Why did several U.S. congressmen in 1796 object to the addition of Tennessee to the Union?
A – They considered the Tennesseans to be too rowdy and uncouth, especially as evidenced by the state’s first congressman, Andrew Jackson.
B – It was an election year, and John Adams’ supporters worried its voters would tilt the nation to Jefferson.
C – A few worried the United States was stretching so far to the west to be sustainable.
D – Home of several Native American tribes, as well as site of Spanish claims, Tennessee was considered too unsettled and troublesome to join the first 15 states.
E – Some doubted the state had sufficient population to be considered a state.
Answer – B
In a manner much like the anxiety about gerrymandering today, the Federalists who supported John Adams for president, many but not all of them based in the northeast, worried that the new voters of Tennessee would favor Jefferson, and therefore chose to limit Tennessee’s electoral vote by allowing the new state only one congressman. Tennessee did favor Jefferson, but Adams won anyway.
