Culture and Geography effects of the Mississippi River

Americans were able to ship their goods peacefully through New Orleans until 1801. Thomas Jefferson had found out that Spain had secretly given France New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory. The French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte was trying to conquer all of

During the years between 1840 and 1890, the land west of the Mississippi River experienced a wild and sporadic growth. The natural environment contributed greatly to this growth spurt and helped shape the development of the trans-Mississippi west. The natural environment dictated and facilitated the development of the west by way of determining who settled where, how the people survived, why people wanted to settle, and whether they were successful or not.

In this paper I will inform you with a few of these events and topics such as the Civil war, slavery, as well as facts of the state. I hope my readers walk away with a new respect and outlook of Mississippi and learn how the past can affect the future, as well as the beauty.

The port of New Orleans was controlled by France. France eventually gave over the rights to Spain. Spain didn’t want a vast majority of new settlers coming into the land, so Spain closed New Orleans and the lower part of the Mississippi to any foreigners. Spain eventually gave the rights of navigation and exploration of the land and New Orleans Port over to the Americans. France soon gained a new leader by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was a powerful tiny man who took over a vast majority of land in Europe. Spain gave the Louisiana territory to Napoleon, because of the gigantic size of the property.

The United States was interested in the purchase of Louisiana for a number of reasons; to protect the citizens’ of the United States right to trade through the Port of New Orleans, to ensure that the British did not establish a new colony in the new land, and to allow the United States’ farmers and merchants to move westward. In 1682, the French discovered a large piece of land in North America which they named Louisiana after their king, King Louis XVI. Following the French and Indian War, King Louis XVI thought this land was a useless piece of uncharted wilderness. The king decided to give this enormous section of land to his cousin, King Charles III of Spain as a “reward” for Spain’s support

The Old River flows from the Mississippi to the Atchafalaya River. To regulate this flow, the Old River is dammed by the Old River Control Structure, which is an effort by the Army Corps to keep the Mississippi River from giving most of its water to the Atchafalaya River. If that were to occur, Morgan City (a town of 12,000 that sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River) would be underwater and New Orleans would lose its most vital asset in the Mississippi River. To New Orleans, the Mississippi River means financial success, as New Orleans is a transportation hub. Baton Rouge, the state capital of Louisiana, also sits on the banks of the Mississippi River. Baton Rouge originally had an economy based on natural gas, to which the river was vital in a transportation aspect. Now, the state capital has an economy with many different sectors. Marucci Sports, best known for making baseball bats, calls Baton Rouge home. The Atchafalaya River would struggle to support economies that require transportation like the Mississippi River, as it doesn’t run the length of the United States. The Atchafalaya River is 137 miles long, compared to the Mississippi’s 2,320 miles, running from where the Red River and Old River meet all the way to the Atchafalaya Bay. The Atchafalaya Bay is connected directly to the Gulf of Mexico, which differs from the Mississippi River’s situation

The Mississippian culture was composed of a series of urban settlements and villages linked together by a loose trading network The Mississippian culture flourished from 800-1600 AD. It encompassed the southern shores of the Great Lakes at Western New York and Western Pennsylvania in the Eastern Midwest, all the way into the south/southwest of the Mississippi Valley and into the Southeastern United States.

The Mississippian time period was the period that a lot of amphibians and lizard like creatures were formed which was major to leading up to the jurassic and triassic witch when thing got bigger which was the effect of leading to those I this time period was to 359.9 to 323.2 million years ago. It was later than the jurassic and triassic period so the thing in this time period were little not as big as the up coming periods and eras. In this period the Gondwana was just coming in and the Euramerica which was kinda of a fish like thing.

Control of the Mississippi River during the War Between the States was an economic and psychological factor for both the North and the South. For many years, the river had served as a vital waterway for mid-western farmers shipping their goods to the eastern states. The farmers, along with politicians and merchants, did not like the idea of the river being closed because of Confederate artillery looming along the banks where the Mississippi River, the “Father of Waters,” flowed through the Confederacy. While the War Between the States was occurring, large traders and public figures were not able to use this river.

Originally before the purchase was made France actually owned more of what is present day America than the United States did. In the 17th century, France explored started to explore the Mississippi River valley area and had some settlements here and there along the way. In 1762, during what most of

Although there were a few doubts at the time, the Louisiana Purchase was extremely beneficial to the United States. It was “One of the most colossal land transactions in history”(1), containing modern-day Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska; as well as parts of Minnesota, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and two Canadian provinces: Alberta and Saskatchewan. It doubled the amount of land the U.S. owned. “Bigger land area also meant for more farming lands and more places for various business enterprises”(2). With the expansion of the United States farther west, came the total availability of New Orleans and the Mississippi River. This provided security and protection for the states east of the Mississippi and opened up

Three groups took advantage of this: the English, the Spanish, and the Pirates. Even though America won their independence, Great Britain still had their forts built which included their fur trades. The United States wanted the forts taken down, but they did not have the man power to do it. The Spanish controlled the entrance to the Mississippi river which gave them access to close it off to others. In 1784 Spain gave a proposal to the United States that said Spain would give the United States access to the Spanish West Indies. This would naturally help American traders. This would need nine votes from Congress and they only got seven. They knew the ones that did not vote for it were from the Northern states… This caused the South to become very angry due to them their economic state would suffer due to the Mississippi river being closed off to them. The Spanish finally opened it back up, but charged them responsibilities to American peoples that

The Louisiana Purchase was an acquisition of a significant portion of North America; larger than the size of fifteen current states in the U.S. according to Encyclopedia Britannica, the deal was, “at less than three cents per acre… the greatest land bargain in American history.” The United States purchased this territory from Napoleon, and thus doubled the size of the republic. This newly acquired territory went from the Mississippi River, all the way east to the Rocky Mountains, and then into the Gulf in Mexico. The United States came to the realization that the land was an absolutely essential necessity if they were to later form a trading post. The city of New Orleans, which began in this new land began growing rapidly in population. As the population and job market grew, New Orleans opened as an important seaport that “served as a distinctive cultural gateway to North America, where peoples from Europe and Africa initially intertwined their lives and customs with those of the native inhabitants of the New World.” America was flourishing, but the tension was rising in other nations. Great Britain, for instance, battled France and defeated Napoleon in Europe, and then decided to pursue the U.S. The rooted cause of the War of 1812 began when Britain launched a series of three invasions on the U.S. “The War of 1812 is often called the Second War for Independence, for despite granting the United States its independence in 1783, the British continued to station British forces

The Mississippi River influences the states of Louisiana in numerous ways. The river can be both beneficial and harmful to the state. It may help with industries, but at the same time it may be harming by taking away from Louisiana’s coastline. While erosion is widely considered to be a destructive occurrence, it does have some necessary features. For example, erosion provides many nutrients for animals living in the water, and it creates new deltas that many animals live in. Since the beginning of Louisiana, the Mississippi River has been a crucial factor in the creation and the development of Louisiana’s economy. It has helped with things like trade and the growth of crops. The Mississippi is also significant in the way Louisiana is shaped

The twentieth state of the United States had quite some history to go through, starting with what is its name, the natives that started and the slave trade that led to the unwanted war of America. Mississippi brought a lot nationalism which brought a lot of social inequality. This essay will lightly cover the background and history that Mississippi holds.