East Tennessee was poor before the Civil War, in fact all the mountain country was poor in the South prior to and after the war.

David, I couldn't say. I'm thaknful to have been born and raised in the Columbus Ohio area. I will say that when taking vacations with my mom and dad. The roads and highway we went through the middle of TN, sure were better than the ones west of Knoxville. Heck, most of those houses outside of the towns there didn't have indoor plumbing. But like I say, it's not my area of expertise. But you can't tell me that those folks in East TN and Ky, who were occupied and they were occupied by Confederate forces, had any love left over for Johnny Reb or vice a versa.