The Making of the 50 States: Mississippi

 

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Part 2: The Rest of the Story Mississippi Territory

The first governor of the Mississippi Territory was Winthrop Sargent, in 1798. The first territorial capital was Natchez.

The territory moved the capital to Washington in 1802. Also in 1802, Andrew Marschalk began publishing the Mississippi Herald newspaper.

The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 proved a great boon for transportation and exploration along the Mississippi River. Travel increased overnight all along the river, bringing new people and new money to the areas.

Although tobacco was the main cash crop early on, the land in the Mississippi area was ideal for growing cotton. Eli Whitney's cotton gin was introduced in the Natchez area in 1795. In the early 1800s, the territory was the country's top cotton producer.

The Mississippi Territory was active in the War of 1812. General Andrew Jackson arrived in Natchez in 1813 to defend the Gulf Coast against British incursions there. Jackson won a major battle in the Creek War, a struggle against Native Americans, in 1814, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The American victory ended the war and resulted in the cession of 23 million acres of land to the U.S. Present-day Alabama was part of this cession.

Mississippi state seal

A group of concerned citizens met at the home of John Ford on the lower Pearl River, in what is now Sandy Hook, in 1816; the result was an official plea for statehood for the Mississippi Territory.

On December 10, 1817, the western half of the Mississippi Territory became Mississippi, the 20th state to enter the Union. (The eastern half became the Alabama Territory.)

First page > In the Beginning > Page 1, 2

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