Mississippi slavery history Grivno’s first book, Gleanings of Freedom: Free Labor and Slavery along the Mason-Dixon Line, 1790-1860, was published in 2011 as part of the University of Illinois Press’s series The Working Class in American History. Nov 1, 2021 · The 100-year history of the Black Families of Edgefield is just one of the untold stories of Africans enslaved on early Mississippi plantations. Johnson was born enslaved on December 20, 1809, in Mississippi Territory. Magruder (Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Vol. ” The county was established with a tiny population of 821, of whom 30 percent were enslaved. , A New History of Mississippi (2014) Ownby, Ted et al. The state Senate urged the federal government to trade European World War I debts for a piece of colonial Africa to send Mississippi’s Black residents. 2. [8] Nov 9, 2009 · Despite the abolition of slavery, racial discrimination endured in Mississippi, and the state was a battleground of the Civil Rights Movement in the mid-20th century. Clark Burkett, Mississippi History Now. Mississippi built on the statutes previously implemented by slaveholding colonies, which codified and promoted white supremacy as they struggled to define the legal status of slaves. Young, Monroe County, WPA Slave Narratives, oral history transcription VISIT THE MUSEUM OF MISSISSIPPI HISTORY WEB SITE. Natchez was the state’s most active slave trading city, also slave markets existed at Aberdeen, Crystal Springs, Vicksburg, Woodville, and Jackson. Mar 21, 2015 · The plantation was located in Caseyville, Copiah County, MS. Amy also had a daughter, Adelia, who was also fathered by her owner. ” Journal of Negro History 42 (January 1957): 48-60. State’s Rights vs Slavery? What was the motivating factor that lead to the conflict? Examine the reasons behind Mississippi’s decision to secede from the U May, Robert E. The first major crop that thrived from African slave labor in Natchez was tobacco. ” Dr. Making Haste Slowly: The Troubled History of Higher Education in Mississippi (University Press of Mississippi, 2004) Skates, John Ray. 141). “It’s the spotlight of the entire property,” says Pearson. Plummer’s interesting history and colloquial dialogue follows: “Yassum, I was a slave. While new births accounted for much of that increase, the trade in slaves became a crucial part of Mississippians’ social and economic life. His father, also named William Johnson, was his owner, and his mother Amy was one of the elder Johnson’s slaves. Feb 1, 2002 · This is not slave history, Negro history, African American history, but American history. Neil R. Many of Biloxi’s white doctors Jul 29, 2022 · Search the history of over 916 billion web pages on the Slaves -- Mississippi -- Amite County -- History -- 19th century, Free African Americans Antebellum city directories from slave states can be valuable primary sources on the trade; slave dealers listed in the 1855 directory of Memphis, Tennessee, included Bolton & Dickens, Forrest & Maples operating at 87 Adams, Neville & Cunningham, and Byrd Hill Slave depots, including ones owned by Mason Harwell and Thomas Powell, listed in the The history of slaves and their contributions to society were largely ignored for more than 150 years following emancipation, but the history of America is incomplete without including the story of slavery, Ross said. The city’s historic sites commemorate and preserve the courage and bravery of those who were morally committed to improving the lives of African The 1860 U. Both the county and county seat (also Tunica) are named for the Tunica Indian word meaning “the people. BRIEF HISTORY The Natchez District was the first Mississippi region where plantations were established. He is professor emeritus of Stephen Duncan (March 4, 1787 – January 29, 1867) was an American planter and banker in Mississippi. Press of Mississippi, 2004. Mississippi's Two Museums forge real connections to the moments and movements that continue to shape our world. The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement represents a heroic chapter in the centuries-long African American freedom struggle. Yancy WILEY who owned 2100 acres, was the last of the major property and slave owners according to the 1860 US Federal Census of Lafayette County and a chart found on pg. from West Virginia University in 2017. He is professor emeritus of Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! We searched the National Archives Catalog and located 18 series in the Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Record Group 105) that pertain to Mississippi plantations. Among them was Slyvanus Lowry, St. Oct 10, 2022 · Beyond the inside details of all this research, Morgan says the project is a part of enlightening the greater population about the natural history of Mississippi, the slave-holding South and the He had enslaved 150 people on his Mississippi farm, and another 164 in Louisiana, making him one of the largest slave-owners in Mississippi. Mississippi Lynchings Names of Slave Owners (who took out Insurance Policies on their Slaves) Freedman Bank Records 1870 Partial List of Records In the late eighteenth century, slave auctions and sales in Natchez took place at the landing along the Mississippi River known as Under-the-Hill. