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102. Tennessee 1809 U.S. Senate, Special
103. Tennessee 1809 U.S. Senate, Special
104. Tennessee 1811 Assistant Clerk of the Senate
105. Tennessee 1811 Assistant Clerk of the Senate, Ballot 2
106. Tennessee 1811 Assistant Clerk of the Senate, Ballot 3
107. Tennessee 1811 Clerk of the Senate
108. Tennessee 1811 Governor
109. Tennessee 1811 House of Representatives, Davidson County
110. Tennessee 1811 House of Representatives, Grainger County
111. Tennessee 1811 House of Representatives, Maury County
112. Tennessee 1811 House of Representatives, Rutherford County
113. Tennessee 1811 Secretary of State
114. Tennessee 1811 State Senate, Davidson County
115. Tennessee 1811 State Senate, Grainger County
116. Tennessee 1811 State Senate, Maury and Rutherford Counties
117. Tennessee 1811 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
118. Tennessee 1811 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2
119. Tennessee 1811 U.S. House of Representatives, District 3
120. Tennessee 1811 U.S. Senate, Special
121. Tennessee 1812 Electoral College, District 1
122. Tennessee 1812 Electoral College, District 3
123. Tennessee 1812 Electoral college, District 2
124. Tennessee 1812 House of Representatives, Knox County, Special
125. Tennessee 1812 State Senate, Knox County, Special
126. Tennessee 1813 Governor
127. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Bledsoe County
128. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Claiborne County
129. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Davidson County
130. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Dickson and Hickman Counties
131. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Franklin County
132. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Grainger County
133. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Jackson County
134. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Knox County
135. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Smith County
136. Tennessee 1813 House of Representatives, Washington County
137. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Anderson, Roane, Rhea, and Bledsoe Counties
138. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Campbell, Claiborne, and Grainger Counties
139. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Carter and Washington Counties
140. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Davidson County
141. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Dickson and Hickman Counties
142. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Franklin and Warren Counties
143. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Hawkins and Sullivan Counties
144. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Jackson, Overton, and White Counties
145. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Knox County
146. Tennessee 1813 State Senate, Smith County
147. Tennessee 1813 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
148. Tennessee 1813 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2
149. Tennessee 1813 U.S. House of Representatives, District 3
150. Tennessee 1813 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4
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The state of Tennessee originally was the western district of North Carolina. It formally separated from the mother state in 1790, at which time it became the federal Territory South of the River Ohio. In 1795 territorial Governor William Blount called for a constitutional convention, and on February 6, 1796, the convention unanimously approved a document and submitted it to the government in Philadelphia. The House of Representatives subsequently supported Tennessee's bid for statehood, but Senate Federalists disliked the constitution for a number of reasons. A conference committee managed to resolve major differences, however, and Congress formally recognized the state of Tennessee in May 1796.
The 1796 constitution comprised eleven articles, the eleventh being a declaration of rights that included free navigation of the Mississippi River. Both the executive and the judiciary were firmly under the control of the bicameral General Assembly. In terms of democratic practices, the constitution gave the right to vote to all freemen over twenty-one and did not impose any explicit racial restrictions, which meant that Tennessee's miniscule but growing free black population had the franchise as well. The constitution also provided for a written ballot and apportioned representation on the basis of taxable inhabitants. Elections for both governor and the General Assembly were held once every two years.
Tennessee was universally Jeffersonian by 1796, but that fact masks significant political complexity. During Tennessee's territorial phase, a small clique of surveyors and speculators had controlled government institutions. They used land accumulation to establish themselves, and they maintained political control because no formal mechanism existed for ordinary settlers to undermine their authority. At the turn of the nineteenth century, however, a burst of militia elections gave ordinary Tennesseans access to positions of community importance. These elections also established a precedent for political opposition. Soon the elite had to construct broad constituencies in an increasingly vibrant popular democracy.
This shifting political culture coincided with remarkable economic and demographic development, particularly in the region surrounding Nashville. Between 1796 and 1801 the population there grew 200 percent, and by 1815 many of the 292,590 residents were committed to cotton and tobacco cultivation. Commercial agriculture in turn created a mercantile class that integrated "Middle" Tennessee into a global economy. Yet competition associated with this economy created unforeseen popular divisions. Even as planting and merchant interests looked to the government to expedite commercial growth, ordinary farmers believed that limited land accessibility and excessive debt threatened their stability. They therefore used the political sphere to contest more expansive definitions of progress. These debates helped establish "party" interests out of the universal Jeffersonian political culture, and such divisions were solidified through the panic of 1819.
Middle Tennessee's development stood in sharp contrast to that of the eastern district, which was bounded by the Appalachian Mountains in the east and Cumberland Plateau in the west, and where the soil was generally too poor for significant commercial farming. The region's more self-contained existence made for less dynamic economic development between 1787 and 1825, an issue noted by early nineteenth-century leaders of both regions.
Bibliography
- Abernethy, Thomas Perkins.
From Frontier to Plantation in Tennessee: A Study in Frontier Democracy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1932. - Cumfer, Cynthia.
Separate Peoples, One Land: The Minds of Cherokees, Blacks and Whites on the Tennessee Frontier. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007. - Finger, John R.
Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. - Ray, Kristofer.
Middle Tennessee, 1775–1825: Progress and Popular Democracy on the Southwestern Frontier. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2007. - Remini, Robert.
Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire, 1767–1821. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. - The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
- Tennessee Documentary History 1796-1850