Mississippi
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Mississippi
Capital City: Jackson
State of Mississippi
History
Prior to Europeans arriving in the Mississippi area Native American tribes inhabited the area including the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Natchez, Yazoo, and the Biloxi.
The first European explorer, Hernando de Soto, led an expedition into the Mississippi territory in 1540. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville established the first European settlement, Ocean Springs (Old Biloxi) in 1699. In 1716, The major town and trading post, Fort Rosalie (later renamed Natchez) was founded on the Mississippi River in 1716. The area passed through the control of may countries including Spain, Great Britain, and France until the Mississippi area was ceded to the British following the French and Indian War by the Treaty of Paris.
On April 7, 1798 the Mississippi Territory was organized from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina. The territory was expanded twice to include disputed territory that was claimed by both the United States and Spain. In 1800-1830, land was also purchased from Native American tribes.
On December 10, 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state admitted to the Union.
In the 1850s, Mississippi cotton plantation owners of the Delta and Black Belt regions-became increasingly wealthy due to the high international price of cotton and the highly fertile soil in the region. The high disparity of wealth and the use of large populations of slaves needed to sustain such income played a great role in state politics and in the support for secession from the Union.
On January 9, 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union to join the Confederate States of America. Under the terms of Reconstruction, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union on February 23, 1870 after the Confederate States were defeated in the American Civil War.
In the 1940s, a series of restrictive racial segregation laws put in place during the early 20th century resulted in the emigration of almost half a million people, three-quarters of them black. At the same time Mississippi became the center American music traditions in the Deep South such as gospel music, country music, jazz music, blues, and rock and roll. Mississippi is also noted for its early twentieth century authors such as Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner.
Mississippi became a major focus of the American Civil Rights Movement. Through the actions of many white politicians, the involvement of many Mississippians in the White Citizens' Council movement, and the violent tactics of the Ku Klux Klan, Mississippi gained a negative reputation in the 1960s as a reactionary state.
In 1966, Mississippi became the last state to repeal prohibition. In 1995 Mississippi symbolically adopted the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.
Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg (601) 636-2199
The Military Park museum shows a film about General Grant's six-week Siege of Vicksburg and General Pemberton's desperate defense of the last Confederate bastion on the Mississippi River. More than 100,000 Gray & Blue soldiers occupied the city, overcrowding its 3000 residents, or "noncombatants," who were forced to live in hurriedly arranged cave dwellings built into the city's clay bluffs. After exploring the museum, visitors are encouraged to drive around the various battlefield sites within the park. Blue markers show Union advances, Red markers show Confederate defenses. A quick scan of the area, dotted in hundreds of red and blue markers, shows how close the enemies were and how dreadful a battle it must have been. And yet the park is so serene today. Beautiful green lawns trimmed in honeysuckle and white Japanese Pinchette bushes perfume the battlefield park in a heady smell of thick, sweet fragrance. Elegant memorial buildings and statues donated from each state, pay a special honor to this tragic time.The driving tour of the battlefield ends at the Vicksburg National Cemetery where 17,000 Union soldiers are buried, only 4,000 of whom are identified. Those whose names are known have standard gravestones, the numerous, nameless dead have just a round stub of a stone marking their final resting place.Very sad. Just beyond the National Cemetery is the USS Cairo Museum which houses the artifacts collected from the Civil War ironclad gunboat, raised in 1961, one hundred years after the it was sunk. Just outside the museum is the restored skeleton framework of the ironclad itself where visitors can walk the deck and learn, firsthand, about these incredible, "unsinkable" warships.
Vicksburg Old Courthouse Museum, Vicksburg (601) 636-0741
This exquisite pre-Civil War public building is a majestic structure that overlooks the city from Vicksburg's highest hill. Easily seen from boats on the river below, the massive building dominates the scene in many pre-Civil War illustrations and photos of Vicksburg. The interior rooms feature an ornate cast iron staircase, railings and an intricately designed judge's dais. From the clock tower of this historic building Union troops raised the Stars and Stripes on July 4, 1863, signifying the end of the 47-day siege. Having survived Grant's siege, this building where Jefferson Davis had launched his political career now houses rare Confederate artifacts such as, a never-surrendered Confederate battleflag, the inaugural tie worn by Jefferson Davis, as well as portraits, china, silver and antique furniture from the period.