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building in Jackson. Mississippi was a product of this Great Migration. . B. Aug 3, 2020 · (July 31, 2020) Considered to be the South’s second largest slave market from the 1830s until 1863, Forks of the Road, was where enslaved people were once considered as property to be sold in Natchez, Mississippi. Between the late 1600s and the late 1700s, France, Great Britain, and Spain each established extensions of their respective colonial empires within the region. George Hampton Young, a lawyer and former member of the Georgia legislature. Mississippi Department of Archives and History Southern States—History—1775–1865—Sources. state of Mississippi had one of the largest populations of enslaved people in the Confederacy , third behind Virginia and Georgia . (Until it became a separate territory in 1817, Alabama was part of Mississippi. Other Mississippi History NOW articles: Chickasaws: The Aug 12, 2024 · Anne L. Most of the Buie's slave population grew from within or from natural increase. Painful and illuminating a read. African slaves were introduced into the the Natchez plantation system in the early 1700s by French colonists. Charles K. Some of these records may have been digitized and available using the Catalog. E. Mar 5, 2010 · Slavery in Hancock County. Most of those early enslaved people in Mississippi were Caribbean Creoles. in 1860 Robert Brown a slave was sold to Jefferson Davis and in G W Martin will of 1851 Robert is named. As historian Charles S. Noxubee County, Mississippi Slave Schedule - 1860 Census (number next to name is number of slaves owned--names are listed in order of appearance in Mar 10, 2011 · Although the passing of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787 banned African American slavery in the Upper Mississippi River Valley, making the new territory officially "free," slavery in fact persisted in the region through the end of the Civil War. The legacy of the African-American experience goes deep in Mississippi, tracing the arc of history from enslavement through war and emancipation and the struggle for freedom and equality. Louis. By 1860 […] Mar 8, 2017 · Mound Bayou, in the Mississippi Delta: a town founded in 1887 by former slaves, with a vision that was revolutionary for its time. [ 1 ] majority of enslaved persons in Mississippi lived and worked on large plantations, most white Mississippians were small farmers who owned little land and no slaves. Slavery and Slave-trade in the United States, by Ethan Allen Andrews, 1836, p. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work African-Americans in the Mississippi River Valley, 1851-1900. Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery – the greatest material interest of the world. Jan 7, 2019 · The African-American community and its relationship to the Mississippi River down the ages is occluded by these discourses. The state of Mississippi contains a great deal of history for African Americans. Feb 11, 2014 · “It is part of the irony of slavery that historians studying the institution… have failed to provide all the answers; indeed, perhaps they have not yet asked all the right questions. Mar 6, 2018 · Slavery was so profitable, it sprouted more millionaires per capita in the Mississippi River valley than anywhere in the nation. By the 1790s the center of the trade in […] Feb 24, 2018 · In 2007, Ross came across the book by Mississippi author Alan Huffman — “Mississippi in Africa: The Saga of the Slaves of Prospect Hill Plantation and Their Legacy in Liberia Today. Libby, David J. Noxubee County was one of twenty-six counties in our State that was carved from the last great Indian cession east of the Mississippi River. "That troubles me. Also on their online site are several searchable indices including Mississippi biographies. Miles, Edwin A. Why:This site was the second-biggest slave Feb 19, 2018 · In the midst of conversation and debate about how to best interpret slavery at historic sites, I recently visited Frogmore Plantation in Natchez, Mississippi. Purchased from the Louisville, New They brought with them slaves to do the backbreaking work of clearing the wild forest and subduing the Mississippi River with