During the times of slavery, Crossville, Sand Mountain and DeKalb County, where Crossville is located, were not major slave areas. This can be verified by a study of census rolls which reveal a mostly poor area, where people worked and survived by the labor of their own hands, rather than the forced labor of captive Africans and their descendants. Leading up to the Civil War, DeKalb County was typical of Southern mountain counties in that it voted against secession from the United States. This can be corroborated by a study of the roster of the votes on this issue, county by county. In fact, there was serious discussion among Northern Alabama and East Tennessee counties about forming a proposed state of Nickajack, rather than going along with secession.