Tennessee

Tennessee is one of the most conservatives states in the United States, with evangelical Christians comprising about 50% of the electorate. Tennessee has traditionally volunteered for foreign wars at the highest rate of all the states, and is known as the "Volunteer State."

As a frontier territory in colonial America, Tennessee developed many marksmen who were skilled with rifles. When fellow Tennesseean General Andrew Jackson called for volunteers to help him fight the British in New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812, Tennessee marksmen volunteered in droves and provided the young nation of America with its most decisive victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

In 2000, Tennessee voted against its own former Senator and Vice President Democrat Al Gore, causing him to lose the presidential election by only one state. It was an example of the independent-minded Christian voters casting their ballots based on principle. This was the only time a presidential candidate has lost the election by the margin of his own home state.

Tennessee has long been one of the few states not to have an income tax, although its sales tax is one of the highest in the nation.