levees. S. Reconstruction is basically the first decade or so after the Civil War when Mississippi and the nation struggled with economic, social, and political challenges that arose from the military defeat of the South and the end of slavery. McMillen, Ph. 163 pp. He was born and studied medicine in Pennsylvania, but moved to Natchez District, Mississippi Territory in 1808 and became the wealthiest cotton planter and the second-largest slave owner in the United States with over 2,200 slaves. The Two Mississippi Museums—the interconnected Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum—opened December 9, 2017, in honor of the state’s bicentennial. Civil Rights Movement. In many ways, the African American experience along the Lower Mississippi was comparable to that lived by slaves and free blacks throughout the South. Slavery existed in the United States from its founding in 1776 and became the main May 16, 2023 · This year, MSMS partnered with Mississippi University for Women for the emancipation celebration in the historic Sandfield Cemetery on the warm evening of May 8, 2023, and the college selected Clint Smith’s “How The Word Is Passed” as its first community read to showcase slavery’s history in America. See the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information on how to document slaves and slave owners. In January 1861, the State of Mississippi adopted the following resolution: DECLARATION OF THE IMMEDIATE CAUSES WHICH INDUCE AND JUSTIFY THE SECESSION OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI FROM THE FEDERAL UNION. In 2012, Random House published his second novel, “The Healing,” set on a slave plantation in the Mississippi Delta, which explores the power of a story to free a people. She was born about 1820, maybe, in Virginia. Appleton-Century Co. [6] The movement of importing black slaves to Mississippi peaked in the 1830s, when more than 100,000 black slaves may have entered Mississippi. Mississippi State Department of Health Public Health Jim Barnett is director of the Historic Properties Division, Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Researching the lives of a Tallahatchie Grenada Mississippi plantation formed in 1834 by Col George Washington Martin. Webster, comp. Carrollton, Mississippi : The Pioneer Newspaper, c2001. Waverley (sometimes spelled Waverly) is a mansion and former plantation located between Columbus and West Point, Mississippi, in Clay County. Slavery in the New World differed in that it was primarily racial. In focusing on this alternate history, namely the African-American experience with the Mississippi River, the overarching framework of this paper will consist of three lenses on the river as: refuge, labor, and cultural icon. By Brother Rogers May 10, 2022 · Mississippi Slavery Data . Slave Narratives. Florida Slave Narratives; Georgia Slave Narratives; Mississippi Slave Narratives; South Carolina Slave Narratives Mar 23, 2021 · History Is Lunch is a weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History that explores different aspects of the state's past. See The Gallery Slavery in Mississippi. During slavery, plantation owners kept a variety of records documenting the life of the plantation and the activities of enslaved persons. Slavery and Frontier Mississippi, 1720–1835, U. “The Forks of the Road Slave Market at Natchez” by Jim Barnett and H. D. Stephen Duncan Family Papers, 1787-1867, 158 items, 2 ms. Max Grivno is an associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi. This migration movement was led by Isaiah Montgomery, former patriarch of Davis Bend. Mar 11, 2025 · Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. 10 However, this prohibition alone did not motivate former slaves in Mississippi to pursue the rudiments of learning. Kathleen Logothetis Thompson graduated with her Ph. Lucinda was Richard's mother. Amanda Clay Powers, dean of MUW’s "Slave Owners, 1860," Mississippi Genealogy and Local History, December 1978: 133-34 GS 18 "Slave Schedule, 1850," Mississippi Genealogical Exchange , September 1958: 55-56 Jul 9, 2015 · The History of American Slavery The Slave Bubble Reckless cotton speculation in 1830s Mississippi revealed the cracks in the slave economy. When the government of the United States established the Mississippi Territory in 1798, the region around Natchez, which held the bulk of the population, contained about 5,000 whites and 3,500 slaves. For years prior to the American Civil War, slave-holding Mississippi had voted heavily for the Democrats, especially as the Whigs declined in their influence. The brutality of the system of slavery is undeniable, or is it? This country has turned a blind eye to slavery and its epic pain on those who lived, pardon me, who survived, this vicious system. ” In 1850, eight slaves were recorded living on this property, according to the Marshall County Slave Census Record. 