even more applicable during the Mexican–American War in 1846, after the Secretary of War asked the state for 2,800 soldiers, and Tennessee sent over 30,000.
What were the Spanish expeditions that toured Tennessee?
In the 16th century, three Spanish expeditions passed through what is now Tennessee. The Hernando de Soto expedition entered the Tennessee Valley via the Nolichucky River in June 1540, rested for several weeks at the village of Chiaha (near the modern Douglas Dam ), and proceeded southward to the Coosa chiefdom in northern Georgia. De Soto spent the winter of 1540-41 in camp on Pontotoc Ridge in extreme northern Mississippi. He may have entered Tennessee and went west to the Mississippi at or near present-day Memphis. In 1559, the expedition of Tristán de Luna, which was resting at Coosa, entered the Chattanooga area to help the Coosa chief subdue a rebellious tribe known as the Napochies. In 1567, the Pardo expedition entered the Tennessee Valley via the French Broad River, rested for several days at Chiaha, and followed a trail to the upper Little Tennessee River before being forced to turn back. At Chiaha, one of Pardo's subordinates, Hernando Moyano de Morales, established a short-lived fort called San Pedro. It, along with five other Spanish forts across the region, was destroyed by natives in 1569, thereby opening the area to other European colonization.
How did World War 2 affect Tennessee?
World War II brought relief to Tennessee by employing ten percent of the state's populace (308,199 men and women) in the armed services. Most of those who remained on farms and in cities worked on war-related production since Tennessee received war orders amounting to $1.25 billion.
How many slaves were there in 1860?
By 1860 the enslaved population had nearly doubled to 283,019, with only 7,300 free African Americans in the state. While much of the enslaved population were concentrated in West Tennessee, planters in Middle Tennessee also used enslaved African Americans for labor. According to the 1860 census, enslaved African Americans comprised about 25% of the state's population of 1.1 million before the Civil War.
Where did the first settler settle in Tennessee?
Though the influx of early population unquestionably came over the mountains from the Carolinas and Virginia into East Tennessee, the first bona fide settlement has been conceded by practically all historians, writing since the early part of the last century, to West Tennessee, through the agency of the French explorers of the Mississippi River. These very reputable writers agree that the name of this first settlement alleged to have been established by Sieur Robert Cavelier de la Salle in 1682 was Fort Prudhomme, though they are at variance as to the site, a few; placing it at the first Chickasaw Bluff on the Mississippi River, though the greater number locate it at the fourth or lower Chickasaw Bluff, the present site of the city of Memphis. It may be stated here that there are four bluffs abutting on the Mississippi River between the mouth of the Ohio and the northern limits of the State of Mississippi, known as the first, second, third and fourth Chickasaw Bluffs. These are westerly projections, into the alluvial basin, of the great plateau which constitutes West Tennessee. The first of these touches the River at Fulton, Tennessee, opposite the lower end of Island 33, some 62 miles by river above Memphis. The second is at Randolph, about 10 miles below the first bluff by water; the third is opposite Island 36, and the fourth bluff is just below the mouth of Wolf River and forms the terrace or plateau on which Memphis now stands.
Who was the first Anglo-Saxon settler in West Tennessee?
The first settler of the Anglo-Saxon race in West Tennessee of whom we have any account was William Mizzell of North Carolina, who was found on the lower Chickasaw Bluff at the Spanish post and fort of San Fernando de Barancos by Capt. Isaac Guion of the 3rd U. S. Infantry Regiment, when he came on July 20th, 1797, to take possession of the fort and the lower Chickasaw Bluff in behalf of the United States, the fort having been constructed by Governor Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos of the Province of Louisiana and the Spanish flag raised over it on the 31st of May 1795. Mizzell was living here as an Indian trader at that time, together with a Scotsman named Kenneth Ferguson. This was about 40 years after the settlement of the post at Fort Loudon in East Tennessee in 17564 J. P. Young.
Where was Fort Assumpcion in Mississippi?
In Claiborne's History of Mississippi as a Province, Territory and State (1870), a full account of the expedition of Bienville against the Chickasaw Indians in 1739 and the building of Fort Assumpcion, in August of that year, on the fourth Chickasaw Bluff at the mouth of Wolf River, is given in a diary of a young French officer with De Noailles d'Aime, a commander who accompanied Bienville, translated from the French. This diary in describing the operations of Bienville's forces here in the fall and winter of 1739, several times mentions "Prudhomme heights" as lying far to the north of Fort Assupmcion on the fourth Chickasaw Bluff.
Where was the Chickasaw Bluff?
After considering the positive statements of all these reputable historians, the average student of history would unquestionably be justified in accepting this central statement, that LaSalle in 1682, on his voyage down the Mississippi River, had selected the fourth or lower Chickasaw Bluff, the site of the present large city of Memphis, as a suitable location for one of the chain of French forts from the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and had built a fort and cabins here, established amicable trade relations with the dominant Indian tribe, the Chickasaws, on the lower Mississippi and had left a permanent French settlement at this point, the first white man's lodgement in the limits of the present state of Tennessee.
