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      • The Civil War and Reconstruction
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      • Tennessee Transforms
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      • Painting the Smokies
      • Tennessee at 225
      • STARS: Elementary Art Exhibition 2022
      • Early Expressions: Art in Tennessee Before 1900
      • In Search of the New: Art in Tennessee Since 1900
      • Why Do Museums Collect
    • Online Exhibitions
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      • Ratified! Statewide!
      • Canvassing Tennessee: Artists and Their Environments
    • Past Exhibitions
      • Best of Tennessee Craft
      • Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote
      • Tennessee and the Great War: A Centennial Exhibition
      • Cordell Hull: Tennessee's Father of the United Nations
      • Lets Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food
      • The State of Sound: Tennessee’s Musical Heritage
      • Red Grooms: A Retrospective
      • Between The Layers: Art and Story in Tennessee Quilts
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      • The Life of a Civil War Soldier
      • The Three Rs of Reconstruction: Rights, Restrictions and Resistance.
      • The Lives of Three Tennessee Slaves and Their Journey Towards Freedom
      • Understanding Women's Suffrage: Tennessee's Perfect 36
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      • The Modern Movement for Civil Rights in Tennessee
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Permanent Exhibitions

Forging a Nation

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Forging a Nation

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Forging a Nation (1760 to 1860)

The period from 1760 to 1860 was a time of almost unimaginable change. Through artifacts, film, and images, discover how settlers moved into the land that became the 16th state, and how Southeastern Indians resisted. Exhibits highlight the challenges and achievements of everyday Tennessee women and men, free and enslaved, who built communities across the Three Grand Divisions. This gallery also features artifacts that explore the lives of Tennessee leaders who shaped the future of the young United States, such as Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, David Crockett, and Sam Houston.

Artifact highlights include a complete print-shop and cutaway log cabin that provide a glimpse into the lives of early settlers. A rare 13-star United States flag is displayed with an exhibit on the role of Tennesseans in the Revolutionary War. War of 1812 artifacts include an American light artillery uniform coat, a sword that belonged to John Coffee who served as one of General Andrew Jackson’s commanders, and a mold used by enslaved workers at a Dickson County iron furnace to make cannonballs for General Jackson’s army. The hat that Jackson wore at his 1829 presidential inauguration, a guitar that belonged to Houston’s wife, Eliza, and a snuffbox given to Crockett by Henry Clay are just a few examples of other significant artifacts.

Conestoga Wagon

Frontier Cabin

Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears

Frontier Cabin

Slave Rental Bond

Slavery in Tennessee

Slavery in Tennessee

Installation of "Gathering of the Overmountain Men at Sycamore Shoals" by Lloyd Branson

Order No. 10

Trail of Tears

Jackson Legacy

Broken Treaties Interactive

Slavery in Tennessee

Slavery In Tennessee

Slavery in Tennessee

Slavery in Tennessee

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Slavery in Tennessee

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson Inauguration Hat

Cost of Goods in Early-to-Mid-19th century

Changing Rights in Tennessee

 

David Nolen's 1780 powder horn.

John Robertson's moccasins.

Frontier Print Shop in the Forging a Nation Gallery.

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