33 (February 1972). Apr 17, 2023 · Archaeological Investigations of Slave Housing at Saragossa Plantation, Natchez, Mississippi by Amy Young; The Forks of the Road Slave Market at Natchez, The Journal of Mississippi History, Vol. The Mississippi country was opened to settlement in 1798 when Congress organized the Mississippi Territory. This transcription includes 75 slaveholders who held 40 or more slaves in Carroll County, accounting for 5,073 slaves, or 36% of the County total. However, the war meant freedom for enslaved people who made up more than half the population of the state. The land that became the state of Mississippi had been claimed by European powers for nearly a century prior to it first coming under American jurisdiction. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1966. "We're at a point in our society where history is a discipline that is becoming very political," he said. 35 men owned between 1000 to 1860 acres, with slaves. Clark. 7M May 7, 2010 · A St. Hull in Civil War NC 1871; The Media as Oppressor; Maligned in Black and White; SLAVE NARRATIVES. 2 F27we; History [edit | edit source] A History of the Negroes of Mississippi from 1865 to 1890. Clark Burkett is historian II at Historic Jefferson College, Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Symposium “The University of Mississippi has an obligation to itself […] Transcription. “The Mississippi Slave Insurrection Scare of 1835. A Tremor in the Iceberg. Soon after the Confederacy's defeat in the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment was designed to abolish slavery nationwide. In 1817, when Mississippi earned statehood, its population of European and African descent was concentrated in the Natchez District, the core of colonial settlement in the eighteenth century, and almost the entire non-Indian population lived in the […] The spread of slavery into new territories was accompanied by severe strife between the increasingly anti-slavery North and the increasingly slave dependent South. African Americans : a Mississippi source book. Apr 19, 2010 · A Jackson, Mississippi native, the general practitioner moved with his family after completing medical studies at Howard University and an internship in St. Cloud State University professor has found evidence of slavery in several Minnesota counties before the Civil War. map. A. “John Quitman and His Slaves: Reconciling Slave Resistance with the Proslavery Defense. TWO MISSISSIPPI MUSEUMS. To deal with the population influx […] Nov 26, 2023 · Natchez, Miss. Slave records—Southern States. Feb 26, 2021 · Slave markets in Mississippi “Negro Marts” could be found in every town of any size in Mississippi. In late June, 1835, it was reported that a few slaves had been overheard discussing He also owned many slaves. After the Civil War, the racist legacy of slavery Like other southern territories and states, Mississippi adopted strict laws to govern the conduct of slaves. , is the author of Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow (Urbana, 1990). Clara G. Feb 27, 2020 · Work -- Clothing, food, and shelter -- Physical and social care -- Plantation and police control of slaves -- Punishments and rewards -- Fugitives -- Buying, selling, and hiring -- Profitableness of slavery -- The Mississippi colonization society -- Contemporary opinions -- conclusions At head of title: The American Historical Association Nov 6, 2018 · Slavery -- Mississippi, Slaves -- United States -- Social conditions Publisher D. 3. These records documenting slaves are found within such record groups as warranty deeds, mortgages, deeds of trust, wills and probate records. Deborah and Greg Cosey, owners of Concord Quarters—the slave quarters of what was once Concord Manor and the only free-standing slave dwelling in Mississippi listed in the National Register—are hosting a series of Black History Tours through the end of February. As a result of the slaves' labor, the Delta became the richest Examines the relationship between evangelical churches and the institution of slavery in the Old Southwest (Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi), including antislavery in the Great Revival, slave participation in churches, the role of moral reformers, and the intraregional split over slavery; based on the author's Ph. During the 1830s, Mississippi’s elected officials began constructing a full-throated defense of slavery that would become a mainstay throughout the remainder of the antebellum decades. Slave History. Dec 3, 2020 · “Even some of the most recent textbooks on Mississippi history, while they're improvements on what was available in the 