Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

History

Date of Award

8-2008

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Andrew L. Slap

Committee Members

Stephen G Fritz, Tommy D. Lee II

Abstract

East Tennessee, though historically regarded as a Unionist monolith, was politically and ideologically divided during the Civil War. The entrance of the East Tennessee and Virginia and East Tennessee and Georgia railroads connected the economically isolated region to Virginia and the deep South. This trade network created a southern subculture within East Tennessee. These divisions had deepened and resulted by the Civil War in guerilla warfare throughout the region. East Tennessee's response to the sectional crisis and the Civil War was varied within the region itself. Analyzing railroad records, manuscript collections, census data, and period newspapers demonstrates that three subdivisions existed within East Tennessee - Northeast Tennessee, Knox County, and Southeast Tennessee. These subregions help explain East Tennessee's varied responses to sectional and internal strife. East Tennessee, much like the nation as a whole, was internally divided throughout the Civil War era.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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