Who was the notary that stopped LaSalle at the first Chickasaw Bluff?
But we have still higher evidence of the occurrences connected with the stop of LaSalle at the first Chickasaw Bluff, in an official document, prepared by Jacques de la Metarie , a notary commissioned to accompany LaSalle in his voyage to Louisiana, entitled Procès Verbal of the Taking Possession of Louisiana, at the mouth of the Mississippi, by the Sieur de la Salle, on the 9th of April 1682, which official paper or "act" was drawn up as it certifies, at the request of LaSalle and signed by the Notary and also by LaSalle and other witnesses, including Father Zenobé.3 It is to be regretted that space forbids the printing here of the entire document. But from the body of the paper this excerpt is taken:
When did LaSalle's party reach the Chickasaw Bluffs?
Claiborne, in his book, Mississippi as a Province, Territory and State (1879), does no more than record that LaSalle's party on February 28, 1682 "reached the Chickasaw Bluffs."
Who narrates the founding of Fort Prudhomme?
The first will be quoted from will be the History of Louisiana by Francois Xavier Martin (1827), which thus narrates the founding of Fort Prudhomme by LaSalle in February, 1682:
What were the first people to live in Tennessee?
The earliest inhabitants of Tennessee are believed to have been Ice Age peoples descended from Asians who crossed the former Bering Strait land bridge more than 20,000 years ago. These peoples were of Paleo-Indian culture, and, like their Archaic successors, they lived primarily by hunting. The Archaic culture was succeeded by the Woodland culture and later by the Mississippian culture, both of which refined hunting methods and ultimately developed an agricultural livelihood. The Mississippian peoples were dominant when the first known European in the area, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, arrived in 1540 in search of gold. By the time Europeans returned to the area for further exploration in the 1700s, the principal indigenous groups were the Chickasaw, in the west, and the Cherokee, in the east.
What was Tennessee originally called?
Initially a part of the new state of North Carolina following the Revolution, Tennessee made a bid for admission to the Union as a state named Franklin. Because North Carolina had rescinded its original cession of western lands, however, the Continental Congress —the governing body of the early United States—turned down this petition for statehood. Under the new federal constitution, the region was organized as the Territory South of the River Ohio. In 1796 Tennessee became a state, the first admitted from territorial status, with Knoxville as its first capital, John Sevier as its first governor, and Gen. Andrew Jackson as its first congressman.
What was the role of Tennessee in the Creek War?
Tennesseans played a decisive role as volunteers under the leadership of Jackson in the Creek War, which erupted in 1813 and ended in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama. In response to a devastating attack by Creek warriors on Fort Mims, Alabama, such Tennessee volunteers as Davy Crockett led the destruction of many Muskogee (Upper Creek) towns and people. Jackson’s victory over the British at New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero of the War of 1812. Jackson, perceived as a champion of the common people, in part because of his success in fighting the indigenous populations, was elected president in 1828 and again in 1832. As president he was the leader of the Democratic Party, an opponent of the national bank, and an advocate of the removal of all native peoples in the eastern United States to the western regions.
Where did the name Tennessee come from?
The name Tennessee derives from that of the Cherokee village Tanasi. The Cherokee developed warm relations with English traders from Virginia and South Carolina and were initially their allies in the French and Indian War of the 1750s and ’60s.
When did the Cherokee leave Tennessee?
government in 1838–39. Together with other indigenous peoples of the southeastern United States, Tennessee’s native populations were routed via the so-called Trail of Tears to reservations in what is now Oklahoma.
What was the peak of prehistoric culture in Tennessee?
The peak of prehistoric cultural development occurred during the Mississippian Culture (900-1600 Current Era). New strains of corn and beans were cultivated for the increase in the population. Ceremonial mounds were built. The sophisticated production of personal items and pottery are indicators of the complex society of the last prehistoric inhabitants of Tennessee.
How long have primitive people lived in Tennessee?
Specifically in the territory of Tennessee, evidence exists of primitive people dating back to 12,000 to 15,000 years with the retreating glaciers during the Ice Age. The Paleo-indians were nomadic people that lived in caves and rock shelters, hunting mastodons and caribou. As the climate temperatures warmed, vegetation changed which attracted ...
What tribes were in Tennessee after De Soto?
Those that survived, little by little reorganized into tribes that today we know was Creek, Choctaw, Chicaksaw, Cherokee and Catawba. During the 150 years after De Soto, these new tribes moved to distinct regions of Tennessee.
How many miles of railroads were laid in Tennessee?
More than 1,200 miles of rails had been laid, mainly in eastern Tennessee. The mining industry grows in this area thanks to the railroad that connects it to the east coast.
When did moose and deer start to grow?
As the climate temperatures warmed, vegetation changed which attracted large quantities of moose and deer. Between 3,000 and 900 BC early evidence shows examples of the cultivation of agriculture creating a secure food supply and the groups began combining to form villages.
Who crossed the Appalachian Mountains to establish trade with the Cherokee?
