From Choctaw to King Cotton: The State of Mississippi
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By :
Art Gib
Submitted
2008-11-21 05:57:47 |
Like those of much of the rest of the Americas, Mississippi's earliest inhabitants predate recorded history. We know little about the first Mississippians, except that they settled along the river--from which the state derives its name, it simply meaning, "Great River"--and developed flourishing agriculturally-based societies. From these predecessors spring some of the more familiar tribes: the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Natchez, and so on.
Enter the Europeans. Among the first Europeans to scope out the territory were Hernando De Soto and his crew when they passed through on their way eastward in 1540. It was a part of the vast expanse of territory claimed by the Spanish on the North American continent. However, with the Spaniards concentrating on obtaining resources from Mexico, Central, and South America, it is unsurprising that the first European settlement originated with French colonials, who had named nearby Louisiana part of, "New France."
Thus, it came under French rule, so when the British triumphed in the French and Indian War, some of Mississippi's territory was ceded to Great Britain. In turn, when the patriots succeeded in the American Revolution, that territory became part of the United States.
Mississippi continued to grow as more land was acquired through a variety of ways. The territory was first organized by redrawing the borders of Georgia and South Carolina. There were some conflicts over areas Spain claimed to still own by rights (although they had neglected to fully oversee its operation by way of viceroyalty or other colonial government). Through treaties and purchases, land was acquired from local Native Americans until the state spanned the area we know now. Mississippi officially entered the Union in December of 1817 as the twentieth state.
In the 1850s, the market for cotton soared around the globe. During the Civil War, plantations in the South were producing up to 75% of the world's cotton supply, and Mississippi in particular profited from this. The soil in the Mississippi River Delta and the Black Belt region made it possible for planters to gain tremendous profits during this era when cotton was in such high demand.
In the years following the Civil War, people began to realize how vastly under-populated the state was; nine-tenths of its territory remained wilderness. Enterprising opportunists came in their tens of thousands to clear land and work toward ownership. This provided newly freed African Americans, among others, economic opportunities that they might not have had in other states, where much of the good farming land had been claimed. By the opening of the twentieth century, about two-thirds of land-owning farmers were African American.
With its deep roots sinking into the fertile soil surrounding the, "Great River," Mississippi's story has always been influenced by the conditions of its agriculture. |
Author Resource:-
To sink your own roots into this opportunity-rich state, visit Remax Mississippi (http://www.remax-mississippi.com/mississippi-real-estate.aspx), the leaders in professional designation, to find out about Mississippi homes for sale. Art Gib is a freelance writer.
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