The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

Mississippi history is burdened with labels of poverty, racism, and unhealthy lifestyles. Nowhere is more apparent than in the Mississippi Delta region. Poverty, racism, and unhealthy lifestyles are all

Flooding of the settlement was problematic. By 1812, the settlers had built miles of levees on the banks of the river. For the next two hundred years, the surrounding wetlands were drained to eliminate swamps filled with yellow fever carrying mosquitoes and to encourage economic development. Draining water from peaty soils encouraged subsidence. The land which was just inches above sea level to begin with steadily sank. In combat of this, higher and stronger levees were built, tightening the straight jacket already placed upon the Mississippi River. The massive flooding of 1928 brought further flood control systems implemented by the Army Corps of Engineers with Congressional blessing. By the 1950’s, dramatic rates of land loss in Louisiana’s coastal zone stretched across 300 miles from Texas to Mississippi and inland 50 miles. (Tibbetts)

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.

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.

The work of Michael Ross in The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era, helps us understand the history of New Orleans and Reconstruction Era in only 10 chapters of the book. “Ever since Reconstruction ended in 1877, many have questioned whether the North’s effort to bring a new social, economic and political order to the old Confederacy had any real chance for success” (6). During this essay we are going to discuss how Michael Ross helps understand more about the history of New Orleans in terms of the Reconstruction Era.

A plundering devastation into the heart of America left thousands of American dreams and beings crushed by an invisible malefactor engendered no other than ourselves. The steps Herbert Hoover took during the Great Depression were not adequate to dig America out of the economy downfall. Programs that were created to put people back to work and avail state and local charities with aid didn’t benefit the majority of the population, compared to those who genuinely needed it. American citizens decreed Hoover’s presidency as the situation crescendo; not even all the way into the depression the public's ratings of Hoover were ostensibly low. In 1931, he pledged federal aid in case of starvation in the country; however he still had yet to witness the devastating starvation of Americans from all social stances and ages. He was rooted so deeply in his American philosophy that he could be viewed as neither intentionally ignorant nor merciless. Hoover grasped tight onto his political stance that hinder the efficient help he needed to provide while the Great Depression started to make a home in America; leading to the frustration and exasperation of American citizens.

Additionally, Hoover refused assistance from the Government. His “response to the crisis was constrained by his conservative political philosophy.”( ) Hoover vetoed many bills that would offer assistance towards the struggling Americans. Believing that Help should be from voluntary basis from locals, Hoover accepted almost zero help from

When a huge storm caused the Missouri River to overflow in 1993, its water swept through Hardin. Water swept through Hardin,destroying homes and other buildings. Then something terrible happened that the town would never be the same: the dead rose up from the cemetery. It destroyed homes and buildings, and unearthing nearly 600 coffins from the local cemetery. As storm after storm pummeled the Midwestern United States, rivers began to overflow their banks. Throughout the summer, floodwater destroyed homes and businesses, and roads and bridges were washed away. The flooding didn’t and unit fall, and by then, more 20 million acres of land. Fifty people had died, and 55,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

This left Hoover and the American people, local, and state governments with no choice, but to stand together to balance unemployment through the use of public works, volunteerism, and a laissez-faire government. Although the depression was a devastating time, it also helped to shape Hoovers’ dream of “American Individualism” by allowing him to establish new agencies and his vision of a laissez-faire government. As the American Economy continued to collapse, the people looked to Hoover and the Seventy-Second Congress for help. Hoover had already established himself in his pre-presidency days as a man who “[m]ore than any single American, had encouraged organizations, principally trade association and farm organizations to introduce orderly, rational, and bureaucratic procedures to entire industries” (Fausold 113) and now was the time to put “American Individualism” to work with congress’s help, or so he thought. Hoovers’ first order of business was established new agencies so that American businesses could stimulate the economy. In Hoovers’ Presidency and political life, he was able to establish the Farm Board, Federal Drought Committee, President’s Organization on Unemployment Relief, Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), and Home

While the catastrophic failure of the levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina can be attributed to the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”), the Corps’ failures can be attributed to fundamental flaws within the accountability environments they were operating in during both the building and the maintenance of the levees. Legal and bureaucratic accountability were the primary and secondary accountability approaches at work, with legal accountability most notable during their planning and construction process, and bureaucratic accountability taking precedence during their oversight process. Ironically, while these are the forms of accountability that should contain the highest degrees of control, critical failures resulting from each of these accountability environments led to the Corps, in practice, having an extremely low degree of control and ultimately led to the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina .

The Maumee River Basin is an important aspect of our communities. Water is important to our everyday life. Pope Francis calls us to examine our lives and becomes aware of the many issues being faced on our earth. It is important to establish a relationship with creation. The first step in doing so is becoming informed and acting. This semester we focused one of the several issues affecting us globally as we’re as locally. The issue that I decided to learn about was the local issue on flooding. In Fort Wayne and surrounding in the 1845’s the great flood. The great flood killed a family of 6. Floods are local issues that are not focus on. In the

The Army Corps of engineers had troubled connections with the levee board of New Orleans. This made the construction of the levees weak due to the lack of communication and execution of the job.“The main fault in the failure of the floodwalls along the city’s principal drainage canals was the misinterpretation of a full-scale load test carried out by the Corps in the Atchafalaya river Basin a few years prior to Katrina.”The quote stated by Ehrhand, it is stated that the system was not fully functional due to a misunderstanding of the drainage part of the system. There was much controversy upon the topic of the levees, some of which were regarding the strength of the soil upholding the wall. These flaws occurring were also due to the category of the

The Columbian University journalism professor Nicholas Lemann’s aim of writing this book is to look at the brutal campaign of fraud and violence during the mid-1870s that ultimately led to the restoration of conservative, white governments in some southern states. The author focuses on the reconstruction of Mississippi. He stirs memories of the murderous Southern resistance and to civil rights movements 90 years later. Lemann writes at an era when neo-Confederate sympathies have cropped up again in southern politics, and amid several reports of the suppression of the minority voting throughout the country. Mr. Lemann presents the last battle of the Civil War.

In 1993, the Midwest experienced the worst flood in American history affecting ten states in the Upper Mississippi River basin. The flooding lasted from late spring to fall, killing fifty-two people and damaging a 100,000 homes and businesses. The cause of the flooding was a heavy winter with lots of snow and a spring season full of rain, which saturated the soil. Instead, of a hot summer, the rain kept coming and the Upper Mississippi River Basin received three and a half times its normal rain. Since it continuously rained, the water levels kept rising and many of the levees broke. The water levels stayed high for weeks destroying towns and agriculture all throughout the Midwest.

This spring, record breaking floodwaters along the Mississippi River caused massive damage in nine states, totaling over $25 billion dollars in damage (Watts, 2011). In most areas the floodwaters have receded, however there is concern that even a little rain could cause more flooding due to the already saturated land. As cities and towns are beginning the restoration process, one thing caused by the flooding waters cannot be restored. Pollutants’ such as nitrogen from fertilizer, due to this area being primarily composed of farming land, is making its way toward the Gulf of Mexico. Every year pollutants traveling in the Mississippi River enter the Gulf and contribute to the Coastal Dead Zone; however, this year the Dead Zone in the Gulf