1. Mississippi Studies
Chapter 1

2. Pre-Test Get out a clean sheet of paper
Number the paper 1 through 5 and answer the following questions
What were two of the main Indian Tribes in Mississippi?
Who were the first Europeans in Mississippi?
A. Spanish B. French C. British
What is the average summer temperature in Mississippi?
A B C. 90
Which of the following is considered the coldest month in Mississippi?
A. November B. December C. January
Who discovered the Mississippi River?
A. Hernando DeSoto B. Robert de LaSalle C. D’Iberville

3. Early Mississippi History
Mississippi has a deep history or Native Americans
Many of our cities and counties have Native American names
Even the name Mississippi is derived from Indian words meaning Great River

4. Prehistoric Cultures Paleo Culture 10,000 B.C. – 8,000 B.C.
Archaic Culture 8,000 B.C. – 500 B.C.
Woodland Culture 500 B.C. – 1,000 A.D.
Mississippian Culture 1,000 A.D. – 1,600 A.D.

5. Early Mississippi History
Paleo Indians were the first people in Mississippi
It is believed they crossed the land bridge connecting Alaska and Russia
Mounds are the most visible legacy of the Native Americans
Uses: religious temples, homes, and burials
Emerald Mound in Mississippi is the 2nd largest in the US
Most Native Americans live in clans
Clan – is a group of people who are related to each other

6. Early Native Americans
Paleo
Ice Age
Earliest Americans crossed land bridge from Siberia into Alaska (and downward from there)
Archaic
Climate warmer and drier
Native Americans adjusted to climate and became less nomadic
Woodland
Highly organized societies in Mississippi and Ohio River valleys developed
Built burial mounds over tombs
Moundbuilders – lived alongside rivers and streams (see slides below)
Villages grew larger and tied together politically
Used bow and arrow

7. Mississippian
built religious buildings and the homes of chiefs on top of their flat, rectangular mounds
Choctaw connect their early history with a mound called Nanih Waiya [Na’-na Wai’-a] along the Pearl River in southeastern Winston County

8. In Natchez

9. The Temple Mound at Winterville

10. Mound sites in Mississippi
Bear Creek
Pharr
Owl Creek
Bynum
Winterville
Jaketown
Nanih Waiya
Pocahontas
Boyd
Emerald
Grand Village

11. Mississippi Tribes (tribes in red indicate the larger tribes)
CHICKASAW (north Mississippi)
TAPOSA
CHAKCHIUMA
IBITOUPA
TIOU
YAZOO
HOUMA
KOROA
TUNICA
NATCHEZ (south Mississippi)
CHOCTAW (central Mississippi)
ACOLAPISSA
BILOXI
PASCAGOULA

13. CHOCTAW Connect early history with Nanih Waiya (Winston County)
Had 25 to 30 villages and each person had a voice in government
Major crop: maize (corn)
One of three largest tribes
The only major visible tribe in Mississippi today
(Choctaw Code Talkers – Choctaw nation – not just Mississippi)

14. NATCHEZ “Great Sun” chief lived on top of mound here
Major crop: maize (corn)
One of three largest tribes

15. CHICKASAW
Major crop: maize (corn)
One of three largest tribes

16. MISSISSIPPIAN NATIVE AMERICANS
Smaller tribes: Choula, Pascagoula, Tunica, Biloxi
Larger tribes: Chickasaw, Choctaw, Natchez
Major crop: maize (corn)
Well organized and had developed ways of life that fit into
environment (HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION)
Each village included several clans (groups of related families)
Punished criminals
Protected individuals from violence
Exogamy: practice of marrying outside the clan
Polygyny: having more than one wife (occasionally,
a man in tribe had two wives)
Built villages close to streams/creeks
Religious beliefs: centered on sun and the sacred fires
(represented sun on Earth); believed in many spirits
associated with nature and animals

17. Introduced horses/hogs to America
SPANISH EXPLORERS
First to visit MS
( ) Hernando de Soto explored area searching for gold and silver
Attacked north of Mobile by Native Americans but NA did not know how to fight soldiers so were defeated
Introduced horses/hogs to America
MAIN OUTCOME: diseases spread from Spanish to Native Americans who had no immunity to them
Repeatedly attacked by Native Americans
Reached Gulf of Mexico and sailed to Mexico
Never returned

