June 19, 2015

1670, 1680 UNITED STATES (Tennessee) - Tennessee map and flag

1670 The map and the flag of State of Tennessee (1)

Posted on 16.06.2015, 19.06.2015
Located in the Southeastern United States and 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, Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. The  Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. It is geographically, culturally, economically, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions: East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee. The highest point in the state is  Clingmans Dome at 2,025m, and the lowest is the Mississippi River at the Mississippi state line (59m).

1680 The map and the flag of State of Tennessee (2)

The area now known as Tennessee was inhabited by Paleo-Indians nearly 12,000 years ago. The names of the cultural groups that inhabited the area between first settlement and the time of European contact are unknown. The first recorded European excursions were three expeditions led by Hernando de Soto (1540), Tristan de Luna (1559), and Juan Pardo (1567). Pardo recorded the name "Tanasqui" from a local Indian village, which evolved to the state's current name. At that time, Tennessee was inhabited by tribes of  Muscogee and Yuchi people, and later the Cherokee moved south from the area now called Virginia. As colonists spread into the area, the Indian populations were forcibly displaced to the south and west.

The first British settlement in what is now Tennessee was built in 1756 by settlers from the colony of South Carolina at Fort Loudoun (near present-day Vonore), destroyed by Overhill Cherokees in 1760. Tennessee was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1796 as the 16th state. Between 1838 and 1839 nearly 17,000 Cherokees (along with approximately 2,000 black slaves owned by Cherokees) were forced to march toward the Indian Territory west of Arkansas. During this relocation, called in the Cherokee language Nunna daul Isunyi (the Trail Where We Cried), an estimated 4,000 Cherokees died.

Tennessee was the last state which left the Union and joined the Confederacy at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, and also the first which was readmitted to the Union at the end of the war. Many major battles were fought in Tennessee, most of them Union victories. It furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state, and more soldiers for the Union Army than any other Southern state. In 1864, Andrew Johnson (a War Democrat from Tennessee) was elected Vice President under Abraham Lincoln, and he became President after Lincoln's assassination in 1865. Hereinafter, the state legislature passed increasingly restrictive laws to control African Americans. In 1920, it was the last state which provided women the right to vote.

Tennessee has played a critical role in the development of many forms of American popular music, including rock and roll, blues, country, and rockabilly. Its major industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Fifty-four state parks, as well as parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (the nation's most visited national park) and Cherokee National Forest, and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park are in Tennessee. Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, with the exception of some of the higher elevations in the Appalachians. The capital is Nashville, though Knoxville, Kingston, and Murfreesboro have all served as state capitals in the past. Memphis has the largest population of any city in the state.

The flag of the State of Tennessee was designed by Colonel LeRoy Reeves of the Tennessee National Guard, being adopted in 1905. It consists of an emblem on a field of red, with a strip of blue on the fly. The emblem in the middle consists of three stars on a blue circle. The three stars represent the three Grand Divisions of the state, East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee, and the blue circle represents their unity. The blue bar at the edge of the flag was purely a design consideration. State symbols include: State bird - Mockingbird, State cultivated flower - Iris, and State wild animal – Raccoon
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The Great Seal of the State of Tennessee has on the top the Roman numerals XVI, representing Tennessee as the 16th state to enter the United States. The images of a plow, a bundle of wheat, a cotton plant, and the word "Agriculture" below the three images occupying the center of the seal. The lower half of the seal displays a flat-bottomed-riverboat with the word "Commerce" underneath. Surrounding the images are the words "The Great Seal of the State of Tennessee", and "Feb. 6th, 1796". The day and month have been dropped from later designs.

About the stamps
On the postcard 1670
About the first stamp, featuring a portrait of George Washington, I wrote here. The last stamp, Neon Celebrate!, was issued on March 6, 2011

On the postcard 1680
About the first stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here. The second and the third stamp are part of the limited-edition Farmers Markets Forever stamps,about which I wrote here.

References
Tennessee - Wikipedia
Flag of Tennessee - Wikipedia

Sender 1670, 1680: Denise
1670: Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 04.08.2014
1680: Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 22.09.2014

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