Talk:Tennessee

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[edit] Removed

The following sentence about the Nashville Basin: Its people are traditionally Scotch-Irish and still adhere to very traditional ways of life, thus giving this region a distinct "Old World" or pre-Civil War feel.

We're talking about the area around Nashville here...not some giant Amish community.

[edit] It is not me.

  • I, Bookofsecrets, for the record, have not edited this article in two days. I only want to make sure that I'm not being wrongly accused for actions that are not my own. I'm not saying anyone has accused me today, but I'm merely letting other editors know that I'm not going to change this again. --Bookofsecrets 14:29, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
    • See the archive for the Southeastern vs. Southern debate, please. I added an archive because the talkpage was taking to long to add comments too. Unfortunately I only have a dial-up internet connection. --Bookofsecrets 14:39, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Be glad y'all aren't trying to figure out the truly difficult question of whether Missouri is a Southern or a Midwestern state! Regional terms are never neutral and always arbitrarily defined. "Southeast" sounds funny to me. The South is the southeast. It's a big area though, with much variation. If a smaller regional term is wanted, I'd call Tennessee part of the "Upper South". Anyway, funny argument. There's no correct answer, and no answer that won't make some people unhappy. Be thankful it isn't Missouri's region being debated, or whether Santa Barbara is in southern California. Pfly 05:30, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
    • Thank God for small miracles. P.H. - Kyoukan, UASC 20:11, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
    • I think we can safely assume that Tennessee is Southern. Teke 01:40, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
    • Southern is more accuracute than Southeast for the state as a whole. I can see perhaps East Tennessee prefering Southeast; but West & Middle Tennessee would definately prefer Southern. Jon 18:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Have you interviewed the entire population of Middle and West TN? I'm from Middle TN and prefer SE.Squiggyfm 18:58, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Here is the definition of Southeast. If the state is below the Mason-Dixon, east of the Mississippi, and doesn't touch the Atlantic Ocean, then it is Southeast. BTW I have lived in middle TN all my life and always heard it referred to as Southeast. Nikter 08:50, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
Another term is Upper South - Tennessee was recognized as part of the Upper South before and after the Civil War. This reflected some of the characteristics - demographics, style of agriculture, that made it different from states in the Deep South.--Parkwells 22:14, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Further Reading

Is it necessary to have all these titles in Further Reading? Seems a bit long to me; surely all these were not used as reference or notes for the article, and no one is going to read all of these. Maybe make it a separate article? It seems to just make the Tennessee article longer for no apparent reason...Civil Engineer III 13:21, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Feel free to chop it down some if it seems too long. Kaldari 18:11, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

A lot of history information has recently been added. That's great, but wouldn't it be better to make that a separate article (History of Tennessee) and summarize here? The history section now commands 2/3 of the article.Civil Engineer III 19:24, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Done. Kaldari 21:22, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
Nice stuff. Teke 01:38, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History of the Three Great Divisions

The different physical character of the three sections of the state influenced who settled each section, the kinds of agriculture and industry that were supported, and what its dominant demographics were. It would be useful to have a map that shows the three sections, even though they are well described. --Parkwells 22:17, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Politics section snipped; too many factual errors

Quoting "Tennessee politics, like that of most U.S. States, revolves around the Democratic and Republican Parties. Democrats are very strong in metropolitan Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga. The Democratic Party is also relatively strong in most of Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee north of Memphis.

The Republicans have the most strength in East Tennessee, one of the few areas of the South with a Republican voting history that predates the 1960s. Much of this region has not elected a Democrat to Congress since the Civil War. In contrast, the Democrats dominated politics in the rest of the state until the 1960s. The Republicans also have much strength in Memphis and Nashville's suburbs.

During the 2000 Presidential Election, Tennesse failed to vote for one of its own, former Tennesse Senator Al Gore, and instead voted for George W. Bush.

Federally, Tennessee sends nine members to the House of Representatives. Currently, the delegation consists of five Democrats and four Republicans.