18. Visited MS after Spaniards
FRENCH EXPLORERS
Visited MS after Spaniards
Originally settled in Quebec, Canada and explored from there
1673: Louis Jolliet (trader) and Father Jacques Marquette (missionary) sailed down MS River and reached present-day site Rosedale, MS
Turned around when they realized that river flowed into Gulf and not Pacific Ocean
1682: Rene Cavelier, de La Salle, Henri de Tonti, and Father Membre traveled down MS River and claimed region for France
From 1699 to 1763, the future state of Mississippi was a part of the French colony of Louisiana.
During these years, the French explored the region, established settlements and military outposts, engaged in political and economic relations with the area’s American Indians, and sought to establish a profitable economy
Fort Maurepas – first permanent settlement in MS

19. French: built Fort Rosalie in 1716 (Natchez)

20. BRITISH MISSISSIPPI
MS officially part of province West Florida (1763) (included southern halves of Alabama and MS as well as parts of Florida)
1783 Treaty of Paris (between US and Great Britain…peace treaty of Revolutionary War): US controlled southern boundary at 31 degrees north latitude
Spain held territory south of that line (refused to give up Natchez District which was north of line)
Spain signed the Treaty of San Lorenzo (Pinckney’s Treaty) in 1795 in which it recognized the 31st parallel as the boundary between Spanish Florida and the United States.

21. SETTLEMENTS
Spain, England, and France established colonial settlements in eastern North America
First European settlement in MS – Ocean Springs
Mississippi ruled first by French, then English, and finally Spain
Mississippi Territory - after centuries of control by several European powers, the land that would become Mississippi became a part of the United States at the close of the 18th century… April 7, 1798, Congress created the Mississippi Territory

23. Mississippi Territory
Most Europeans living in the territory lived along the MS River
Natchez was the capital of the territory
By 1817 the Mississippi Territory applied for statehood
However the US Congress did not want to allow it to be a state because it was too large
As a result the split the territory
December 10, 1817 MS became the 20th state of the US

25. Mississippi’s Climate

26. Mississippi’s Climate
Climate – conditions of the atmosphere over a long period of time
Weather – conditions of the atmosphere over a short period of time
Humid subtropical climate (long hot summers; short mild winters)
Average yearly temperature is 62 degrees
Average summer temperature is 80 degrees
Average winter temperature is 48 degrees
January is the coldest month
Receives about 55 inches of rainfall a year
Because of MS’s climate agriculture is important to its economy
Growing season

31. Storms Tornadoes Funnel shaped clouds that cause massive destruction
Smith County in MS and the state of MS are the most likely places in the nation to receive a tornado
MS has more deaths from tornadoes than any other state
Tornadoes are measured on the Fujita Scale
The weather channel now also uses Tor:con

33. TOR:CON Value Descriptions
8+ Very high probability of a tornado 
6 - High probability of a tornado
4 - Moderate chance of a tornado nearby, but hail and/or high wind gusts possible
2 - Low chance of a tornado, but hail and/or high wind gusts possible
0 - Near-zero chance of a tornado or a severe thunderstorm

39. Storms
Hurricanes
Storms that form in the Atlantic Ocean with winds of at least 74 mph – 155 mph +
They are measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale using numbers 1-5
Usually called category
There have been two major hurricanes in Mississippi
Camille 1969
Katrina 2005

45. Regions
Of Mississippi

46. Six Major Regions

47. 1. Delta
A flat, alluvial plain that runs along the banks of the MS River from Memphis to Vicksburg
The soil allows for the growth of large cotton crops
Farming in the 1800s was based on Sharecropping

48. 2. Loess Hills
Their economy is based on cattle, light manufacturing, and industry

49. 3. Red Clay Hills
This area is ideal for crops especially cotton because there are few trees
Economy: trade, commerce, and industry

50. 4. Northeast Highlands
Woodall Mountain is the highest point in the state

52. 5. Piney Woods
This area was the center of the lumber and railroad industry at one time
As a result boom towns were created to provide for lumber and railroad companies
Hattiesburg and Laurel are two boom towns that are still successful today

53. 6. Gulf Coast MS has five barrier islands off the coast 1. Horn Island
The largest
Used for biological weapons testing
2. Cat Island
It got its name from the French who thought raccoons were cats
Used in WWII to train dogs for military service
Hurricane Katrina washed part of the island away
3. Deer Island
Closest to the coast
It got its name because deer escaped to the island
4. Ship Island
Hurricane Camille split the Island into two pieces
It is the only deep water harbor between the MS River and Mobile Bay

54. 6. Gulf Coast Continued 5. Petit Bois
French for Little Woods
The Mississippi Sound is the area of water between the barrier islands and the coast
The Gulf Coast was the first area to be explored and settled
Their main economic activities are fishing and tourism