The
Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the
UnionThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the
state of MississippiThe state of Mississippi's history goes back beyond American statehood to ancient Native American times.-Native Americans:At the end of the last Ice Age Native American or Paleo-Indians appeared in what today is the South. Paleo Indians in the South were hunter-gatherers who pursued the mega fauna...
.
The Mississippi Territory was expanded in 1804 and again in 1812 until it extended from the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
to the southern border of
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. (Georgia gave up the northern portion in 1802, and the Gulf Coast region was acquired from
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.) Originally Mississippi Territory included what is now
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, and 9 months before
MississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
was admitted into the Union in 1817, the
Alabama TerritoryThe Territory of Alabama was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 15, 1817, until December 14, 1819, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alabama.-History:...
to the east was separated out on March 3.
On December 10, 1817,
MississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
was admitted to the Union as the 20th state.
The Mississippi Territory was organized in 1798 from land that had been disputed by the U.S. and Spain until Spain ceded its claim with the Treaty of Madrid initially signed between the two countries representatives in 1795. This area extended from
31° NThe 31st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 31 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean.Part of the border between Iran and Iraq is defined by the parallel....
latitude to 32°28' North, or approximately the southern half of the present states of
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and
MississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
.
The state of
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
maintained a claim over almost the entire area of the present states of Alabama and Mississippi (from
31° NThe 31st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 31 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean.Part of the border between Iran and Iraq is defined by the parallel....
to
35° NThe 35th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 35 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean....
) until it surrendered its claim in 1802 following the
Yazoo land scandalThe Yazoo land scandal, Yazoo fraud, Yazoo land fraud, or Yazoo land controversy was a massive fraud perpetrated from 1794 to 1803 by several Georgia governors and the state legislature. They sold large tracts of land in what is now the state of Mississippi to political insiders at very low prices...
. Two years later, Congress extended the boundaries of the Mississippi Territory to include all of the Georgia cession.
The final boundary between Georgia and Mississippi Territory was defined to follow the
Chattahoochee RiverThe Chattahoochee River flows through or along the borders of the U.S. states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of...
north from the border with Spanish Florida. However the Chattahoochee's upper course veers northeast, deep into Georgia. So the boundary was defined to follow the river until it turned northeast, and then to follow a straight line north to the 35th parallel (whose role in state borders dates back to the split of North and South Carolina in 1730). The line was not run straight north but rather angled to meet the northern border of the territory one-third of the way west, leaving the other two-thirds for two future states (Alabama and Mississippi—though their angled boundary ended up stopping at the Tennessee River).
In 1812, the United States annexed to the Mississippi Territory the
Mobile DistrictThe Mobile District was an administrative region of the Spanish territory of West Florida, which became part of the independent Republic of West Florida on September 23, 1810. The region was bounded in the north by the 31st parallel, in the south by the Gulf of Mexico, in the east by the Perdido...
of
West FloridaWest Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
, claiming that it was included in the
Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
, although Spain disputed this and maintained its claim over the area. In the following year, General
James WilkinsonJames Wilkinson was an American soldier and statesman, who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but was twice compelled to resign...
occupied this district with a military force, the Spanish commandant offering no resistance. This annexation gave to Mississippi Territory the coast of the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
between the
Perdido RiverThe Perdido River is a river in the U.S. states of Alabama and Florida. The river forms part of the boundary between the two states along nearly its entire length and drains into the Gulf of Mexico...
and the
Pearl RiverThe Pearl River is a river in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Louisiana. It forms in Neshoba County, Mississippi from the confluence of Nanih Waiya and Tallahaga creeks. It is long. The Yockanookany and Strong rivers are tributaries. Northeast of Jackson, the Ross Barnett Reservoir is formed by...
(comprising what is now part of Alabama).
On March 3, 1817, the Mississippi Territory was divided, when the western portion became the state of Mississippi, and the eastern became the
Alabama TerritoryThe Territory of Alabama was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 15, 1817, until December 14, 1819, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alabama.-History:...
, with
St. StephensSt. Stephens is an unincorporated census-designated place in Washington County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 495. Located near the Tombigbee River in the southwestern part of the state, it is composed of two distinct sites: Old St. Stephens and New St. Stephens....
, on the
Tombigbee RiverThe Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. It is one of two major rivers, along with the Alabama River, that unite to form the short Mobile River before it empties into Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico...
, as the temporary seat of government.
Congress delineated the boundary between Mississippi and Alabama by dividing the territory into approximately equal sized parts, similar in size to Georgia. The agriculturally productive lands were divided by a straight line running south from the northwest corner of
Washington CountyWashington County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. The county was named in honor of George Washington, first President of the United States of America. As of 2010, the population was 17,581. Its county seat is Chatom. Washington County is a dry county.-History:The area was long inhabited...
(as it was defined at the time) to the Gulf of Mexico. The border north of this point was angled eastward in order to keep Mississippi and Alabama roughly equal in size. At its northern end this angled border follows a short section of the
Tennessee RiverThe Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
. Congress chose this boundary because if the straight line had been run all the way to the Tennessee border Mississippi would have jurisdiction over a small piece of hilly land cut off from the rest of the state by the wide Tennessee River.