See also: List of Tennessee Governors, U.S. Congressional Delegations from Tennessee"

Issues list:

  • Most other states don't have a politics section in them.
  • "Very" is unencyopedic; and to the extent its there actually hurts accuracy.
  • The Memphis Metro area is by new means unified; it's one of the most polizaried metros in the nation. Between Memphis City (Democrat) and the rest of the Metro area (Republican); with the most recent annexed areas tending to side with the county along with large potions of "East Memphis" in voting Republican.
  • Nashville: Major exception to Democratic strength in that metro: Williamson county. But also in the last couple of decades the surburbs have been trending Republican. (Nashville consolidated with Davidson County a few decades ago and so what are inner suburbs in many other parts of the US is part of the central city there.)
  • I think that author meant "Northwest TN" instead of "West Tennessee north of Memphis"; the Northern suburbs of Memphis are just as Republican as its Eastern suburbs. In addition, Jackson, TN in the central portion of West Tennesee is itself significantly Republican.
  • Chatt: Chatt's metro area is divided right along the lines that most metros in the US are.
  • Knoxville: What's not listed is that the city of Knoxville itself is much more Republican than most US cities are.
  • On "Al Gore", many Tenneseeans don't consider him to be "one of their own". Al Gore was born in DC, attended an Ivy League School and worse yet, voting record in the US Senate post 1986 when he first tried to run for President was in line with Northern Democrats, not Southern ones.

Jon 18:48, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Error in the Tennessee template box

The standard templated "Tennessee" box has an error in the spelling of Claiborne County. It is spelled correctly on List of counties in Tennessee. I can't figure out where to go to get it fixed. --orlady 23:10, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Aha! I found it at Template:Tennessee and I fixed it! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Orlady (talk • contribs) 04:23, 4 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] New Sports section added to updated Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. states format

The Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. states format has been updated to include a new Sports section, that covers collegiate sports, amateur sports, and non-team sports (such as hunting and fishing). Please feel free to add this new heading, and supply information about sports in Tennessee. Please see South_carolina#Sports_in_South_Carolina as an example. NorCalHistory 13:34, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tennessee flag

Is it my imagination, or is it upside-down in the image displayed on this page? --orlady 20:50, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Its you. Two stars on top. Squiggyfm 05:35, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Religion

Currently, the religion percentages don't add up. I wonder if this is due to leaving out the "refused" survey category? Btyner 22:54, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Memphis Music

It would be useful to have a section describing Memphis Music. {{Yellowdogrecords 12:23, 5 January 2007 (UTC)}}

[edit] TWRA

What's this about Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency being a dedicated law enforcement agency? I thought they were into managing fish and game. Their mission statement [1] says "The mission of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is to preserve, conserve, protect, and enhance the fish and wildlife of the state and their habitats for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the citizens of Tennessee and its visitors. The Agency will foster the safe use of the state's waters through a program of law enforcement, education, and access." That doesn't sound like "dedicated law enforcement" to me. --orlady 04:43, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] TENNESSEE, THE VOLUNTEER STATE

>>I suggest you study your Tennessee history a bit more carefully. Governor Isham G. Harris, positively, did nickname Tennessee the Volunteer State. That came a long time after the War of 1812.

"[State Historian Robert H.] White has shown, Tennessee was referred to in the press on the eve of the Mexican War as the 'Volunteer State.' When that war began and 2,800 Tennessee soldiers were requested by the national government, 30,000 volunteered, thus proving the appropriateness of the nickname.' (TENNESSEE: A Short History. Folmshee, Corlew, Mitchell (1972), p. 476)." Tennessee had earned it's nickname long before Isham G. Harris had ever come along. For the record, Aaron V. Brown (D) was Governor of Tennessee at the onset of the Mexican War in 1846. Drsowell 21:04, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Important cities and towns

For this part of the article, We need some agreed-on criteria as to what's a "major city" and a "secondary city." The "major city" list is pretty straightforward, although there's room for argument (for example, about whether Clarksville belongs on that list). The secondary cities list is more problematic -- it appears that individual contributors have added some cities, pretty much on the fly. (For example, today I added Morristown, which is bigger than some other listed cities and functions as a regional urban center.)

See List of cities and towns in Tennessee as a basis for discussion.

