Tennessee is an American state.
The National Black Caucus of State Legislators ( also known as the NBCSL ) is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to state legislatures in the United States of America and its territories . Tennessee ( [ tɛnᵻˈsiː ] ) ( [ ᏔᎾᏏ , translit = Tanasi ] ) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States . Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1 , 1796 . Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 .