 |
Tennessee
Totally Explained
|
|  |
Tennessee is a state located in the Southern United States. In 1796, it became the sixteenth state to join the Union. Tennessee is known as the "Volunteer State", a nickname it earned during the War of 1812, in which volunteer soldiers from Tennessee played a prominent role, especially during the Battle of New Orleans. The capital city is Nashville, and the largest city is Memphis.
Geography
The center of population of Tennessee is located in Rutherford County, in the city of Murfreesboro (External Link ).
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2006, Tennessee has an estimated population of 6,038,803, which is an increase of 83,058, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 349,541, or 6.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 142,266 people (that is 493,881 births minus 351,615 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 219,551 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 59,385 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 160,166 people.
In 2000, the five most common self-reported ethnic groups in the state were: American (17.3%), African American (16.4%), Irish (9.3%), English (9.1%), and German (8.3%). (External Link)
The state's African-American population is concentrated mainly in rural West and Middle Tennessee and the cities of Memphis, Nashville, Clarksville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. Memphis has the largest percentage of African-American residents for any metropolitan area in the U.S.
6.6% of Tennessee's population were reported as under 5 years of age, 24.6% under 18, and 12.4% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.3% of the population.
Religion
As with all Southern states except perhaps Louisiana, residents of Tennessee overwhelmingly prefer an evangelical Protestant religious affiliation. The religious affiliations of the people of Tennessee are:
Christian – 82%
Other Religions – 3%
Non-Religious – 9%
Source: American Religious Identification Survey (2001). 5% of the people surveyed refused to answer.
Tennessee is home to several Protestant denominations, such as the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The Southern Baptist Convention maintains its general headquarters in Nashville, where its Sunday School Board, along with publishing houses of several other denominations, is also located.
The state's small Roman Catholic and Jewish communities are mainly centered in the metropolitan areas of Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville.
Economy
According to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2005 Tennessee's gross state product was $226.502 billion, making Tennessee the 18th largest economy in the nation.
In 2003, the per capita personal income was $28,641, 36th in the nation, and 91% of the national per capita personal income of $31,472. In 2004, the median household income was $38,550, 41st in the nation, and 87% of the national median of $44,472.
Major outputs for the state include textiles, cotton, cattle, and electrical power.
As proof of interest in beef production, Tennessee has over 82,000 farms, and beef cattle are found in roughly 59 percent of the farms in the state. (External Link) Although cotton was an early crop in Tennessee, large-scale cultivation of the fiber didn't begin until the 1820s with the opening of the land between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. The upper wedge of the Mississippi Delta extends into southwestern Tennessee, and it was in this fertile section that cotton took hold. Currently West Tennessee is also heavily planted in soybeans, focusing on the northwest corner of the state.
Major corporations with headquarters in Tennessee include FedEx Corporation, AutoZone Incorporated and International Paper, all based in Memphis.
The Tennessee income tax doesn't apply to salaries and wages, but most income from stocks, bonds and notes receivable is taxable. All taxable dividends and interest which exceed the $1,250 single exemption or the $2,500 joint exemption are taxable at the rate of 6%. The state's sales and use tax rate for most items is 7%. Food is taxed at a lower rate of 6%, but candy, dietary supplements and prepared food are taxed at the full 7% rate. Local sales taxes are collected in most jurisdictions, at rates varying from 1.5% to 2.75%, bringing the total sales tax to between 8.5% and 9.75%, one of the highest levels in the nation. Intangible property is assessed on the shares of stock of stockholders of any loan company, investment company, insurance company or for-profit cemetery companies. The assessment ratio is 40% of the value multiplied by the tax rate for the jurisdiction. Tennessee imposes an inheritance tax on decedents' estates that exceed maximum single exemption limits ($1,000,000 for deaths 2006 and after; (External Link)).
Tennessee is a right to work state, as are most of its Southern neighbors. Unionization has historically been low and continues to decline as in most of the U.S. generally.
