Editing Middle Tennessee (section)

===Exploration and colonization===
[[File:Fort Nashborough, First Ave. and Church St., Nashville, Tenn (74048).jpg|thumb|left|Postcard with an illustration of the reconstruction of [[Fort Nashborough]]]]
The first Europeans to reach what is now Middle Tennessee were probably an expedition in 1540–1541 led by Spanish conquistador [[Hernando De Soto]].{{sfn|Corlew|1981|pp=25-26}}{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|p=4-5}} By the late 17th century, the French had begun to explore the [[Cumberland River]] valley in Middle Tennessee. In 1714, a group of French traders constructed a trading post at a site along the Cumberland River in modern-day Nashville that became known as French Lick. These settlers quickly established an extensive [[fur trading]] network with the local Native Americans, but by the 1740s the settlement had largely been abandoned.{{sfn|Albright|1909|pp=18-19}} In the 1750s and 1760s, [[longhunters]] from Virginia explored much of Middle Tennessee, especially the [[Cumberland Plateau]].{{sfn|Finger|2001|pp=40-42}} In 1769, French-born fur trader [[Timothy Demonbreun]] established residence along the Cumberland River in present-day Nashville.<ref>{{cite news |last=Corradetti |first=Alex |date=June 27, 2021 |title=Exploring the Demonbreun Cave, Nashville's first residence |url=https://www.wkrn.com/tennessee-225/exploring-the-demonbreun-cave-nashvilles-first-residence/ |work=[[WKRN-TV]] |location=Nashville |access-date=December 22, 2021}}</ref>

In 1779, [[James Robertson (explorer)|James Robertson]] and [[John Donelson]] led two groups of settlers from the [[Washington District, North Carolina|Washington District]] in what is now East Tennessee to the French Lick.{{sfn|Corlew|1981|pp=53}} These settlers constructed [[Fort Nashborough]], which they named for [[Francis Nash]], a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] of the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]].{{sfn|Albright|1909|pp=49-50}} The next year, the settlers signed the [[Cumberland Compact]], which established the [[Cumberland Association]], a representative form of government based on the government known as the [[Watauga Association]] that had been established by the settlers of East Tennessee.{{sfn|Albright|1909|pp=68-72}} Fort Nashborough later developed as the city of Nashville, and a number of other settlements were established nearby in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Founding of Nashville |url=http://www.nashvillearchives.org/nashville-founding.html |website=Nashville Metropolitan Government Archives |publisher=Nashville Public Library |access-date=May 2, 2021}}</ref> The first settlements in Middle Tennessee became known as the Cumberland Settlements. In 1790, what is now Tennessee became the [[Southwest Territory]], and the settlements in Middle Tennessee were organized into the Mero District, named after Spanish territorial governor [[Esteban Rodríguez Miró]].{{sfn|Albright|1909|pp=152-154}}

In 1795, a survey conducted by the territorial legislature found that the majority of residents of Middle Tennessee were opposed to statehood, while the majority of residents of East Tennessee, of which there were approximately three times more, were in favor.{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|p=22}}{{sfn|Corlew|1981|p=95}} Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state the following year. During the [[Antebellum South|antebellum era]], a [[slavery in the United States|slavery]]-based agrarian economy took hold in Middle Tennessee, especially in the fertile soils of the [[Nashville Basin]].{{sfn|Corlew|1981|pp=209-212}} Planters primarily grew [[cotton]] in the Nashville Basin, and [[tobacco]] and [[corn]] were cultivated in the [[Highland Rim]].{{sfn|Lamon|1980|pp=9-12}} By [[1860 United States census|1860]], enslaved African Americans composed about 29% of the population of Middle Tennessee.{{sfn|Lamon|1980|p=116}} After the election of [[Abraham Lincoln]] that year, a majority of Middle Tennesseans voted against the state's ordinance of [[secession]] in February 1861. Many of these white voters supported the continuation of slavery but were skeptical about leaving the Union.