Mississippi Ethnography

The Native Americans of the southeast live in a variety of environments. The environments range from the southern Appalachian Mountains, to the Mississippi River valley, to the Louisiana and Alabama swamps, and the Florida wetlands. These environments were bountiful with various species of plant and animal life, enabling the Native American peoples to flourish. “Most of the Native Americans adopted large-scale agriculture after 900 A.D, and some also developed large towns and highly centralized social and political structures.” In the first half of the 1600s Europeans encountered these native peoples. Both cultures encountered new plants, animals, and diseases. However, the Indians received more diseases compared to the few new diseases

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.

Mississippi’s Civil War: A Narrative History begins by providing the account of the Nullification Crisis that took place in 1832. The crisis began as a dispute between the state of South Carolina and the federal government over a series of national tariffs that many of the southerners viewed as excessive. (6) The leader of the nullification movement in Mississippi was John Anthony Quitman. Quitman died in 1859 and the Mississippi finally left the Union in 1861. (8) As a result of the Nullification crisis, the Mexican War took place. Many Mississippians volunteered to fight with much enthusiasm. After nearly two years of war, America won. (11) From 1840-1860 Mississippi’s population doubled to almost 800,000 residents and by 1860 Mississippi’s institutions were hopelessly entangled in the web of slavery. The cotton based agriculture increased the need for slaves and by the eve of the Civil War slaves represented 55 percent of the state’s total population. (12) Mississippi’s ordinance of secession officially took them out of the union in 1861 leading up to the Civil War. (32)

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 trans-Mississippi West was a daunting region shaped primarily by three main groups of settlers. Each group of settlers had their own problems specific to their area and lifestyle. The settlers were resilient however and overcame their problems. As the frontier came to an end, some argued that the frontier had largely influenced American life and character.

I am reading the book, Coming of Age in Mississippi. This book is written by Anne Moody, it covers most of Anne Moody’s life living period from four years old until the time she steps into college. The book is divided into four parts: Childhood – when she was young, how her family struggled to make a living under the control of white people. She also starts to work for some white families since she attends fourth grade. High school and college - she keeps working for white families, there also some content includes that she got a lot of attention from the surrounding. Also, she started to develop a doubtful idea about the difference between white and black, which made her have a squabble with her mother, and eventually move out of her mother’s

In American history things have been done in order to shape our country. The Trans-Mississippi West should be remembered for the terrible things that occurred. The Trans-Mississippi West shaped the future of America but did it in a harmful and disrespectful way. The Trans-Mississippi West built railroads and set up communities but the treatment of Native Americans and small farmers looking to start a new a life in the west was to much to turn your head away. The Trans-Mississippi West should be remembered for the violence and harm it caused because Indians suffered, there source of food and living was over hunted, and big businesses took good land from farmers and gave them bad land.

In the early 1800s the Cherokee started their own Cherokee Nation. Some of these Cherokees did not like the fact that white people were invading their land and decided to move out to the west and start their own society. The reason why the white people were coming onto Cherokee land is because of all the gold that is there. The whites began to make friends with the Cherokee so they could get some of the gold. Later the white people decided it was time that the Cherokee people need to be eliminated from the area. This lead to the Cherokee losing their land, farms, and their houses. President Andrew Jackson was the one who caused the removal of the Cherokee people.

. Although racial discrimination has occurred all over Mississippi, throughout time extreme measures against blacks occurred early on in the delta. Within the delta, Sunflower country was an area of extreme discrimination and outright hate. White men and even women in Sunflower county and the surrounding areas always made a point to let African Americans know they were not welcome, but starting in the 1950s continuing into the 60s and 80s white community member used education as well as economic pressure to show African American they were not welcome.

Antebellum south had many issues, but one of the most pervasive of the time was the wide spread of disease and insufficient medical treatments. During that time the most widespread diseases included yellow fever, cholera, smallpox and malaria these diseases had almost a sixty percent mortality rate (“Antebellum Louisiana 1: Disease, Death and Mourning” ). Although medical advances and science were minimal there were attempts and different practices in attempt to heal the sick. Methods of treatment included different techniques, some dabbled with herbs, others bleed and other yet relied on ancestor and religious spirits. Slave owners did not seek physician treatment for slaves unusually it was dire thus leading to the slave community taking

“Originally published in 2006, Mississippi Politics quickly became the definitive work on the state’s political history, campaigns, legislative battles, and litigation, as well as how Mississippi shaped and was shaped by national and regional trends.” While the second edition of the book still shows Mississippi’s gradual change from a blue state to a red state, it also examines the aftermath of Haley Barbour’s re-election campaign in 2007 along with the 2008 presidential elections. The one thing that I found most interesting about this book has nothing to do with its contents but everything to do with the two authors Jere Nash and Andy Taggart. Jere Nash is a well known Democrat who has held many political positions including chief of

In 1981, the Louisiana State Senate passed a resolution banning the term “coonass”. The issue addressed in the Senate resolution is related to ethnophaulism and stereotyping. Ethnophaulism is “a derogatory word or expression used to describe a racial or ethnic group”-in this case, the Acadians, or Cajuns (Parrillo, 2012, p. 436). The Senate resolution states that “ ...since World War Two, certain persons commenced using the word “coonass” in referring to an Acadian (Cajun)...”. The book describes this as the “language of prejudice”, or a type of negative stereotype that “reflects the prejudice and bigotry of a society’s past and present.” Majority and minority groups use ethnophaulisms to criticize or “degrade” the outgroup. In this case,

In 2007, African Americans in Mississippi were unemployed at a rate 2 ½ times greater than whites

Mississippi history is a sad history of slavery and oppression. It is a history of racism and refusal to let go of segregationist ideals. Mississippi history is enough to give many the blues. In fact, the Blues style music originated in Mississippi and gravitated outward from there. .Mississippi history and Blues history are intertwined. Delta Blues is a blues style that originated in the Mississippi Delta and influenced many musicians. Another musical art form, Jazz may be considered an offspring from the Blues and also started in the South. There are many Blues musicians and singers that come from Mississippi or have become linked to Mississippi for various reasons. Bessie Smith, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, and Cassandra Wilson have

I also believe that Mississippi Masala challenges the American Dream ideology. You are right, Mina and her family are struggling both financially and culturally. For instance, Mina and her mother’s income are still not enough for them to get a better place to stay, instead they live in the motel owned by their relatives. It is also important consider the role of racial discrimination why American dream is hard to achieve in Greenwood, Mississippi. In film, the author discusses how Indians and whites have conflicted relationship. Also, Indians would want rather want to be identify with whites and stay away from the blacks (Feng, p. 225). When Mina and Demetrius relationship was revealed, Demetrius business also suffered. We can