In 1800, about 85,000 people lived within the boundaries of Tennessee (this is about the number of people who today live in Murfreesboro or Johnson City). Over half were white, and most of them were English, Scottish, or Irish by descent. An estimated 20 percent were black, and most of them were slaves. Meanwhile there were still a lot of Native Americans living in Tennessee -- members of the Cherokee, Creek and Chickasaw tribes. That’s about it; there were practically no Hispanics or Asians living in Tennessee then, and wouldn’t be for a long time.

As the Native Americans withdrew, white settlers came in quickly. Whenever the government would “acquire” the land from Native American tribes, it would immediately sell it, for a nominal fee, to a land speculator, who would in turn divide it up and sell it to independent farmers. Those farmers would show up, clear their land, start growing crops, and get together and organize counties (originally, an area small enough so that you could easily ride a horse from one end to the center and back in a day).

During this era, Tennessee was dominated by farms. In these early days, farms generally produced everything a family needed to survive (later, farms would begin specializing in one thing, such as cotton). In 1810 a typical farm might grow vegetables and tobacco and contain hogs and cattle. As towns were organized, they were more likely to contain tradesmen and skilled laborers. Cities such as Nashville and Knoxville had bigger businesses, such as foundries that produced metal and mills that turned cotton into cloth.

Most of the actual farm work, however, was not done by the farm owners but by their African-American slaves, and slavery was very much a part of Tennessee culture at that time. If you look at a Nashville newspaper from 1820, for instance, many of the ads in the paper are for slave auctions.

One of the important things to remember about Tennessee during the years between 1800 and 1840 is just how isolated it was. The only ways to get around were by boat, on foot, on horseback, or by carriage. Most of what we now call Tennessee was open territory, and if you left a town and ventured across the state you had to know what you were doing. You needed weapons in case you were attacked by a wild animal or Native American. You needed to know where you were going and how to get there, because there were no signs along the way and many barriers to travel, such as high mountains and wide rivers. And if worse came to worse you needed to know how to survive – how to do things like build a crude shelter, find water and food, and build a fire.

Tennessee was, as some might say, the “wild west.” And even if you did find an inn to spend the night in, spending the night in such a place could be a real adventure. Read the following paragraph:

“A few taverns had already appeared along the most frequently traveled routes. They were often filthy places, infested with bugs, fleas, and the itch. One might find enough coarse food and drink to meet his needs but he could not be certain of a good night’s sleep. There were few beds, and usually a bag of straw thrown on the floor was the best that could be had. If one wanted to keep warm he must carry his blanket with him. There were no private rooms and several men slept in one small room. Every traveler had a bedfellow whether he wanted one or not. There were no bathrooms in these taverns. And one could not even hope for a clean towel after he washed his face in the common bowl. The story was told of one tavern keeper who threw a guest out because he complained about the towel. Fifteen other persons had used that towel without complaining, the tavern keeper angrily explained.”
-- from The Story of Tennessee (by Parks and Folmsbee)

Assuming they made it safely and sold their cargo (for gold), the farmers or tradesmen then had to come home, and the only way back was along a road called the Natchez Trace that led all the way from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville. But robbers knew this too, which is why they frequently robbed and killed people along the Natchez Trace. Things got so bad that the trace soon became known as the “Bloody Path.”

Today parts of the Natchez Trace have been turned into a paved road, called the Natchez Trace Scenic Parkway. It is nice and smooth, nothing like the Trace would have been in the old days. But it’s a fun road to drive.

Then, in the 1790s, the steamboat was invented. In its early years steamboats weren’t too powerful, and many people weren’t sure if they'd ever be able to operate on fast-moving rivers such as the Cumberland and Tennessee. Finally, in March 1819 a steamboat made its arrival in Nashville for the first time. It was called the General Jackson.

Within a few years most of the trade that had previously been operating on flatboats had shifted to steamboats, and there were dozens of them that ran up and down the Cumberland River. No longer was it necessary to float down the river and come back home by the Natchez Trace.

The steamboat was a great invention, but its invention didn't necessarily mean that every city could be reached by them. Steamboats are big and wide, and water has to be about three to five feet deep for a steamboat to make it through. Back in those days, before dams were built up and down the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, there were many places along the river where the water wasn’t deep enough for a steamboat. A few miles northwest of Nashville, for instance, was a place called Harpeth Shoals. This area was so shallow that steamboats would frequently run aground there (which is why many steamboats would stop just below Harpeth Shoals and let all their cargo and passengers out there).