Root Causes of Economic Downturn of East Tennessee During Reconstruction

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Root Causes of Economic Downturn of East Tennessee During Reconstruction

The steep economic downturn experienced by eastern Tennessee and the rest of the Appalachian South following the Civil War is one that served to hamstring the recovery of the region for years after the official end of the war. The cause of this downturn can be attributed to a myriad of reasons, with a few of them including the depleted labor force in mountain communities and the fractured transportation infrastructure of the region. The dilapidated state of the transportation infrastructure and economic distress was noted by writer John. T. Trowbridge when passing through the state in the closing months of the war (Cooling, p. 387). This was a particular problem in predominately unionist East Tennessee when many people left the state due to the Confederate draft being put into effect, leaving communities in this portion of the state without the necessary skilled artisans for a functioning local economy (McKinney, p. 50). Additionally, the sheer number of deaths in the war limited the size of the labor force in the years following. The presence of guerrilla warfare in the region contributed to this problem as well. One of the most infamous perpetrators of this was Champ Ferguson, who killed over fifty Union supporters in the East Tennessee before being executed by the United States government in 1865 (McKinney, p. 52). As if the loss of life wasnt enough, the collapse of the Confederacy left many of the economic elite with now worthless Confederate currency and bonds. This further stunted the economic recovery by limiting the resources available to be invested in this portion of the state.

Initially, the eastern portion of Tennessee led the charge for the implementation of a pro-Union Republican government towards the end of the war that ultimately resulted in the Brownlow government being put into power in April of 1865 (Fertig, p.13). However, after the re-instatement of the Democratic Party in leadership positions years later, legislation was passed ending government assistance to impoverished mountain counties. This lack of financial aid prevented the development of many basic education systems, hindering the literacy rates in rural areas. In addition to this, several state governments, including Tennessee, implemented poll taxes to prevent poor citizens in mountain counties from voting and providing any political opposition. These actions were driven by the fact that much of the population of the lowland South viewed mountain counties as hostile political territory and were reluctant to share resources with them (McKinney, p. 55). Collectively, the economic misfortunes of Southern Appalachia were extremely apparent throughout the eastern portion of Tennessee during the Civil War and the Reconstruction period. While the results of this economic downturn were easily identifiable, the root cause behind it is a much more complex and multifaceted issue. Some of the major contributing factors include a depleted labor force, violence among the communities throughout the region, and the implementation of democratic governments deliberately working against the best interests of mountain counties in the state.

Works Cited

McKinney, Gordon B. High Mountains Rising: Appalachia in Time and Place, University of Illinois Press, 2004, pp. 46-56.
Cooling, Benjamin Franklin. To the Battles of Franklin and Nashville and Beyond: Stabilization and Reconstruction in Tennessee and Kentucky, 18641866. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2011, p. 387.
Fertig, James Walter. The Secession and Reconstruction of Tennessee. Ams PressInc, 1898. p.13.

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