Skip to content
Tennessee Encyclopedia Logo
  • Home
  • About
    • This Land Called Tennessee
    • Foreword
    • Acknowledgments
    • Authors
    • Staff Members
    • Supporters
  • Categories
  • Objects
    • Entries
    • Images
    • Interactives
  • Contact
    • Suggest A Topic
    • Corrections
  • Donate
  • Browse Site »
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
  • 0-9

Law

Andrews v. State

The case of Andrews v. State is the single most important case regarding the right to bear arms under the Tennessee State Constitution. Article I, Section 26 of the constitution provides "That the citizens of this State have a right…

Ashwander et al. v. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

On February 17, 1936, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes delivered the principal opinion in this 8-1 ruling on the constitutionality of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) after dissenting stockholders in the Alabama Power Company challenged TVA's right…

Baker v. Carr

This case, filed by urban voters against the Tennessee Secretary of State and Attorney General in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee, was one of the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren's most important decisions. After the…

Birch, Adolpho A.

Adolpho A. Birch, a pioneering African American jurist, became the first black man to hold several judicial posts in Nashville and the first to assume the chief justice position of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Birch was born in Washington, D.C.,…

Bomar Jr., James Lafayette

James Lafayette Bomar Jr., a lawyer from Bedford County, Tennessee, served his state as a congressman, senator, and lieutenant governor; he then extended his commitment to service to the global community through his involvement in Rotary International. Bomar was a…

Burch Jr., Lucius E.

Lucius E. Burch Jr., attorney, conservationist, and civil rights advocate, was born on a large farm outside Nashville on January 25, 1912, the son of Dr. Lucius E. Burch and Sarah Cooper Burch. He was descended from a long line…

Campbell, Judge David

Judge David Campbell, State of Franklin official and early territorial and state judge, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1750. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, attaining the rank of major. After the war, circa…

Catron, John

John Catron served as first chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court and later as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was probably born in Virginia in the mid-1780s and received a meager education in the common schools…

Clinton Desegregation Crisis

A series of events from 1947 to 1958 placed the Civil Rights story of Clinton, the seat of Anderson County, on the national stage as one of the starting points in the modern Civil Rights movement. With the end of…

Cooper v. State

An important ruling on the concept of self-defense resulted from one of the most famous murder trials in Tennessee history. On November 9, 1908, Robin Cooper shot and killed Edward W. Carmack in downtown Nashville. Cooper was the son of…

Cumberland Compact

Richard Henderson, land speculator and representative for North Carolina on the western Virginia/North Carolina survey team, drew up the Cumberland Compact in 1780. Signed on May 1, 1780, by 250 men of the new Cumberland settlement, it served as a…

Cumberland University Law School

The "Lebanon Law School" opened its first term in October 1847 as the first school of law in the Old Southwest. Professor Abraham Caruthers was soon joined by state Supreme Court Justice Nathan Green Sr., his son Nathan Jr., and…

Daughtrey, Martha Craig

Martha Craig Daughtrey, attorney, law professor, and judge, was born on July 21, 1942, in Covington, Kentucky. She received a B.A. (cum laude) from Vanderbilt University in 1964 and graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1968. Her academic…

Disfranchising Laws

In 1889 the Tennessee General Assembly passed four acts of self-described electoral reform that resulted in the disfranchisement of a significant portion of African American voters as well as many poor white voters. The timing of the legislation resulted from…

Dueling

Dueling, defined as private combat governed by formal rules, was a manifestation of the romantic spirit that once existed in the South. A relic of feudalism, the duel was popularized among rank-conscious southern gentry by European officers who participated in…

Evans v. McCabe

The Tennessee Supreme Court decision in Evans v. McCabe (1932) held that the Tennessee Constitution prohibits the state from enacting and collecting a tax on income earned within the state. (1) L. C. Evans, a Nashvillian who owned a farm…

Ford v. Ford

This significant decision of the Tennessee Supreme Court provides a valuable understanding of the Tennessee judiciary's peculiar relationship with the institution of slavery. The case arose after the death in 1842 of Loyd Ford of Washington County. Ford, a yeoman…

Fortas, Abe

Abe Fortas, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, was born in Memphis, the son of an English-born Orthodox Jew and cabinetmaker. While attending high school, Fortas worked nights at a shoe store and also earned money playing the…

Grainger v. State

This Tennessee Supreme Court decision addressed one of the most controversial homicide cases of the nineteenth century. The case involved a conflict between two men--Grainger and Broach--who had been drinking at a tavern. The two parted on seemingly good terms,…

Green, Nathan

Nathan Green, noted Tennessee Supreme Court judge, was born on May 16, 1792, in Amelia County, Virginia, the son of planter Thomas Green. The young Green left his home state and relocated to Tennessee, settling first in Winchester and later…

Page 1 of 41234»

Explore This Category

  • Entries (70)
  • Images (0)
  • Interactives (0)

Categories

  • African-American
  • Agriculture
  • Architecture
  • Arts
  • Civil Rights
  • Civil War
  • Commerce
  • Conservation
  • County History
  • Culture
  • Education
  • Event
  • Geography and Geology
  • Industry
  • Institution
  • Journalism
  • Labor
  • Law
  • Literature
  • Medicine
  • Military
  • Music
  • Native American
  • People
  • Place
  • Politics
  • Preservation
  • Primary City
  • Recreation
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Settlement
  • Social
  • Sports
  • Suffrage
  • Thematic Essay
  • Transportation
  • Women

  • 305 Sixth Ave. North
  • Nashville, TN 37243
  • (615) 741-8934
  • Monday – Friday
  • 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Online Edition © 2002 ~ 2018, The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee. All Rights Reserved.

Functionality and information are in compliance with guidelines established by the American Association for State and Local History for online state and regional encyclopedias.

© 2018 Tennessee Historical Society | Built by R.Squared with eCMS WP
Close Sliding Bar Area

Popular Entries

  • Lamar Alexander
  • Daniel Boone
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • Civil War
  • Civil War Occupation
  • Columbia Race Riot, 1946
  • Alfred Leland Crabb
  • Cumberland Furnace
  • John Bartlett Dennis
  • J.R. "Pitt" Hyde III

Popular Images

  • Adelicia Acklen
  • Andrew Johnson
  • Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
  • Cordell Hull
  • Dolly Parton
  • National Campground
  • Opry House And Opryland Hotel
  • Shelby County
  • The Emancipator
  • Walking Horse National Celebration

Recent Updates

  • "Tennessee" Ernie Ford
  • 101St Airborne Division
  • Aaron Douglas
  • Beth Halteman Harwell
  • William Edward Haslam
  • The Patrons of Husbandry
  • World War I
  • Worth, Inc.
  • Zion Presbyterian Church
  • Felix Kirk Zollicoffer