Settlement
The attraction of vast amounts of high quality, inexpensive cotton land attracted hordes of settlers, mostly from Georgia and the Carolinas and from tobacco areas of Virginia and North Carolina at a time when growing tobacco barely made a profit. From 1798 through 1820 the population soared from less than 9,000 to more than 222,000. Migration came in two fairly distinct waves - a steady movement until the outbreak of the War of 1812 and a flood from 1815 through 1819. The postwar flood was caused by various factors including high prices for cotton, the elimination of Indian titles to much land, new and improved roads, and the acquisition of new direct outlets to the Gulf of Mexico. The first migrants were traders and trappers, then herdsmen, and finally farmers. The Southwest frontier produced a relatively democratic society.
Cotton
After 1800 the development of a cotton economy in the South changed the economic relationship of native Indians with whites and slaves in Mississippi Territory. As Indians ceded their lands to whites, they became more isolated from whites and blacks. A great wave of public sales of former Indian land plus white migration (with slaves) into Mississippi Territory guaranteed the dominance of the developing cotton agriculture.
Government
William C. C. Claiborne (1775–1817), a lawyer and former Democratic-Republican Congressman from Tennessee (1797–1801), was governor and superintendent of Indian affairs in the Mississippi Territory from 1801 through 1803. Although he favored acquiring some land from the Choctaw and Chicasaw, Claiborne was generally sympathetic and conciliatory toward Indians. He worked long and patiently to iron out differences that arose, and to improve the material well-being of the Indians. He was also partly successful in promoting the establishment of law and order, as when his offering of a two thousand dollar reward helped destroy a gang of outlaws headed by Samuel Mason (1750–1803). His position on issues indicated a national rather than regional outlook, though he did not ignore his constituents. Claiborne expressed the philosophy of the Republican Party and helped that party defeat the Federalists. When a smallpox epidemic broke out in the spring of 1802, Claiborne's actions resulted in the first recorded mass vaccination in the territory and saved Natchez from the disease.
David HolmesDavid Holmes was the last governor of the Mississippi Territory and the first governor of the State of Mississippi.-Career:...
was the last governor of the Mississippi Territory, 1809-17. Holmes was generally successful in dealing with a variety of matters, including expansion, land policy, Indians, the
War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, and the constitutional convention of 1817 (of which he was elected president). Often concerned with problems regarding West Florida, he had a major role in 1810 in negotiations which led to the peaceful occupation of part of that territory. McCain (1967) concludes that Holmes' success was not based on brilliance, but upon kindness, unselfishness, persuasiveness, courage, honesty, diplomacy, and intelligence.
The eastern half of the Mississippi Territory was labeled the
Tombigbee DistrictThe Tombigbee District, also known as the Tombigbee settlements, was one of two areas, the other being the Natchez District, that were the first to be colonized by British subjects from the Thirteen Colonies and elsewhere in what was West Florida and later became the Mississippi Territory...
and later Washington County. Ignored by the territorial government, the inhabitants were beset by hostile neighbors, militant Indians, and the usual frontier problems of land claims and establishment of law. Solutions to these difficulties came slowly, and were not completely resolved when the territory gained statehood as part of Alabama in 1819.
Law
Contrary to the theory that the abundance of land would create distinctly American democratic institutions, English common law dominated the development of the judicial system in the Mississippi Territory. The citizenry considered the laws imposed by Winthrop Sargent, the territory's Yankee governor, as repressive and unconstitutional. 'Sargent's Code,' however unpopular, established the first court system for the territory and served as the precedent for later revisions. An 1802 judiciary act considerably simplified the court system. Several judicial reorganization acts followed in 1805, 1809, and 1814, though a modified form of Sargent's county court system and the considerable power held by judges continued. While the credentials of the members of the first territorial court were questionable, the quality of judges in later courts steadily grew. Recounts the tenures of several of the territorial court's judges.
Religion
While the Catholic Church was active along the coast, Protestant religious activities began inland in the Mississippi Territory after 1799. Free thought, skepticism, deism or indifference to religion were characteristic of the wealthy planters and land speculators, as newcomers were far more interested in seeking riches in this world than in the next. Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians formed the three leading denominations in the territory. Protestant ministers won converts, often promoted education, and had some influence in improving the treatment of slaves.
War of 1812
The people of the Mississippi Territory demanded entry into
war with Britain in 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. By 1810 belief in the national policy of economic coercion was waning in the Southwest, while desire for unrestricted trade as well as for vindication of national honor was rising, intermingled with desire for Spanish Florida. Problems of land claims, Indians, internal improvements, and statehood issues continued, however, to excite more local interest than the coming of war. Most saw no conflict between war issues and local interests; in fact, some foresaw war as a way of resolving certain local problems.
Following a successful attack on a white expedition at the Battle of Burnt Corn, the
Red SticksRed Sticks is the English term for a traditionalist faction of Creek Indians who led a resistance movement which culminated in the outbreak of the Creek War in 1813....
