The ‘hospitality state’ of the south is without a doubt Mississippi. The beautiful nature and culture of this state are often ‘underrated’. So if you are still looking for an interesting and special holiday destination, you should definitely consider Mississippi!
According to deluxesurveillance, the state of Mississippi is located in the Deep South and is named after the river of the same name that acts as a natural border in the west of the state. The capital and largest city of Mississippi is Jackson. There are approximately 3 million people living in Mississippi, of which more than 184,000 live in the capital. The people of Mississippi love crawfish. However prepared, these freshwater langoustines are available all over the state! They can be found in abundance in Mississippi and both residents and tourists eagerly take advantage of them. Touch!
Most African Americans in the US live in Mississippi. There are also Latinos and whites living there. The whites are the offspring of the European settlers who settled here such as Scots, English and Italians.
History
Before the arrival of the Europeans, Mississippi was inhabited by Indian tribes such as the Choctaw. When the first Europeans moved through the area on an expedition in the 16th century, there were foreign influences in the area for the first time. In the 17th century, several fortresses were built by the settlers. Fort Maurepas was one of the first settlements along with Fort Rosalie, now called Natchez. The area belonged to both the French and the Spaniards before being handed over to the British in the mid-18th century.
According to electronicsmatter, Mississippi was incorporated into the Union in 1817. Because of the thriving trade in cotton, the state kept getting richer. The number of slaves in the state soared in the mid-19th century that they accounted for more than half of the population. Mississippi was the second state to secede from the Union and join the Confederate. The war was won by the Union or the Northern United States. Mississippi was rejoined into the Union in 1870.
For African Americans, everyday life was a major struggle against segregation. Mississippi also passed the so-called Jim Crow Laws, which only further stimulated segregation even though they pretended to serve as an aid. These Jim Crow Laws, together with the new constitution, ensured that at the end of the 19th century African Americans no longer had the right to vote and only to promote racism. Many whites were supporters of racist movements. Lynching African Americans without a trial was a common criminal prosecution.
Partly due to racism and flooding in the early 20th century, many African Americans migrated to cities such as New York, Baltimore and Chicago. That is why Chicago is still the cradle of music genres such as jazz and blues today. Throughout the 20th century, discrimination and separatism was still an issue in Mississippi. Slavery was not officially abolished in Mississippi until 1995 when the state symbolically passed the 13th Amendment. Until then, slavery was still tolerated here.
Unlike before the war, Mississippi is today the poorest state in the US. Many African-Americans who still live there still live in the antebellum way and struggle to survive.
Geography
To the south, Mississippi borders Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. To the west is the Mississippi River, followed by Arkansas and part of Louisiana. To the east is Alabama and to the north it borders Tennessee. A large number of rivers run through Mississippi, apart from the Mississippi River itself. The Yazoo River and the Big Black River, among others, flow through the plains of the state.
Most of Mississippi is densely forested and belongs to the East Coastal Plain. The landscape is somewhat hilly with a lot of forest. You will not encounter mountains anywhere in the state; Woodall Mountain is the highest point in the Cumberland Mountains at about 800 feet. On the Gulf of Mexico to the south is a strait called the Mississippi Sound. The ‘sound’ is about 145 kilometers long and along the south side are a number of barrier islands. These belong to the Gulf Island’s National Seashore National Park.
Floods
Whoever reads the history books will soon discover that Mississippi is known for regularly flooding. This has cost the state many millions of dollars over the years. In the years after the American Civil War, when the many battles between the Union and the Confederate had severely damaged the dams. In the late 1800s, it was decided that the dams needed to be raised and hundreds of white and African American workers took on this task.
In the 1920s the dams were raised to about 6.5 meters. Even this height couldn’t keep the water out of the Mississippi lowlands. In 1927 there was talk of ‘the Great Flood’. Large parts of the state were flooded as a result. All crops and crops were destroyed by this flood and damage ran into millions of dollars.
Climate
Opposite beautiful nature is a pleasant climate. Mississippi’s location relative to the Gulf largely determines the state’s climate. It is subtropical with long summers that feel quite hot and muggy. In winter the weather is very mild and temperatures are around 10 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures reach 30 degrees Celsius in summer with peaks of around 35 degrees. The further south you go, the more humid the weather is. This is where the most rain falls every year and tropical storms can occur in summer. Hurricanes hit the area several times a year. They can be a nuisance especially on the coast. Take Hurricane Katrina, which hit Mississippi in addition to Louisiana. There were also many fatalities here and the damage in places such as Gulfport and Biloxi was considerable.
Jackson
The city of Jackson was founded in 1822. Unlike many other cities, Jackson is not located on the Mississippi River but on the Pearl River. This ensured that the development of the city started much later than with the cities located on the water. It only started after the Civil War.
Geschiedenis
Voor het stichten van de stad was Natchez de hoofdstad van het toenmalige Mississippi. Toen er begin 19de eeuw een expeditie werd ondernomen naar Jackson, wat toentertijd Parkerville heette, kwam hier verandering in. Parkerville was gesticht door een Fransman, Louis Lefleur, een handelaar die vond dat de staat nood had aan een centraal gelegen hoofdstad. Jackson dankt zijn naam aan de 7de president van de VS, Andrew Jackson, die een belangrijke slag bij New Orleans had gewonnen. Dit was in het begin van de Amerikaanse burgeroorlog.
Jackson has long been a battleground for human rights activists. This was for two reasons: it was the capital of Mississippi and a large number of African Americans living in the state began to revolt. In the 1960s, schools and universities contributed to the elimination of segregation. The so-called Tougaloo College has been granted Civil Rights Trail status by the National Park Service because it has gone to great lengths to combat discrimination.
Climate
The climate in which the city finds itself is generally subtropical. Summers are humid and hot and winters are mild. There is no period in which rainfall is worse than in other periods, but in summer the area is prone to thunderstorms and hail.
Several National Parks
Mississippi is the proud owner of multiple National Park Service properties. In Vicksburg, Natchez and Tupelo you will find historic monuments related to the American Civil War and to the south are the beautiful barrier islands of the Gulf Island National Seashore.
Gulf Island National Seashore
Off the coast of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida is a National Park consisting of barrier islands. The preservation of these islands is important to the US, both historically and ecologically. The islands off the coast of Alabama are not part of the National Park, the National Park Service concluded. This, despite previous speculation that they would be part of it.
On the Mississippi side of the ‘park’ are beautiful beaches and several places of historical importance in American culture. The islands off the Mississippi coast are different from the islands on the Florida side. For example, you can only reach them by boat, while the Florida islands can be reached by car.
There are also many different animal species and the nature is very typical for this part of the south. On the islands of Petit Bois and Horn, an area of a few square kilometers of extra protected Gulf Islands Wilderness is called. In the 1970s, the islands were placed under the protection of the National Park Service. Gulf Islands Wilderness was designated an Additional Protected Area in 1978.
Do you want to start or end your holiday in an active way? Then you really have to go here! It is possible to camp on the islands on the designated ‘camping grounds’. There is plenty of entertainment on the islands; how about undisturbed walking or ‘biking’ through the beautiful nature? In the so-called ‘bayou’s’, streams, you can fish or take boat trips. On the islands you can also participate in a guided program where a park ranger shows you the way, perhaps very instructive!
The beautiful beaches of the barrier islands are the perfect place to relax in summer. West Ship Island is a place where the water rats among us can swim to their heart’s content. Of course you can also take a boat trip around the islands. Definitely so much fun!
