# 3071 FDC - 1996 32c Tennessee Statehood, booklet single

Issue Date: May 31, 1996
City: Knoxville, TN
Quantity: 100,000,000
Printed By: Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: Serpentine die cut 9.9 x 10.8
Color: Multicolored

 

The first commemorative to be issued in the popular self-adhesive format, this stamp celebrated the 200th anniversary of Tennessee's statehood. Featured on the stamp is a view of the State Capitol building, with a statue in the foreground showing General Andrew Jackson fighting the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.

 

Tennessee Becomes 16th State 

The first known groups of Indians to live in Tennessee were the Mound Builders, who moved to the region about 1,000 years ago. They used mounds for burial places, as platforms for temples, and for the homes of chiefs. Many of these mounds are gigantic, and they were built without the aid of horses and oxen. Some of the mounds resemble animals when viewed from high above, and some mounds are shaped geometrically. Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians lived in the region when Europeans arrived.

A party of Spanish explorers led by Hernando de Soto raided some Indian villages in the Tennessee River valley in 1540. The party continued westward, and in 1541, de Soto became the first European to reach the Mississippi River. In 1673, the English explorers James Needham and Gabriel Arthur explored the Tennessee valley, and Louis Jolliet of Canada and Father Jacques Marquette of France sailed down the Mississippi River.

The French, Spanish, and English all claimed Tennessee and competed for trade with the Indians. Spain eventually gave up on its claims, but Britain and France developed a fierce rivalry. In 1754, the French and Indian War began between French and British settlers. Although the French were outnumbered 20 to 1, they held the upper hand in the early years of the conflict. But after nine years of fierce fighting, the British were victorious. In 1763, the French surrendered all of their claims east of the Mississippi to the British.

The Transylvania Company bought a large portion of present-day Tennessee and Kentucky from the Cherokee Indians in 1755. The legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone blazed the famous Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap, opening this vast territory for new settlement. Boone and about 30 other woodsmen created the road by improving various Indian trails and buffalo paths.

During the American Revolution, pioneers from Tennessee, under the leadership of John Sevier, were a major factor in the victory over the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, on October 7, 1780.

Conflicts between settlers and Indians increased in Tennessee. In 1784, when North Carolina failed to send aid to the settlers, three counties revolted and formed the State of Franklin. North Carolina regained control of these counties in 1788, but, in 1789, gave ownership of all of Tennessee to the United States. The U.S. named this area The Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio.

On February 6, 1796, the territory adopted a constitution in preparation for statehood. On June 1, 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state to enter the Union. It was the first state to be created out of government territory.

Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union. Many Civil War battles were fought in the state. One of the bloodiest battles of the entire war, the Battle of Shiloh, was fought near the Tennessee River near Pittsburg Landing. The Battle of Shiloh was an important victory for the Union. Control of the city of Chattanooga was highly contested during the war, with possession switching several times. Through the leadership of Andrew Johnson, Tennessee became the first Confederate state to re-join the Union.