1970s, are still not fully diving into the history of slavery in the state The History of Using White Female Sexuality to Justify Racist Violence by Emma Grey; White Victims of Violence Testimony of Edwin A. They would purchase slaves as needed. Boxley referring to the story as "concocted Confederate propaganda" aiming to cast the Union Army in a What is Mississippi History Now. Sydnor, Charles. ) A few settlers already lived in Mississippi when it became a territory. Census Slave Schedules for Lowndes County, Mississippi (NARA microfilm series M653, Roll 600) reportedly includes a total of 16,730 slaves. Forks of the Road Slave Market at Natchez; Routes of Slavery. ” The Journal of Mississippi History, vol. The University of Mississippi, the Board of Trustees, Students, 137 and Slavery: 1848–1860 . Feb 11, 2022 · Black History Tours at Concord Quarters. Polk, a Mississippi State professor is also the author of Outside the The Mississippi Freedom Struggle. Feb 28, 2018 · Jim Crow laws were state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. vols. It was founded during the spring of 1887 by twelve pioneers from Davis Bend, a fledgling black colony impacted by falling agricultural prices, natural disasters, and hostile race relations. FS Library 976. Planters who owned thirty or more enslaved persons made up about five percent of the state’s white population. "Useful and Ornamental: Female Education in Antebellum Natchez," Journal of Mississippi History 2005 67(4): 291–309 The 1860 U. Jan 18, 2007 · Mound Bayou was an all-black town in the Yazoo Delta in Northwest Mississippi. The property lies off the west bank of the Tombigbee River […] [2] [3] However, the scale of the tragedy has been disputed by multiple historians, with history professor Jim Wiggins arguing the 20,000 estimate is baseless and inflated tenfold, [4] and author and activist Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Census Slave Schedules for Carroll County, Mississippi (NARA microfilm series M653, Roll 596) reportedly includes a total of 13,808 slaves. Contact. Ross is Professor of History, Director of the African American Studies Program at the University of Mississippi, and co-chair of the University’s Slavery Research Group. The museums take visitors through the sweep of Mississippi history and the state’s role as ground zero in the U. The beginnings of the Edgefield community trace back to 1776 when Charles Percy first arrived in Woodville with an estimated nine enslaved Africans. This is a list of plantations and/or plantation houses in the U. Life and labor on the steamboats was grueling, of course, but Buchanan emphasizes that slaves understood the peculiar advantages of river work. ” 3 “When Nathaniel Wells and his wife Elizabeth Simmons Wells [,] moved from South Carolina to Mississippi in 1803, they ‘bought’ [brought] 5 slaves with then. The Mississippi Historical Society launched this online publication in 2000 and revised it in 2021 to encourage interest in Mississippi history and provide educators with articles, primary resources, and lesson plans for teaching the state’s rich and complex history. Six of the eight maps show details related to slavery in Northern Mississippi at the time of the war including the location of “cotton fields,” “cotton presses,” names and location of slaveholders and their homes (including many who had direct connections to the University, such as Thomas Isom and Alexander Pegues) and even, in some Jun 1, 2010 · Black codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force after slavery was abolished during the Civil War. “Some Manumissions Recorded in the Adams County Deed Books in Chancery Clerk’s Office, Natchez, Mississippi, 1795-1835. Transcribed and Contributed by Janice Stevens Rice One additional roll for Tennessee, M999 (roll 25), includes a small number of Mississippi contracts; only the Mississippi contracts were indexed. , is beginning to highlight the history of its enslaved people—including at a Black-owned bed and breakfast in former slave quarters. Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! We searched the National Archives Catalog and located 18 series in the Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Record Group 105) that pertain to Mississippi plantations. These aren't exhibits trapped behind glass, but immersive stories of our first people, epic battles, great floods, potent protests and powerful music. 