![]() At this point the secession fever that had gripped the Deep South remained much more muted in Tennessee and the other border states. To obtain a better view of the voters’ sentiments, the legislature called for a February referendum to decide whether a secession convention should be held. In 1861 Governor Harris summoned the legislature into a special session to consider secession. In the state’s middle section, the counties in the Central Basin leaned heavily toward secession, but those on the basin’s rim were more ambivalent in their support, a discrepancy which led to divided communities and divided families and prepared the way for vicious neighbor-against-neighbor guerrilla conflict when the Civil War commenced. ![]() Harris, overwhelmingly wished connection with the Confederacy, while in East Tennessee most residents remained fervidly loyal to the Union. ![]() West Tennesseans, led by Governor Isham G. In the state’s three grand divisions, Confederates and Unionists fought their own political war to determine which way Tennessee would go as the Confederate States of America took form in neighboring Alabama. In 1861, as the nation divided, so did Tennessee.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |