The area known as "Nickajack" generally refers to the rugged Appalachian foothills in East Tennessee and northeastern Alabama.

Small groups of Shawnee and Creek lived and fought with them, in addition to occasional bands of Muskogee, who also served as allies.

In the period leading up to the American Civil War, there had been increasing talk of secession by politicians representing the interests of wealthy planters who had large cotton plantations in the Black Belt.

Citizens in the more mountainous regions of North Alabama and East Tennessee, where slave ownership was less common, often favored the Union.

The area's reputation as the Free State of Winston persists; Harper Lee mentioned it in her bestselling novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

[citation needed] Ultimately, the Alabama Ordinance of Secession was passed by a vote of 61 to 39, split along geographic lines.