17 The Legal Status of Slaves in Mississippi before the War, by W. The Mississippi Encyclopedia (2017) Sansing, David G. 2 Noel Polk, A Human Perspective: Mississippi’s Piney Woods, (The University Press of Mississippi 1986), 21-24. Location: S:120 This 1930s servants’ quarters at Rowan Oak was the home of Caroline Barr, a former slave born in the 1840s or 1850s, who cared for William Faulkner when he was a boy and returned to Rowan Oak in the 1930s to help care for Faulkner’s daughter, Jill. Speaking of Mississippi Podcast Feb 26, 2021 · Black Life on the Mississippi: Slaves, Free Blacks, and the Western Steamboat World, by Thomas C. both Jim Crow and its slave-state In the mid-19th century, tens of thousands of men, women, and children were brought in chains and coffels from the Upper South to the slave market in Natchez. Buchanan (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004). As Black slaves made their way to freedom, the town of Natchez quickly went from a population of 10,000 to nearly 100,000 people. Collection statelibrarypennsylvania; americana Contributor State Library of Pennsylvania Language English Item Size 522. As a skill, literacy had numerous social The state of Mississippi enacted a law on May 13, 1837 requiring slave owners to register with the clerk of the Circuit Clerk of the county most convenient to the place where he first entered the state, and take an oath that he had not brought such slave or slaves into the state for the purpose of sale or hire. Ultimately, that decision proved significant, as it spared the city from experiencing the devastation and destruction that comes with war, in After failing for 130 years to ratify the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery except as punishment for crime, the state of Mississippi finally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on March 16, 1995. [i] Victoria Bynum, “White Negroes in Segregated Mississippi: Miscegenation, Racial Identity, and the Law,” Journal of Southern History LXIV (May 1998). Breckinridge, giving him 40,768 votes (59. In 1860 Mississippi had 436,631 slaves; these contracts contain the names of some 36,000+ of those former slaves. W. Young Slave Narratives. In many ways, Reconstruction is an unfinished revolution and an underappreciated period in history. Baker. Census Slave Schedules for Panola County, Mississippi (NARA microfilm series M653, Roll 602) reportedly includes a total of 8,557 slaves. Apr 22, 2017 · Pearson refers to the three-part dwelling adjacent to the big house as “slave utility buildings. Dr. William Johnson, known as the Barber of Natchez, was one of the most prominent African Americans in pre-Civil War Mississippi. History of Plantations and Slavery in Mississippi Land and slaves were the foundation of the settlement of Mississippi, the heart of antebellum America’s Cotton Kingdom. By 1860 his son A Jackson Martin listed 55 slaves and by 1870 only one slave Malinda Martin remained on the Martin plantation named “Auvergne”. The home was designed by architect Charles Pond and built for Col. Tunica County was established in 1840, close to three hundred years after Hernando de Soto traveled through the area. The Forks of the Road slave market dates to the 18th century; slave sales in vicinity of Natchez, Mississippi were primarily at the riverboat landings in the 1780s but the widespread use of the Natchez Trace from Nashville beginning in the 1790s shifted the market inland to the Forks of the Road "located on the Trace at the northeast edge of the upper town. The slavery categories exist to help with tracking the genealogy and family history of pre-Civil War era slaves. Plantation May 30, 2012 · The dependency on slavery, which helped make Mississippi one of the wealthiest states in the Union by 1860, led to a deep racial divide across the South that saw little bridging for the first 100 Aug 12, 2019 · The company’s newfound dominance in the region is merely the topsoil covering a history of loss and legally sanctioned theft in which TIAA played no part. Owens, professor of history from 1964 to 1998, introduction to the 1975 Porter Fortune Jr. Grivno is currently writing From Bondage to Freedom: Slavery in Mississippi, 1690-1865. This page from a plantation ledger from Locust Grove Plantation in Natchez, held by the University of Mississippi, lists enslaved persons by name, and indicates how many pounds of crops (probably cotton) they gathered on specific days. Beginning with the creation of the Mississippi Territory in 1798, the Mississippi slave […] Feb 17, 2016 · The details of this daring escape remain murky; one account states that the runaways were aided by Union forces and smuggled aboard the War Eagle steamer to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, the other more widely known account states that the slaves boarded a makeshift raft, traveling the Missouri River by night and hiding Mississippi Department of Archives & History PO Box 571 Jackson, MS 39205-0571 Telephone: 601-359-6850: The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has an excellent state research