premise: Tennessee is in America.
hypothesis: 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 is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north , North Carolina to the east , Georgia , Alabama , and Mississippi to the south , and Arkansas and Missouri to the west . The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state , and the Mississippi River forms the state 's western border . Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 .