Transportation
Interstate highways
Interstate 40 crosses the state in an east-west orientation. Its branch interstate highways include I-240 in Memphis; I-440 and I-840 in Nashville; and I-140 and I-640 in Knoxville. I-26, although technically an east-west interstate, runs from the North Carolina border below Johnson City to its terminus at Kingsport. I-24 is the other east-west interstate crossing Tennessee.
In a north-south orientation are highways I-55, I-65, I-75, and I-81. Interstate 65 crosses the state through Nashville, while Interstate 75 serves Knoxville and Interstate 55 serves Memphis. Interstate 81 enters the state at Bristol and terminates at its junction with I-40 near Jefferson City. I-155 is a branch highway from I-55.
Airports
Major airports within the state include Nashville International Airport (BNA), Memphis International Airport (MEM), McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), and Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI). Because Memphis International Airport is the major hub for FedEx Corporation, it's the world's largest air cargo operation.
Railroads
Memphis is served by the famed Amtrak train, the City of New Orleans on its run between Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. The City of New Orleans also stops near Dyersburg, Tennessee.
Law and government
Tennessee's governor holds office for a four-year term and may serve a maximum of two terms. The governor is the only official who is elected statewide, making him one of the more powerful chief executives in the nation. The state doesn't elect the lieutenant-governor directly, contrary to most other states; the Tennessee Senate elects its Speaker who serves as lieutenant governor.
The Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature, consists of the 33-member Senate and the 99-member House of Representatives. Senators serve four-year terms, and House members serve two-year terms. Each chamber chooses its own speaker. The speaker of the state Senate also holds the title of lieutenant-governor. Most executive officials are elected by the legislature.
The highest court in Tennessee is the state Supreme Court. It has a chief justice and four associate justices. No more than two justices can be from the same Grand Division. The Court of Appeals has 12 judges. The Court of Criminal Appeals has nine judges.
Tennessee's current state constitution was adopted in 1870. The state had two earlier constitutions. The first was adopted in 1796, the year Tennessee joined the union, and the second was adopted in 1834. The Tennessee Constitution outlaws martial law within its jurisdiction. This may be a result of the experience of Tennessee residents and other Southerners during the period of military control by Union (Northern) forces of the U.S. government after the American Civil War.
Lethal injection ban
On September 20, 2007, United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Judge Aleta Trauger ruled that prisoners were not properly anesthetized before lethal injection administration. She banned this execution as a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Tennessee is among 11 states which has delayed executions because of controversy over injections.
Politics
Tennessee politics, like that of most U.S. states, is dominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties. Like practically all Southern states, Tennessee tends to be politically conservative and currently tilts towards the Republican Party. However, it has often prided itself on its more moderate attitudes about matters of economics and race than some states of the Deep South.
While the Republicans control slightly more than half of the state, Democrats have strong support in the cities of Memphis and Nashville and in parts of Middle Tennessee (although declining, due to the growth of suburban Nashville) and West Tennessee north of Memphis, where a large rural African-American population resides. The Republicans historically had their greatest strength in East Tennessee, one of the few areas of the South with a Republican voting history that predates the 1960s. Such voting habits were a legacy from the region's support for the Union during the Civil War; much of East Tennessee hasn't elected a Democrat to Congress since then. In contrast, the Democrats generally dominated politics in the rest of the state until the 1960s; the GOP was essentially a sectional party. In the decades following the Civil Rights Movement and a concomitant revulsion against cultural liberalism, the Republicans have gained strength in the conservative suburbs of Memphis and Nashville and increasing support among rural voters elsewhere in West and Middle Tennessee (especially the former Grand Division). These patterns are largely in keeping with the South generally and don't generally reflect local idiosyncrasies.
In the 2000 Presidential Election, the majority of Tennessee voters voted for Republican George W. Bush rather than Vice President Al Gore, a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee. Tennessee support for Bush increased in 2004, with his margin of victory in the state increasing from 4% in 2000 to 14% in 2004. This occurred quite possibly because the nominee, John Kerry, was a Northerner; Southern nominees (for example, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton) usually fare better for the Democrats in Tennessee, especially among split-ticket voters outside the metropolitan areas.
