Jonesborough is often considered to be the center of the abolitionist movement within the states that would join the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Elihu Embree printed his publication, "The Emancipator," from Jonesborough. Publication began in 1820, making "The Emancipator" the first American periodical to be dedicated exclusively to the issue of the abolition of slavery. While Tennessee would later join the Confederacy, most east Tennesseans had Unionist leanings. They were generally subsistence farmers and held relatively few slaves compared to landowners in Middle Tennessee or the plantation areas of the Delta near the Mississippi River.