1673. The Europeans resumed exploration of the region. The English merchants James Needham and Gabriel Arthur from Charles Town, South Carolina, crossed the Appalachian mountains to establish trade with the Cherokee in eastern Tennessee.
Why did the English build Fort Loudon?
The English built Fort Loudon (in what now is Vonore, Tennessee), with the intention of keeping the Cherokee loyalty divided. The plan failed and in 1760, the Cherokee surrounded the fort and finally assassinated most of the captives.
Who were the first English to settle in Tennessee?
The English began their explorations in Tennessee when Abraham Wood, who operated a trading firm in Virginia, sent James Needham and Gabriel Arthur into what is now upper East Tennessee to establish trading relations with the Cherokees. Needham and Arthur arrived in Cherokee territory in 1673, the same year that the first French expedition sailed down the Mississippi. Although the Cherokees killed Needham soon after his arrival, Arthur remained with the tribe for over a year, initiating a commercial relationship that would continue through the next century. Similarly, the colony of South Carolina sent trade representatives into Tennessee and the Southeast. Among these was James Adair, who had begun extensive travels among the southeastern tribes by 1730 and whose interests extended well beyond trade. His observations regarding Cherokee traditions and customs were eventually published and provide a unique insight into this early period of relations with the tribe.
When was Tennessee discovered?
5 minutes to read. The first explorations by Europeans in what is now Tennessee took place in 1540, when a Spanish expedition under the command of Hernando de Soto entered the region from the southeast. Soto had set out from Florida the year before with 625 men in search of gold and other treasures, hoping to duplicate the success ...
What was the final source of information about the Cherokees?
A final source of information about the region came as the result of political objectives, as was the case in the construction of Fort Loudoun, which was begun on the Little Tennessee River in 1756. British military engineers explored different sites on the Little Tennessee before deciding on the final location. Even after the fall of Fort Loudoun, British officers and delegations continued to move among the Cherokees and explore the region of East Tennessee; their reports were often very detailed and informative. Most notable are the memoirs of Lieutenant Henry Timberlake, who visited the Cherokees in 1761-62 and produced one of the region's earliest known maps.
When did territorial administration begin in Tennessee?
When territorial administration began in 1790, numerous settlements were in the Tennessee country. By the 1820s very little unclaimed marketable land existed in the state, although exploration of some of the more remote areas would continue for years to come.
What was the trade between Virginia and South Carolina?
Eventually, Virginia and South Carolina developed an intense rivalry for the lucrative Cherokee fur trade . Their efforts to dominate trade relations with the tribe sent numerous traders from each colony into the area during the early 1700s, all of whom brought back information about the land and its potential. Their accounts encouraged land speculators to sponsor further exploration of the trans-Appalachian West.
Overview
European exploration and settlement
In the 16th century, three Spanish expeditions passed through what is now Tennessee. The Hernando de Soto expedition entered the Tennessee Valley via the Nolichucky River in June 1540, rested for several weeks at the village of Chiaha (near the modern Douglas Dam), and proceeded southward to the Coosa chiefdom in northern Georgia. De Soto spent the winter of 1540-41 in camp on …
Prehistory
Paleo-Indians are believed to have hunted and camped in what is now Tennessee as early as 12,000 years ago. Along with projectile points common for this period, archaeologists in Williamson County have uncovered a 12,000-year-old mastodon skeleton with cut marks typical of prehistoric hunters.
The most prominent known Archaic period (c. 8000 – 1000 BC) site in Tenness…
Admission to the Union
In 1795, a territorial census revealed a sufficient population for statehood. A referendum showed a three-to-one majority in favor of joining the Union. Governor Blount called for a constitutional convention to meet in Knoxville, where delegates from all the counties drew up a model state constitution and democratic bill of rights.
The voters chose Sevier as governor. The newly elected legislature voted for Blount and William …
Jacksonian America (1815–1841)
In the early years of settlement, planters brought African slaves with them from Kentucky and Virginia. These slaves were first concentrated in Middle Tennessee, where planters developed mixed crops and bred high-quality horses and cattle, as they did in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. East Tennessee had more subsistence farmers and few slaveholders.
Antebellum years (1841–1861)
By 1860 the slave population had nearly doubled to 283,019, with only 7,300 free African Americans in the state. While much of the slave population was concentrated in West Tennessee, planters in Middle Tennessee also used enslaved African Americans for labor. According to the 1860 census, African slaves comprised about 25% of the state's population of 1.1 million before the Civil War.
Civil War
Most Tennesseans initially showed little enthusiasm for breaking away from a nation whose struggles it had shared for so long. There were small exceptions such as Franklin County, which borders Alabama in southern Middle Tennessee; Franklin County formally threatened to secede from Tennessee and join Alabama if Tennessee did not leave the Union. Franklin County withdrew this t…
Reconstruction era and Disenfranchisement
After the war, Tennessee adopted the Thirteenth amendment forbidding slave-holding or involuntary servitude on February 22, 1865; ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 18, 1866; and was the first state readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866.
Because it had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, Tennessee was the only st…