Chapter 9: The Changing South

Racism and slavery existed in the beginning of America's history. Although we as a nation has grown from slavery, racism still exists in states all over the nation. Tennessee is included in those states. 

According the a website hosted by Janice Price, slaves could have arrived in Tennessee as early as 1541. The state began to build in population as the years went on. When the white pioneers camp into Tennessee, so did their slaves. The first slave census that was taken stated that there were 3,417 slaves in settled area. This was around 1760. As the year passed and Tennessee became a state, the slave population increased to 10,613. Most of the pioneers brought their slaves with them from Virginia and North Carolina. 

Eventually slaves were granted their freedom. However, this did not happen until February 25, 1865. On a lighter note; Tennessee was the only state to free the slaves by popular vote. 

Racism exists all around the nation. I discovered a blog when searching for racism in Tennessee stating that there are a group of people in Tennessee that want slave history taken out of the history books. The Klu Klux Klan is still around in the south, and in Tennessee. The KKK still have open protests and marches throughout some cities. However they are not as strong as they use to to be. Unfortunately as much as we have grown as a nation, some still get left behind. 

Sources: 

http://www.afrigeneas.com/states/tn/

http://teabaggersrcoming.blogspot.com/2011/01/tennessee-teabaggers-want-all-this-talk.html

http://jerrybrice.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/the-kkk-and-wal-mart-in-memphis-join-forces-and-support-a-15-year-sentence-for-cutting-in-line-down-in-dixieland/