Mississippi Has Had a Long

Mississippi has had a long and interesting history. The Mississippi River, one of the state's most notable features, was created more than 12,000 years ago, as Ice Age glaciers began to recede and carved its channel. A few thousand years later, human habitation is recorded in the Upper Mississippi. By 6,000 BC, early Mississippi inhabitants are hunting bison, in what is now known as Itasca State Park ("Chronological History"). This modest start would eventually become America's twentieth state.

Mississippi's modern history began with the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, in 1540. de Soto discovered the Mississippi River, in the spring of 1541, after wintering with the Chickasaw tribe that winter. More than 140 years pass until, in 1682, Robert Cavalier de La Salle navigated the Mississippi River to its mouth, claiming it and all the lands drained by the river, for France. Fort Maurepas, the first capital of the French colony in North America, was built in 1699, and with it the French fur trading era began ("Chronological History").

In 1716, Fort Rosalie was established. The Fort would eventually become today's city of Natchez. Thirteen years later, in 1729, the Natchez Indians massacred the French settlers at Fort Rosalie, hoping to drive all Europeans out of Mississippi. The French retaliated for the attack, and in 1732 the Natchez tribe ceased to exist ("Chronological History"). It was during the 18th century that the English and the Spanish would begin to battle over the land that would become Mississippi.

The end of the French and Indian War, in 1763, saw Mississippi, along with all French territory located east of the river, taking control of by the English. While the French relinquished control, the Spanish, however, did not give up so easily. Bernardo Galvez, the then governor of Spanish Louisiana, captured Natchez for Spain, in 1779. The Treaty of Paris gave Spain control of the southern half of Mississippi and America control of Mississippi north of the 32 degree, 28 minute parallel. However, by 1798, Spain withdrew completely from Mississippi, and the land was formally organized as an American territory, with Winthrop Sargent appointed as the first territorial governor. With this inclusion in the American territories and opening of the Mississippi river to commerce with the Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi's expansion and development continued. The Treaty of Mount Dexter and the Treaty of Fort Stephens added land to what would become Mississippi and the War of 1812 would see West Florida east of the Pearl River and South to the Gulf of Mexico added to Mississippi ("Chronological History"; Lowry & McCardle).

Finally, on December 10th, 1817, an Act of Congress made Mississippi the twentieth state of America. This would begin a period of great change for the state, that would last throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The University of Mississippi was established in 1844 (Aubrey), and in 1850 Congress gave the state 3 million acres of overflow and swamp land. Three hundred ten miles of levees were built, draining the Delta so that it could be cleared and cultivated (Lowry & McCardle). Then, in 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union. With approximately 80,000 Mississippians serving in the Confederate Army, the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9th, 1865, ending the Civil War, were dramatic events for the state ("Chronological History"). These events changed the state politically and socially.

In 1868, Mississippi's first bi-racial constitutional convention was formed. Deemed the 'Black and Tan' Convention, the new constitution drafted guaranteed the rights of ex-slaves as well as punished ex-Confederate soldiers. Voters in the state reject the Constitution. The next year, a modified version, not punishing ex-Confederate soldiers, is ratified. This paves the way for readmittance to the Union, on February 23rd, 1870 ("Chronological History"). The 20th century continued with many advancements and challenges for the state.

At the beginning of the century, the boll weevil made its appearance and, in 1907, most of Mississippi's cotton crop was lost to the pest. In 1923, only three years after securing the right to vote, two women join the Mississippi state legislature -- Senator Belle Kearny and Representative Nellie Nugent Somerville. To facilitate navigation of the Mississippi River, and to prevent flooding, Congress authorized a lock and dam system in 1930, which was completed ten years later (Lowry & McCardle). Mississippi's first sales tax went into effect in 1932, and the first oil well was brought in 1939, in Yazoo County. The 1960s saw the first black person, James Meredith, enter University of Mississippi, marking the beginning of the end to segregation in public colleges and university. This decade also saw Hurricane Camile wreak havoc on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, as well as inland areas, in 1969 ("Chronological History").