, a hostile faction of the Creeks, determined to attack and destroy
Fort MimsThe Fort Mims massacre occurred on 30 August 1813, when a force of Creek people, belonging to the "Red Sticks" faction under the command of Peter McQueen and William Weatherford "Red Eagle", his cousin by marriage, killed hundreds of settlers, mixed-blood Creeks, and militia at Fort Mims...
in the eastern part Mississippi Territory. Poor scouting, an attack at noon when most of the garrison was eating, seizure of the port holes by the Indians, and inability to close the main gates were all elements in the defeat on 30 August 1813. Of the 275 to 300 whites and half-breeds in Fort Mims at the time of the attack, between 20 and 40 escaped; therefore, around 247-260 whites, half-breeds and friendly Indians were killed in the battle. Creek losses were at least 100 killed. The massacre had significant short- and long-range implications. Immediately, the fall of the fort started a major Indian war in the South that resulted in a substantial build-up of American forces in the area - which probably prevented the British from occupying an undefended Gulf Coast in 1814. More important, the relationships between Americans and the Southern Indians drastically changed. The Creeks, who had been living peacefully and in close contact with the settlers of the Mississippi Territory, lost more than half their land, and within 20 years had to move west of the Mississippi. Brigadier General Ferdinand L. Claiborne, commander of the Mississippi militia, was not to blame for the massacre, but Major Daniel Beasley was guilty of gross negligence. At the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814) on March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian allies under General
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
defeated the Red Sticks, killing most of the warriors and sending the rest fleeing to Florida where they joined the
SeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
tribe.
Further reading
- Guice, John D. W. "The Cement of Society: Law in the Mississippi Territory," Gulf Coast Historical Review 1986 1(2): 76-99
- Hatfield, Joseph T. "Governor William Claiborne, Indians, and Outlaws in Frontier Mississippi, 1801-1803," Journal of Mississippi History 1965 27(4): 323-350
- Haynes, Robert V. "Territorial Mississippi, 1798-1817," Journal of Mississippi History 2002 64(4): 283-305
- Haynes, Robert V. "Historians and the Mississippi Territory," Journal of Mississippi History 1967 29(4): 409-428, historiography
- Haynes, Robert Vaughn. The Mississippi Territory and the Southwest Frontier, 1795-1817 (University Press of Kentucky; 2010) 431 pages
- Lowery, Charles D. "The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory, 1798-1819," Journal of Mississippi History 1968 30(3): 173-192
- Moore, Margaret Deschamps. "Protestantism in the Mississippi Territory," Journal of Mississippi History 1967 29(4): 358-370
- Usner, Jr., Daniel H. "American Indians on the Cotton Frontier: Changing Economic Relations with Citizens and Slaves in the Mississippi Territory," Journal of American History 1985 72(2): 297-317 in JSTOR
See also
- Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
- Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
- Creek (people)
- Historic regions of the United States
This is a list of historic regions of the United States.-Colonial era :-The Thirteen Colonies:* Connecticut Colony* Delaware Colony* Province of Georgia* Province of Maryland...
- History of Alabama
Alabama became a state of the United States of America on December 14, 1819. After the Indian Wars and removals of the early 19th century forced most Native Americans out of the state, white settlers arrived in large numbers....
- History of Mississippi
The state of Mississippi's history goes back beyond American statehood to ancient Native American times.-Native Americans:At the end of the last Ice Age Native American or Paleo-Indians appeared in what today is the South. Paleo Indians in the South were hunter-gatherers who pursued the mega fauna...
- Mobile District
The Mobile District was an administrative region of the Spanish territory of West Florida, which became part of the independent Republic of West Florida on September 23, 1810. The region was bounded in the north by the 31st parallel, in the south by the Gulf of Mexico, in the east by the Perdido...
- Territorial evolution of the United States
This is a list of the evolution of the borders of the United States. This lists each change to the internal and external borders of the country, as well as status and name changes. It also shows the surrounding areas that eventually became part of the United States...
- Territories of Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
that would later become part of the Territory of Mississippi:
- Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
, 1565–1763
- Florida Occidental
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
, 1783–1821
- Territory of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
that would later become part of the Territory of Mississippi:
- West Florida
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
, 1763–1783
- U.S. states that ceded territorial claims
The state cessions are those areas of the United States that the separate states ceded to the federal government in the late 18th and early 19th century...
to the Territory of Mississippi:
- State of South Carolina, 1787
- State of Georgia
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, 1803 (sold the Yazoo landsThe Yazoo lands were the sparsely-populated central and western areas of the U.S. state of Georgia, when its western border stretched back to the Mississippi River. It was named for the Yazoo tribe of Native Americans. Several other places and things were named Yazoo, either for or along with the...
to the U.S.)
- U.S. territory that encompassed land that had previously been part of the Territory of Mississippi:
- Territory of Alabama, 1817–1819
- U.S. states that encompass land that was once part of the Territory of Mississippi:
- State of Mississippi, 1817
- State of Alabama, 1819