Tennessee

NATIVE AMERICANS HAD settled Tennessee from about 9,000 b.c.e., with Hernando de Soto becoming the first European in the area in 1539–43. During the 17th century, European settlement opened up Tennessee, with some tribes from the east coast such as the Chickasaw and the Choctaw being resettled there. There was some fighting in Tennessee during the American War of Independence, but it was not until 1796 that Tennessee was granted statehood and formally became the 16th state of the Union. The first elected governor was John Sevier from the Democratic-Republican Party, of French Huguenot extraction, who served 1796–1801, completing three successive terms, the maximum allowed in the state Constitution. He was succeeded by Archibald Roane, also from the Democratic-Republicans, and, as with Sevier, a hero from the American War of Independence, but a bitter enemy of Sevier. Sevier returned to the governorship 1803–09, completing another three consecutive terms, making him the second longest serving governor in the history of the state, William Carroll serving only slightly longer.

Willie Blount, the fourth elected governor (Sevier is counted as both the first and third governor) was the younger half-brother of North Carolina politician William Blount. A lawyer, he was elected governor in 1809, served three terms, and was a strong supporter of the War of 1812. The fifth governor, Joseph McMinn was also “term limited,” served three consecutive terms, with the interesting fact it was that McMinn who had helped introduce the constitutional requirement barring any governor from more than three consecutive terms when the 1796 constitution of the state was drafted. The next governor, William Carroll, was from Pennsylvania, as were Archibald Roane [Page 785]and Joseph McMinn. He also served three consecutive terms. With little opposition, there were two Democratic-Republican candidates in the 1827 gubernatorial elections Sam Houston was elected as governor, defeating former governor William Blount. Houston went on to serve as the seventh governor of Texas, becoming one of the few U.S. politicians to be governor of two different states. After Houston, William Hall was briefly governor, and then William Carroll returned to office to complete three more consecutive terms, making him the longest serving governor in the history of the state.

The demise of the Federalists led to state election contests between the Democrats and the Whigs. In 1838–39, many Native Americans from Tennessee were forcibly uprooted and moved to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), an action that killed of 4,000 of the 17,000. This changed the nature of the state, with more settlers from the east coast arriving as more land, previously occupied by the Native Americans, became available. In 1839, James K. Polk was elected governor of the state, serving only one term; in 1844, he was elected the 11th president of the United States. The 1841 senatorial election in Tennessee showed the power of the Whigs, but 13 Democratic Senators, who were nicknamed the “immortal thirteen” maneuvered to prevent two Whigs from taking their places in the U.S. Senate, and the state was unrepresented until 1843.