ABSTRACT
Although most Tennessee newspapers joined this nationalistic effort, there were Union holdouts that made the task difficult, especially in East Tennessee. Even so, secession held the day and Tennessee officially entered the war in June 1861. A review of the Tennessee press from 1861 through the end of 1862 offers a glimpse into the political leanings of a people who were torn between their support for the Confederate nation and their concern for their own state's best interests. From the plantation owners along the Mississippi River to the small farmers of Middle and East Tennessee, the Tennessee press covered a political landscape as divided as its geography. Few would escape the struggle unscathed. Tennessee newspapers began debating secession in 1860, and this debate intensified when Southern states began leaving the Union. When Lincoln requested Tennessee regiments to assist the Union at Fort Sumter, he gave Tennessee fire-eaters the ammunition they needed to mobilize support for the Confederacy.