I question whether the list in the Tennessee article should include large bedroom suburbs, such as Germantown. Instead, it seems to me there should be a criterion limiting it to communities above a certain size that either are (1) official center cities of metropolitan or micropolitan areas or (2) have the attributes of a "center city" (that is, a major center of commercial activity) even if located in the orbit of another city. By this rule, I think that:

  • Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville, Athens, and Maryville probably should move off the list;
  • Columbia probably should be added

I'm not sure whether Franklin, Hendersonville, and Smyrna (which is not on there now) should be listed, as I don't know whether they are more like center cities or bedroom suburbs. What do the rest of you (y'all) think?--orlady 03:47, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Franklin is most definitely a center city in its own right and not a bedroom suburb. Considering that it will be the North American Headquarters for Nissan... Smashville 15:24, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

That reasoning works for me.--orlady 19:35, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
For "major city", I would say population of over 100,000. For minor city, I would say... uh... dunno. Kaldari 18:51, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
That means you agree with the current "major cities" list, which includes Clarksville in addition to the big 4. On "secondary cities," what do you think regarding Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville, Athens, Maryville, Hendersonville, Smyrna, and Columbia??? (To the extent that you are familiar with these places...) --orlady 19:35, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
All I know is I don't understand how Athens made the list. It's a small city in one of the state's smallest counties. Hendersonville is also pretty iffy. Smashville 23:15, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
Those are tricky. I would shy away from debating individual cities and try to come up with some kind of objective criteria, like "population greater than 10,000, but not located inside another city's metropolitan area" or something like that. Kaldari 21:54, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
25,000+ would cover most of them. And eliminate a lot of debateSmashville 01:26, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
It looks like that would give us 13 minor cities, which is manageable. I like keeping it simple. Complicated criteria are difficult to enforce. Kaldari 18:00, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] svg map

maybe fuck off using these crappy svg images (like the map of TN in the USA) that are oversized and cannot be viewed by most of the browsers.--194.81.255.254 20:47, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

What are you talking about? Image:Map of USA TN.svg is not oversized; it is just 286 × 186 pixels. However, the file size is large (167kb). If you have a dial-up internet connection, that would be annoying. I suggest that you share your concern with the image creators at Image talk:Map of USA with state names.svg. --Orlady 21:32, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] overwhelmingly evangelical?

I'm removing the sentence, "As with all Southern states except perhaps Louisiana, residents of Tennessee overwhelmingly prefer an evangelical Protestant religious affiliation. " My addition of the percentages immediately following gives 49%, which doesn't seem overwhelming to me. --Allen 21:45, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

I dunno why I never saw that before. Good catch. Smashville 23:27, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Hello. I just wanted to ask anyone from Knoxville, TN to submit a photo to the Tennessee page and any other people from Tennessee who's not from Nashville or Memphis to add more photos. This is a great opportunity to improve the page that represents the great state of Tennessee. Thanks for reading this post. Jay 22:56, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Major corporations

What are the criteria for inclusion as a "major corporation" headquartered in the state? The list heavily favors Memphis and leaves off larger Fortune 500 companies. FedEx, AutoZone, and IP are ranked respectively as the 2nd, 4th, and 8th largest Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state; others in the top 8 are Caremark Rx (1), HCA (3), Unum Group (5), Dollar General (6), and Eastman Chemical (7). Jstein4716 (talk) 23:05, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Raw materials

I removed the following sentence from the Middle Tennessee section: "It has raw materials such as, marble, copper, coal, and zinc." If you want to restore this information, cite sources. (I believe this is essentially true of the state, but not necessarily of Middle Tennessee.) --Orlady (talk) 02:41, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Civil War, Reconstruction and Disfranchisement

Throughout the pages of history, editors are happy to describe at length battles in the Civil War and trials of Reconstruction - admittedly more in other states' histories than here. I think it is as important to be clear about the disfranchising legislation and constitutions that most Southern states adopted from 1890-1908 that deprived most African Americans and many poor whites across the South of the ability to vote. The disfranchisement of both groups lasted for decades into the 20th century, although some poor whites got relief before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That is no more of an agenda than the lengthy descriptions of battles and generals.--Parkwells (talk) 12:34, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

The material on disfranchisement and its lasting effects for blacks and poor whites comes from the state's own encyclopedia online.It deserves to be included here.--Parkwells (talk) 12:42, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
I removed "Disfranchisement" from the header. "Civil War" and "Reconstruction" are well-established names for particular eras in American history. "Disfranchisement" is an important topic, but it is not the name of an era, so it does not belong in the subheader. --Orlady (talk) 14:19, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
Disfranchisement happened after Reconstruction, in the late 19th century, across the South. There does not appear to be a name for that era, and the significant legislation and new constitutions (in 10 of 11 states) all get overlooked.--Parkwells (talk) 14:35, 24 March 2008 (UTC)