Tennessee sends nine members to the US House of Representatives, currently consisting of five Democrats and four Republicans. The Baker v. Carr decision of the US Supreme Court (1962), which established the principle of one man, one vote was based on a lawsuit over rural-biased malapportionment in the Tennessee legislature. The ruling led to an increased prominence in state politics by urban and, eventually, suburban, legislators and statewide officeholders.
See also: List of Tennessee Governors, U.S. Congressional Delegations from Tennessee
Law enforcement
The State of Tennessee maintains two dedicated law enforcement entities, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, as well as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee State Parks department.
The Highway Patrol is the primary law enforcement entity that concentrates on highway safety regulations and general non-game state law enforcement and is under the jurisdiction of the Tennessee Department of Safety. The TWRA is an independent agency tasked with enforcing all wild game and fisheries regulations outside of state parks. The TBI maintains state-of-the-art investigative facilities and is the primary state-level criminal investigative department. Tennessee State Park Rangers are responsible for all activities and law enforcement inside the Tennessee State Parks system.
Important cities and towns
The capital is Nashville, though Knoxville, Kingston, and Murfreesboro have all served as state capitals in the past. Memphis has the largest population of any city in the state, but Nashville has had the state's largest metropolitan area since circa 1990; Memphis formerly held that title. Chattanooga and Knoxville, both in the eastern part of the state near the Great Smoky Mountains, each has approximately a third of the population of Memphis or Nashville. The city of Clarksville is the fifth significant population center, some 45 miles (70 km) northwest of Nashville. The Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol metropolitan area (known as Northeast Tennessee and "Tri-Cities") is the state's fourth largest metropolitan area and is located in the extreme northeastern part of the state, straddling the Virginia state line.
Education
Colleges and universities
Sports
Professional teams
Tennessee is also home to Bristol Motor Speedway which features NASCAR Nextel Cup racing two weekends a year, routinely selling out more than 160,000 seats both times.
Miscellaneous topics
Name origin
The earliest variant of the name that became Tennessee was recorded by Captain Juan Pardo, the Spanish explorer, when he and his men passed through a Native American village named "Tanasqui" in 1567 while traveling inland from South Carolina. European settlers later encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi (or "Tanase") in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee. The town was located on a river of the same name (now known as the Little Tennessee River). It isn't known whether this was the same town as the one encountered by Juan Pardo.
The meaning and origin of the word are uncertain. Some accounts suggest it's a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said to mean "meeting place", "winding river", or "river of the great bend".(External Link)(External Link) According to James Mooney, the name "can not be analyzed" and its meaning is lost (Mooney, pg. 534).
The modern spelling, Tennessee, is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, who used this spelling in his official correspondence during the 1750s. In 1788, North Carolina created "Tennessee County", the third county to be established in what is now Middle Tennessee. (Tennessee County was the predecessor to current-day Montgomery County and Robertson County). When a constitutional convention met in 1796 to organize a new state out of the Southwest Territory, it adopted "Tennessee" as the name of the state.
Trivia
The State of Tennessee has seven State Songs (External Link).
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth and clinching state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.
USS Tennessee: Four ships of the United States Navy (and two ships of the Confederate States Navy) have been named in honor of Tennessee.
Crossville, Tennessee is the location of the United States Chess Federation.
Knoxville, Tennessee is home to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tennessee was the home of three U.S. Presidents: Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and James K. Polk.
Tennessee is the home of Miss America's 1947 and 1987 Barbara Walker from Memphis and Kellye Cash from Milan, Miss Teen USA 1997 Shelly Moore from Knoxville, Miss USA's 2000 and 2007 Lynnette Cole from Columbia and Rachel Smith from Clarksville.
External results
Click here for more details on Tennessee
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://tennessee.totallyexplained.com">Tennessee Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
We see you're using Internet Explorer. Try Firefox, we think you'll like it better.
· Firefox blocks pop-up windows.
· It stops viruses and spyware.
· It keeps Microsoft from controlling the future of the internet.
Click the button on the right to download Firefox. It's free.
|
|
NEW: Download the Totally