Mississippi has a warm humid subtropical climate with long summers and short, mild winters.
Temperatures average about 82�F (about 28�C) in July and about 48 �F (about 9 �C) in January. The temperature varies little across the state in summer, but in winter the region near Mississippi Sound is significantly warmer than most of the rest of the state. The recorded temperature in Mississippi has ranged from -19 �F (-28.3 �C), in 1966, at Corinth in the northeast, to 115 �F (46.1 �C), in 1930, at Holly Springs in the north. Yearly precipitation generally increases from north to south. Thus, Clarksdale, in the northwest, gets about 50 inches (about 1,270 mm) of precipitation annually and Biloxi, in the south, about 61 inches. Small amounts of snow fall in northern and central Mississippi, although snow is not unheard of around the southern part of the state.
In the late summer and the fall, the state (especially the southern part) is often affected by hurricanes moving north from the Gulf of Mexico, and occasionally impacted by major hurricanes, which can be quite devastating in coastal communities. Thunderstorms are common in Mississippi, especially in the southern part of the state. On average, Mississippi has around 27 tornadoes annually with the northern part of the state more vulnerable earlier in the year and the southern part becoming more vulnerable a little later.
Economy of Mississippi
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Mississippi's total state product in 2003 was $72 billion. Per capita personal income in 2005 was $33,569, 50th in the nation (ranking includes the District of Columbia) yet the cost of living in Mississippi is one of the lowest in the country --thus this must be put in perspective. In contrast to one of the lowest per capita income rates in the United States Mississippians consistently rank as one of the highest per capita in charitable contributions.
Mississippi's rank as one of the poorest states can be traced to the Civil War. Before the war, Mississippi was the fifth-wealthiest state in the nation. Slaves were then counted as valuable property and, in Mississippi, more than half the population was enslaved; in non-slave states, human capital was not included in estimates of wealth. Further, Mississippi's antebellum wealth rank should not be compared with today's GDP rank, which is an estimate of income; wealth and income are separate concepts. The war cost the state 30,000 men. Plantation owners who survived the war were virtually bankrupted by the emancipation of slaves, and Union troops left widespread destruction in their wake.
A decision in 1990 to legalize casino gambling along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast has led to economic gains for the state. However, an estimated $500,000 per day in tax revenue was lost following Hurricane Katrina's severe damage to several coastal casinos in August 2005. Gambling towns in Mississippi include the Gulf Coast towns of Bay Saint Louis, Gulfport and Biloxi, and the Mississippi River towns of Tunica, Greenville, Vicksburg and Natchez. Before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Mississippi was the second largest gambling state in the Union, ahead of New Jersey and behind Nevada.
On October 17, 2005, Governor Haley Barbour signed a bill into law that now allows casinos in Hancock and Harrison counties to rebuild on land (but within 800 feet of the water). The only exception is in Harrison County, where the new law states that casinos can be built to the southern boundary of U.S. Route 90.
Mississippi collects personal income tax in three tax brackets, ranging from 3% to 5%. The retail sales tax rate in Mississippi is 7%. Additional local sales taxes also are collected. For purposes of assessment for ad valorem taxes, taxable property is divided into five classes.
Magnolia
In 1935 the Director of Forestry started a movement to canvas the state's schoolchildren to vote for a State Tree for Mississippi. Of the four nominations -- Magnolia, Oak, Pine and Dogwood, the Magnolia received an overwhelming majority, and on April 1, 1938 the Mississippi Legislature designated the Magnolia as the official StatTree.
Magnolia
In November 1900 the state's schoolchildren were asked to choose a State Flower. The children attacked the assignment with relish. The results were: Magnolia received 12,745 votes; Cotton Blossom came in second at 4,171 votes, and Cape Jasmine came in third carrying 2,484 votes. A few other votes were cast for other flowers, but the Magnolia was the clear winner. However, the Legislature did not officially designate the Magnolia as the State Flower until 1952.
Mockingbird
In 1944 the Mississippi Women's Federated Clubs campaigned the State Legislature to recognize the Mockingbird the official State Bird. Found in all areas of the state the cheerful Mockingbird was approved by the Legislature and named the official State Bird in 1944.