library. Apr 25, 2024 · Slavery in America was the legal institution of enslaving human beings, mainly Africans and African Americans. Website. focus on Natchez; Nguyen, Julia Huston. William Leon Higgs: Mississippi Radical 163. The hour-long programs are held in the Craig H. Enacted after the Civil War, the laws denied equal opportunity to Black citizens. He is professor emeritus of Mississippi Slave Narratives: In the late 1930s, Federal Writers as part of the Works Project Administration (WPA) recorded the life stories of more than 10,000 men and women from a variety of regions, occupations and ethnic groups. In 1820, Mississippi had 33,000 slaves; forty years later, that number had mushroomed to about 437,000, giving the state the country’s largest slave population. May 17, 2017 · In 2013, he was named a Mississippi Humanities Council Teacher of the Year. The U. dissertation Visiting Greenville offers a reflective experience rich in African-American history, from slavery and the tumultuous period after the Civil War to the monumental events of the Civil Rights Movement. This transcription includes 46 slaveholders who held 40 or more slaves in Panola County, accounting for 2,821 slaves, or 33% of the County total. eds. Slavery Statistics, Slave Narratives and Slave History provide a foundation for understanding the migration into and out of the state. Today, exhibits at the site provide information not only about the Domestic Slave Trade in general, but about the City of Natchez as the Center of Slavery during this period. From the "Record of Slaves, 1837-1845" for Lowndes County, Mississippi (also known as the Negro Record Book). The Mississippi Territory. 18 of LAFAYETTE COUNTY HERITAGE; THE HERITAGE OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI 1986 . This article is condensed from an article originally published in The Journal of Mississippi History, Volume LXIII, Fall 2001 The Road to War Timeline The American Civil War (1861-1865) left Mississippi in chaos with its social structures overturned and its economy in ruins. By Charles Dollar. To deal with the population influx […] BRIEF HISTORY The Natchez District was the first Mississippi region where plantations were established. ” Journal of Southern History 46 (November 1980): 551-570. 222 North St #2205 Jackson, MS 39201 Oct 14, 2009 · African American history began with slavery, as white European settlers first brought Africans to the continent to serve as enslaved workers. For the most part, slaves sent to Natchez arrived in New Orleans and were transported upriver, though slaves reached town overland as well. Slavery has been part of human history for thousands of years. ” —Harry P. Alford, Terry. Race, Slavery, and Free Blacks: Series II, Petitions to Southern County Courts, 1775-1867, Part A: Georgia (1796-1867), Florida (1821-1867), Alabama (1821-1867), Mississippi (1822-1867) Southern History Microform Collection Guides. During the 1860 presidential election, the state supported Southern Democrat candidate John C. Jan 28, 2025 · Mississippi’s segregation laws have significantly shaped the state’s social and legal landscape. One of these was Harry’s mother Jennie, then a girl. Articles. However, I still want to know how it took 130 years for Mississippi to make the initial ratification. Vernon Burton, Troy Smith, and Simon Appleford, University of Illinois. Make sure and check out the county sites for data specific to that area. In 1851, Smith and Catherine have the first of 6 children together and in 1859, he began building Windsor. 2017 Mississippi Historical Society Award Winners 189 Program of the 2017 Mississippi Historical Society 193 Annual Meeting. read and write in the old slave codes," as suggested by Mississippi historian Vernon Lane Wharton, had a great deal to do with former slaves' adamant determination toward acquiring literacy. An important part of this project was the interviews of the surviving ex-slaves. 3, 169-187 by Barnett, Jim and Burkett, H. Located within many record groups in the county courthouse here in Mississippi are references to the slave inhabitants of the county spanning the years 1836 through 1865. In many ways, Mississippi was the epicenter of the civil rights movement and, here today, you can walk in the footsteps of the movement’s heroes and learn Feb 5, 2018 · Finally, with all paperwork troubles aside, Mississippi outlawed slavery and the Thirteenth Amendment was “unanimously” ratified. By Elias J. MISSISSIPPI is highlighted here. Sydnor wrote, “Few, if […] *This date in 1865 is remembered for the Devil’s Punchbowl episode, a post-American Civil War episode in Black history that occurred in Natchez (Adams County), Mississippi. <p>The series consists of typed and handwritten transcripts of