• 1682 - Claimed by the French. explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-1687) for France.
• 1714 - Charles Charleville sets up a French trading post at French Lick.
• 1769 - Daniel Boone ( 1735 - 1818 ) explores the region
• 1769 - William Bean ( 1721 - 1782 ) establishes first white settlement in Tennessee
• 1772 - A group of settlers form their own government called the Watauga Association and implement one of the first written constitutions in America
• 1775 - The Transylvania Company buys land from the Cherokees
• 1775 - Daniel Boone, working for the Transylvania Company, blazes a trail called the Wilderness Road from Virginia across the mountain at Cumberland Gap to open the land to settlement
• 1784 - 3 counties in East Tennessee form the short-lived State of Franklin, which secedes from North Carolina for 4 years
• 1796 - June 1 - Tennessee becomes a state
• 1756 - 1763 - The Seven Years War (French and Indian War) due to disputes over land is won by Great Britain. France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans. The Spanish give up east and west Florida to the English in return for Cuba.
• 1775 - 1783 - The American Revolution creates the United States of America. The Revolution was due to the British burden of taxes and total power to legislate any laws governing the American colonies
• July 4, 1776 - United States Declaration of Independence
• July 10, 1778 - France declares war against Britain and makes an alliance with the American revolutionary forces
• September 3, 1783 - The Treaty of Paris is signed by the victorious United States and the defeated Great Britain

Facts about the History of Tennessee History - The Early 1800's

• 1812 - 1815 - The War of 1812 between U.S. and Great Britain, ended in a stalemate but confirmed America's Independence

Facts about the History of Tennessee History - The American Civil War

• 1861 - 1865 The American Civil War. In 1859 John Brown raided Harpers Ferry and set in motion events that led directly to the outbreak of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected president and in 1861 the South Secedes. The initial Secession of South Carolina was followed by the secession of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War. The surrender of Robert E. Lee on April 9 1865 signalled the end of the Confederacy

• 1865 December 6 - The Abolishment of Slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S Constitution is ratified, thus officially abolishing slavery
• 1898-1901 The Spanish American War. On December 10, 1898 the Treaty of Paris the US annexes Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines.

Origin of the name

• Named after Cherokee name "Tanasi" meaning Little River