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Makayla Ritch

Griffin

U.S. History

May 17th, 2017

What Impact did the Civil War and Slavery have on TN?

The Civil War and slavery impacted many states but many southern states, like

Tennessee, were especially impacted. Tennessee is the only state to have major battles fought in

every county. The state also went by the name The Bread Basket of the confederacy because of

its rich farmland that helped both armies during the war. More specifically, East TN was

impacted most of all; it was a stronghold of unionism. Most slaves, rather than being on

plantation operations, were house servants. The Civil War and slavery impacted Tennessee

agriculturally and economically.

Tennessee seceded from the union on June 8th, 1861. Afterwards, many battles took place

in the states countys. General Ulysses S. Grant had a victory at Fort Donelson, TN, in February

of 1862. In April, a couple months later, the Battle of Shiloh took place in Pittsburg Landing. The

next year, in September, there was a confederate victory at Chickamauga. In response, the largest

pre-twentieth century movement of troops took place when Stanton ordered 20,000 men, with

equipment, to move 1,233 miles to relieve Chattanooga. All the while, slavery was outlawed in

U.S. territories starting from June of 1862. After a few more battles fought, Tennessee readmitted

to the union in 1866. In the same year, the U.S. Congress passed the fourteenth amendment,

affirming citizenship for African Americans.

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East Tennessee came under confederate control from 1861 to 1863. Nashville was

pouring with refugees during the war as many job opportunities were being offered; depots,

warehouses, and hospitals were serving the war effort. The city was also much safer than the

countryside. Both unionists and confederate sympathizers came in, as did free blacks and

escaped slaves, and businessmen from the norththis helped economically. Furthermore, there

was little heavy industry in the south, but the western iron district in Middle TN was the largest

iron producer in the confederacy in 1861.

The Civil War devastated Tennessees agricultural economy. Military combat and

occupation brought extensive damage and destruction to primary dwellings, outbuildings, wells,

and livestock. Fields began to overgrow, buildings began to dilapidate, and tools and machinery

began to deteriorate due to the wartime neglect. The postwar years witnessed a significant

reorganization of TN agriculture. Many former plantations, their slave labor force eliminated

with emancipation, were subdivided into smaller units, with a resulting rise in the number and

decline in the size of farms. Accordingly, many East Tennesseans engaged in guerrilla warfare

against state authorities by burning bridges, cutting telegraph wires, and spying for the north.

Slavery helped the south economically significantly. Some argue that the sudden end to

the slave economy would have had a profound and killing economic impact in the South where

reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy. The cotton economy would

collapse, tobacco crop would dry in the fields, and rice would cease being profitable. They also

argued that if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. The

gradual end to slavery and the damage from the Civil War affected Tennessee significantly, but

the economy rebuilt itself.

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Furthermore, the Emancipation Proclamation is what really committed the nation to

ending slavery, alongside the Civil War. The U.S. Congress responded with a series of

Constitutional amendments ending slavery, granting citizenship, and giving African American

men voting rights. These rights drastically changed the country politically. By 1872, 1,510

African Americans held office in the southern states. This affected Tennessee economically

because African Americans were now allowed to do things no one ever thought they could do, as

well as putting an end to slaverywhich many depended on and found profitable.

The Civil War had a great impact on Tennessee, not only because of its partial credit for

putting an end to slavery, but because of the damage it brought to its economy. Postwar years

were brutal as there was a lot to be fixed. Tennesseans witnessed the destruction to their

landscape and economy as well as their society. That is when and why Tennessee became the

first state to rejoin the Union in July 1866; to begin a long road to recovery. However, in the end,

the war did some good that overweighted the bad.

Slavery also had a great impact on Tennessee, as it arguably helped the economy so much

so people excessively feared the thought of it coming to an end. However, its a good thing it did

as it was unfair and brutal. If slavery had continued and the Civil War never happened, Tennessee

and many other states would be a drastically different present day. Slavery officially ended in

Tennessee as of April 1865. Since then, the economy has mended.