interviews with formerly enslaved people from thirty-six Mississippi counties conducted by employees of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, as well as essays and administrative correspondence. (1973), thorough coverage by scholars; Mitchell, Dennis J. dissertation History & Background of Mississippi Slavery. The history of slavery in Mississippi began when the region was still Mississippi Territory and continued until abolition in 1865. Aug 18, 2023 · His first novel, “The View from Delphi” (Macadam Cage 2004), deals with the struggle for equality in pre-civil rights Mississippi. Rooted in racial discrimination, these laws have profoundly affected various aspects of life, particularly education and public facilities. [7] The largest slave market was located at the Forks of the Road in Natchez. Click the above map to view large U. Mississippi Lynchings Names of Slave Owners (who took out Insurance Policies on their Slaves) Freedman Bank Records 1870 Partial List of Records May 10, 2022 · Mississippi Slavery Data . state of Mississippi that are National Historic Landmarks, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, listed on a heritage register, or are otherwise significant for their history, association with significant events or people, or their architecture and design. Anatomy of a Slave Shipfrom The land that became the state of Mississippi had been claimed by European powers for nearly a century prior to it first coming under American jurisdiction. Natchez slaves were freed in July 1863 when Union troops occupied the city. When my family signed up to take a tour of this working cotton plantation as part of our Mississippi River cruise, I was admittedly excited b Jan 18, 2007 · Mound Bayou was an all-black town in the Yazoo Delta in Northwest Mississippi. The state of Mississippi enacted a law on May 13, 1837 requiring slave owners to register with the clerk of the Circuit Clerk of the county most convenient to the place where he first entered the state, and take an oath that he had not brought such slave or slaves into Slavery in Mississippi. See The Gallery. 50 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY Beatty 's Bluff, a community on the Yazoo River near Livingston in Madison County. The 1860 U. ” You may also choose to have students write a reflection about the tour. May 6, 2021 · Profiles are placed in this category with this text [[Category:Mississippi, Slave Owners]] . candidate Eli Baker’s recently published Journal of Mississippi History article “The University of Mississippi, the Board of Trustees, Students, and Slavery, 1848-1860. " By 1719, the first African slaves arrived. A must read in my book (pun)! Interestingly, even though the city’s prosperity relied on slave labor, Natchez chose to stay with the Union over seceding with most other southern slave states, including the rest of Mississippi. [1] [2] [3] *This date in 1865 is remembered for the Devil’s Punchbowl episode, a post-American Civil War episode in Black history that occurred in Natchez (Adams County), Mississippi. On September 27, 1830, the United States entered into a treaty with the Choctaws in the forks of the Dancing Rabbit Creek which lay in the southwestern portion of what came to be Noxubee County. Mississippi slave narratives can be found at the Library of Congress website, Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 (accessed February 2005). This transcription includes 130 slaveholders who held 40 or more slaves in Lowndes County, accounting for 8,960 slaves, or 53% of the County total. Edward was a man of some prominence during the Territorial Days prior to 1817, when Mississippi was admitted to the Union. Apr 29, 2015 · Former Slave-Nat Plummer In 1936, Nat Plummer (ca 1840-1936+), a former slave at Ocean Springs, was interviewed by a writer compiling a History of Jackson County, Mississippi for the Works Progress Administration. IV, p. The narratives contain information such as names of family members and owners, occupations, and other details Dec 1, 2005 · Black steamboat workers—slave and free—linked the plantation South with the North, connecting towns up and down the Mississippi River and its tributaries. 139. by O. Cloud's first mayor. LXIII, Fall 2001, No. A History of Mississippi 2 vols. Feb 20, 2025 · Mississippi is steeped in Black history and culture, from Civil Rights sites that spurred national change to the delta -the birthplace of the blues. Young activists organized in Mississippi with the aid of people from all over the nation. 0% of the total of 69,095 ballots cast). Daniel Buie owned 83 slaves when he died in 1862, which would classify him as a planter. From the start, it was designed to be a self-reliant, autonomous You could also assign history Ph.