What is the home state to various NFL Hall of Famers and the King of Rock and Roll? One may think the men are from the Sunshine State or the Peach State. However, these successful men are from the Magnolia State. Mississippi’s rich and interesting history shapes the Magnolia State into what it is today.
Before the Mississippi was discovered by Europeans, Native Americans inhabited the land. There were three ethnic groups of Native Americans living in the land which would one day become Mississippi: The Natchez, the Choctaws, and the Chickasaws. The Natchez Indians were known for worshipping the Sun (Fant 9). The Choctaw Indians lived in South Mississippi while the Chickasaw Indians lived in the northern part of Mississippi (Fant 7). Choctaw Indians and Chickasaw Indians had a rivalry. Within the rivalry, Choctaws and Chickasaws fought one another (Fant 7). Also, the Choctaw Indians had a culture of crushing the heads of young children (Fant 10). In return, the children’s heads became flat. European explorer Hernando de Soto discovered Mississippi in 1540 during the winter time (“Mississippi”). Because he could not find gold or silver, de Soto left Mississippi and went somewhere else to look for gold (“Mississippi”). One hundred and fifty-nine years later, Pierre le Moyne d’Iberville claimed part of the Mississippi Valley for France in a French expedition (“Mississippi”). Pensacola was the French colony that d’Iberville established (Fant 31). The French settlers interacted with the Native Americans. The two groups traded together, and the French gained fur within the trade (Fant 33).
In 1792, the Natchez Indians killed the French people who settled near them (“Timeline”). This is now known as the Natchez Massacre. In re...
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... A School Reader. Mississippi Publishing Company, 1922. Print.
Marszalek, John, and Clay Williams. “Mississippi Soldiers in the Civil War.” ms.historynow.mdah.state.ms.us. Mississippi Historical Society, 2009. Web. 12 November 2013.
“Mississippi Fun Facts.” mississippiscv.org. Sons of Confederate Veterans, 2011. Web. 16 September 2013.
Petersen, Jennifer. “Mississippi’s History.” Let’s Take A Look at Mississippi. Great Neck Publishing, 2010: 7. Magnolia Database. Web. 26 August 2013.
“Timeline.” worldatlas.com. World Atlas. Web. 26 August 2013.
Sansing, David. “Governors of Mississippi From 1817 to Present.” ms.historynow.mdah.state.ms.us. Mississippi Historical Society, 2013. Web. 12 November 2013.
Sansing, David. “Mississippi.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 26
August 2013.
Watts, Chris. Personal interview. 5 September 2013.
The article, “The Negro’s Civil War in Tennessee, 1861-1865” by Bobby L. Lovett, can be found in "The Journal of Negro History. Lovett's article relates the importance of the contributions the black soldiers of Tennessee made during the Civil War. He portraits to the reader the determination of these black Tennesseans fight to gain their freedom under some extremely violent and racial conditions.
Carter, Dan T. Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007. Print.
Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a
...Stuart." The Journal of Southern History 69, no. 1 (2003): 188-189. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30039884 (accessed November 14, 2013).
When the Europeans first migrated to America, they didn’t know much about the ancestral background of the different types of the Indian tribes that were settled in Virginia and along the East Coast. Many of the Indian tribes became hostile towards the colonist because the colonists were interfering with their way of life. This lead the natives to attempt to destroy the frontier settlements. Many forts in this area were erected to protect the settlers and their families. One the historical land...
I have lived in Mississippi all my life and have had an opportunity to travel throughout the state. In doing so, I have observed several things that will important in this discussion. They are the music, the people, and the resources.
The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...
McPherson, James M.; The Atlas of the Civil War. Macmillan: 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY. 1994.
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
The years 1840 to 1890 were a period of great growth for the United States. It was during this time period that the United states came to the conclusion that it had a manifest destiny, that is, it was commanded by god to someday occupy the entire North American continent. One of the most ardent followers of this belief was President James K. Polk. He felt that the United States had the right to whatever amount of territory it chose to, and in doing this the United States was actually doing a favor for the land it seized, by introducing it to the highly advanced culture and way of life of Americans. Shortly after his election he annexed Texas. This added a great amount of land to the United States, but more was to follow. The Oregon Territory became a part of the United States is 1846, followed by the Mexican Cession in 1848 and the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. At this point the United States had accomplished its manifest destiny, it reached from east to west, from sea to shining sea. Now that the lands it so desired were finally there, the United States faced a new problem- how to get its people to settle these lands so they would actually be worth having. Realistically, it is great to have a lot of land, but if the land is unpopulated and undeveloped, it really isn't worth much. And the government of the United States knew this. One of the reasons that many did not choose to settle there immediately was that the lands were quite simply in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by mountains, inhabited by hostile Indians, and poor for farming. Because of these geographical conditions, the government was forced to intervene to coax its citizens into settling the new lands. Basically the lands were not settled because they were available, they were settled because of various schemes the government concocted to make them seem desirable.
Sacher, John M. "Louisiana." Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. Ed. Paul Finkelman. Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2006. 305-307. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Christopher, J. Political Culture and Secession in Mississippi: Masculinity, Honor, and the Antiparty Tradition, 1830–1860. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Not known to many, the genre of rock music originated from gospel music sung on the slave plantations in early Mississippi. A common musical device used in rock music is known as “call and response”. This is where the singer sings the line and everyone else involved in the chorus repeats that line. This came from slaves working in the fields and singing songs to get through the day. Theses hymns are fondly referred to as “negro spirituals”. In Anne Moody’s novel, Coming of Age in Mississippi we revisit African Americans in Mississippi struggling not through slavery, but through the oppression of the Civil Rights Era. At the same plantation but in a different time, Jim crow has made life almost impossible for blacks to get by in the South. In a country were all men were created equal, laws were put in place to ensure that blacks could never achieve equality. Through Anne Moody’s work and through the work of musical artists Johnny Cash, and Nas, we will discover just how far we may or may not have come.
Mississippi- a birth place of the blues music. Blues were born in the Mississippi Delta as a call-and response lyrical pattern “sorrow” slave songs and haunting “field hollers” (Wilson). First introduction of blues was in 1912 when a black composer W.C. Andy recorded “The Memphis Blues” which later became popular in 1914. But it was in the twenties, that nation got the craze of blues when singers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith recorded classic blues with jazz bands. While Blues falls into its own category, there are many different kinds of blues. Early emerging were Delta Blues and Chicago Blues. Three early pioneer of Delta Blues were Eddie “Son” House, Bukka White, and Big Joe Williams. During the great depression many African-Americans migrated towards the north giving Blues a new identity with the advent of the electric guitar – Chicago Blues. Then in 1960’s and 70’s Blues increasingly merged with rock music. American culture started to wake up to racism and discrimination. People started looking and experiencing the African-American culture in earnest and music was one part of it. Blues also helped in the development of Rock-N-Roll. It may have been just a form of expression in its infancy, but it became an identity for African-Americans for deca...
Barnett, James. The Natchez Indians: A History to 1735. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press (2007).