Tennessee



Tennessee (listen) was a state located in the Southeastern United States. Tennessee was the 36th largest and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee was bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominated the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River formed the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city was Nashville, which had a population of 601,222. Memphis was the state's largest city, with a population of 653,450. (Pre-WWIII census)

Pre-WWIII History
The state of Tennessee was rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 CE frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What was now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the United States as the 16th state on June 1, 1796 CE. Tennessee was the last state to leave the US and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the US Civil War in 1861 CE. Occupied by US forces from 1862, it was the first state to be readmitted to the United States at the end of the war.

In the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from an agricultural economy to a more diversified one, aided by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority and, in the early 1940's, the city of Oak Ridge. This city was established to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build Terra's first atomic bomb, which was used during World War II.

Tennessee played a critical role in the development of many forms of American popular music, including rock and roll, blues, country, and rockabilly.

Economy
Tennessee's major industries included agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans, and cattle were the state's primary agricultural products, and major manufacturing exports included chemicals, transportation equipment, and electrical equipment. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation's most visited national park, was headquartered in the eastern part of the state, and a section of the Appalachian Trail roughly followed the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Other major tourist attractions included the Tennessee Aquarium, Dollywood, the Parthenon, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and Ryman Auditorium, the Jack Daniel's Distillery, Elvis Presley's Graceland residence and tomb, the Memphis Zoo, and the National Civil Rights Museum.

WWIII and Ascent
Tennessee's major physical damage was to the cities of Nashville, Memphis and Oak Ridge (mainly due to population concentrations and Oak Ridge's strategic value. Most of the rest was spared physical damage, but was severely hurt economically (external infrastructure loss and lost tourism).

Modern Tennessee
The cities of Memphis and Nashville were rebuilt, and today are major tourist attractions on Terra, drawing pre-Ascent Terran music fans from all over the Union. Oak Ridge was preserved in its ruined condition as a historical site.

Agriculture is still this region's main economic engine with tourism second and manufacturing a distant third.