Before the Volunteer State New Thoughts on Early Tennessee, 1540–1800 / edited by Kristofer Ray.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ray, Kristofer, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indians of North America--Tennessee--History.

Indians of North America.

Tennessee--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.

Tennessee.

Tennessee--History--18th century.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (253 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2015

Place of Publication:

Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Most general studies of Tennessee history begin with the arrival of Anglo-American settlers in the 1760s, with only a brief overview of the state's "prehistory." This welcome volume rethinks this narrative by placing Tennessee's origins firmly in the seventeenth century. In ten thoughtful essays, scholars of trans-Appalachian and early American history address a number of issues that have been touched on only fleetingly within Tennessee historiography, including the dynamic balance of Native American concerns and European imperial interests, the complexity of Revolutionary-era struggles, and the associated challenges of jurisdiction, dominion, and identity formation. Collectively, the volume situates Tennessee more firmly within the context of regional, North American, and Atlantic World developments. The essays are divided into two parts-the first focusing on the establishment and geopolitical complexities of seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century life in and around the Tennessee River, and the second exploring the effects of the American Revolution in this geopolitical space. Topics in Part One include Indian life in the late Mississippian era, how contact with Europeans forced a process of migration and change, European understanding of Cherokee strength, and the importance of the Creeks, Cherokees, and Shawnees to early Tennessee history. Part Two offers articles about the confusing milieu into which the region was thrown during the Revolution, the central role of kinship networks for both Indians and whites, and the difficulties of identity formation as Euro-Americans expanded their presence on the Tennessee frontier. The work concludes by addressing the issue of myth and memory and how early Tennessee history was overtaken by nineteenth-century historical narratives that continue to serve as the foundation for understanding the state. Taken together, these essays provide a gateway through which to reimagine early Tennessee history-a reimagining that demonstrates the significance of the Volunteer State within broader trends in early modern, southern, trans-Appalachian, and Atlantic World history.

Contents:

The European invasion and the transformation of the Indians of Tennessee, 1540-1715 / Robbie Ethridge

Cherokees, empire, and the Tennessee corridor in the British imagination, 1670-1730 / Kristofer Ray

"It seems like coming into our houses": challenges to Cherokee hunting grounds, 1750-1775 / Tyler Boulware

Shawnee geography and the Tennessee corridor in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries / John P. Bowes

Tennessee in the American Revolution: a reconsideration / Richard Gildrie

Military families: kinship in the American Revolution / Natalie Inman

The state of Franklin: separatism, competition, and the legacy of Tennessee's first state, 1783-1789 / Kevin Barksdale

John Montgomery and the perils of American identity in the Mero District, 1780-1795 / David Britton

Afterword: searching for John Sevier: myth, memory, and the history of early Tennessee history / Kevin Barksdale and Kristofer Ray.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781621901303

1621901300

OCLC:

922662078