TENNESSEE', a southern state of the American union, the third admitted under the federal constitution, extends in let. 35° to 36° 30' n., and long. 81° 37' to 90° 28' w.; and is bounded on the n. by Kentucky and Virginia; and on the s. by Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Area, 45,600 sq. miles. The chief towns are Nashville (the capital), Mem phis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Murfreesborough, and Jackson. The principal rivers are —the Mississippi, forming the boundary on the w. ; the Cumberland (q.v.), the Tennessee river, which twice crosses the state; the Obion, Hatchee, and numerous branches of the larger rivers, which give navigation and water-power to the entire state. Eastern Tennes see is crossed by several ridges of the Alleghany mountains, some of which have elevations of 2,000 ft. ; the middle region between the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers is hilly, and the w. level. The western portion of the state, between the Mississippi and the Tennessee, is of the alluvial and cretaceous formation of the shores of the Atlantic and gulf of Mexico. Extensive iron mines lie between the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. In the limestone regions are numerous caves, mostly unexplored. Several in the Cumberland mountains are 100 ft. deep, and miles in extent. A considerable river has been discovered in one at a depth of 400 ft. ; another opening perpendicularly in a mountain has never been fathomed. In some of these caves are large deposits of fossil bones of extinct animals. In the Enchanted mountain are seen impressions of the feet of men and animals iu limestone. Tracts of several acres have sunk into caverns 100. ft. deep. In many places are interesting remains of ancient mounds and fortifications.
The climate of Tennessee is temperate, and, except in some of the river-bottoms, salubrious. The soil of the whole state, except the eastern mountainous regions, is extremly fertile, producing cotton, tobacco, Indian corn, wheat, figs, peaches, grapes, and all the fruits and productions of the southern temperate regions. The state is richly wooded ,with pine, oak, hickory, sugar-maple, cedar, black walnut; and the woods abound in game, as bears, deer, opossums, racoons, foxes, etc. ; and the country
is rich in horses, cattle, sheep, and swine—the last running in large herds in the woods, and fattening on nuts. In 1870 farms averaging 166 acres in size occupied 19,581,214 acres of laud, of which 6,843,278 were improved. In the same year the live stock was valued at $55,084,075; and the crops consisted in part of 41,343,614 bushels Indian corn, 6,188,916 bushels wheat, 21,465,452 lbs. tobacco, and 181,842 bales cotton. The com• merce of the state, by its rivers and 23 lines of railway, is chiefly with New Orleans, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. There are state asylums for deaf and dumb at Knoxville, and for the insane and blind at Nashville. There are 51 colleges; a common school-fund of $2,500,000; 2,842 churches, chiefly Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian; 9 daily, 110 weekly papers. The value of property in 1874 was $289,533,656; the bonded debt, $22.908,400.
In 1756 a settlement was formed near Knoxville, then a part of North Carolina. Nashville was settled near the close of the revolution; in 1790 Tennessee was organized as a territory with Kentucky; and admitted, iu 1796, into the union as a separate state. In Jan., 1861, a proposal to secede from the union was defeated; but in June, carried by a majority of 57,667. In ten months the state raised 50 regiments for the confederacy; while 5 or 6 were also recruited for the union. The state was the scene, at Knox ville and Chattanooga, of some of the most important operations of the war. Tennes see sends 8 representatives to congress, in addition to the 2 senators allowed to each state. For some years after the civil war portions of Tennessee continued in a very disturbed condition, numerous outrages being committed by bands of disguised marau ders. The pop. in 1800 was 105,602; 1820, 422,813; 1840, 829,210; 1860, 1,109,847; 1870, 1,258,373 (of whom 936,119 were white, and 322,331 colored).