Теннесси штатының үш географиялық аймағы

Three legally recognized geographic regions in the U. S. state of Tennessee

The Grand Divisions are three geographic regions in the U. S. state of Tennessee, each constituting roughly one third of the state's land area, that are geographically, culturally, legally, and economically distinct. The Grand Divisions are legally recognized in the state constitution and state law and are represented on the flag of Tennessee by the flag's three prominent stars. The Grand Divisions, East, Middle, and West Tennessee, are sometimes referred to as "three states of Tennessee" or "the three Tennessees".

The three regions are geographically and culturally distinct. East Tennessee's landscape is dominated by the Appalachian mountain chain, including the Great Smoky Mountains on the eastern border of the state, the ridge and valley region where East Tennessee's principal cities (Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri Cities) are located, and the rugged Cumberland Mountains. East and Middle Tennessee are separated along the Cumberland Plateau. Middle Tennessee, which includes the state's capital city of Nashville, is dominated by rolling hills and fertile stream valleys. West Tennessee, located between the Tennessee and the Mississippi Rivers, is the lowest lying of the three Grand Divisions. It is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain physiographic region, characterized by relatively flat topography. Except for the Memphis metropolitan area, land use in this region is mostly agricultural. Historically, cotton was West Tennessee's dominant crop. The physiographic and economic differences between the three regions resulted in major divisions within Tennessee in the Civil War. The plantation agricultural system associated with cotton production meant that slavery was very important to the economy of West Tennessee, where voters strongly supported secession. Support for secession was not as strong in Middle Tennessee, where plantation agriculture was present but less important. In mountainous East Tennessee, where plantation agriculture was largely absent and slavery was not economically important, voters strongly opposed secession. Although the entire state seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, East Tennessee remained an area of pro Union sentiment and activity throughout the Civil War and afterward. The Republican Party dominated politics in the region. Before and during the Civil War, there was a movement in East Tennessee to counter secede from the Confederacy and re join the Union as the State of Nickajack, together with other Union friendly Southern areas, such as North Alabama. Partly because of West Tennessee's history of slavery, it has had a higher concentration of African Americans in the population. In the census in 2000, West Tennessee's population was found to be 37% black, while in Middle and East Tennessee, black people made up 12% and 6% of their respective populations.

The Tennessee State Constitution mandates that no more than two of the five justices on the state's supreme court can be from any one Grand Division. The court must also meet regularly in each division in the cities of Jackson in West Tennessee, Nashville in Middle Tennessee, and Knoxville in East Tennessee. Similar rules apply to some other state institutions. For example:

The former Tennessee Public Service Commission was required to consist of three commissioners, including one commissioner from each Grand Division, although the commissioners were elected in statewide elections. State law requires that the ten member Tennessee Textbook Commission, which consists mainly of professional educators, must include three members who do not work in education — one from each of the three Grand Divisions. State law requires a particular number of appellate judges be from each Grand Division.

In describing his design for the Tennessee state flag, which was adopted in 1905, LeRoy Reeves wrote, "The three stars are of pure white, representing the three grand divisions of the state." He explained the placement of the stars inside a blue circle as symbolic of "three bound together in one—an indissoluble trinity." The slogan was abandoned during the governorship of Winfield Dunn (who was from Memphis, but as a Republican got his strongest vote from East Tennessee), due to concerns that it might encourage sectionalism. Below a trio of stars that represent the three grand divisions, the quarter depicts a guitar for the country music of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, a fiddle and a book of music for the bluegrass tradition of East Tennessee, and a trumpet for the blues music of Memphis and the Mississippi Delta (part of West Tennessee).