Mississippi Summary

More than any other Southern state, Mississippi embodies the very spirit of the Deep South. Nicknamed “the Magnolia State,” it cradles a legion of antebellum mansions, haunting Civil War battlefields, and vast fields of cotton. One-third of Mississippi’s population of 2,844,658 is African-American, with large numbers living in the Mississippi Delta, a region also known as “the Cotton Belt.”

During the 1960s, Mississippi fought bitterly against integration of its schools and colleges in a struggle marked by violence and murder. However, times have changed, and evidence of racial reform is reflected in the appointments of African-American representatives in state politics.

Tourism is becoming part of Mississippi’s mainstay economy. Although cotton remains king, the harvesting of rice, wheat, and soybeans has expanded the state’s agricultural base. Mississippi’s economy also relies on livestock, such as poultry, and livestock products, as well as the manufacturing of textiles, paper, and processed foods. In recent years gaming centers moored along the delta and Gulf of Mexico shorelines, as well as landbased centers, have refilled the state’s coffers.

Mississippi is the home of the blues. Some of America’s most famous bluesmen (BB King, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker) came from the state, and it is also the bir thplace of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley. The 46,914 square miles of lowlands, and coastal and river plains were once the territory of the Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples.The area was charted in 1540 by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto; the first European settlement, nearly 160 years later, was French. Mississippi became a state in 1817, but seceded to join the Confederacy in 1861.