Mississippi is a state of America located in the Deep South. Mississippi borders Alabama to the East, Arkansas and Louisiana to the West, Tennessee to the North, and the Gulf of Mexico to the South. As of 2024, 2,963,914 people call Mississippi their home. A majority of these people live in and around Jackson, the state capital and largest city.
History
Mississippi became a state on December 10, 1817, as the 20th state in the United States. Prior to this, Mississippi was a territory that also included Alabama, which became a separate territory upon Mississippi’s statehood.
On January 9, 1861, Mississippi seceded from the United States and co-founded the Confederate States alongside Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas. Mississippi resident Jefferson Davis became president of the CSA upon its establishment. This was the beginning of the American Civil War
In 1863, the very-long Siege of Vicksburg ended in a Unionist victory. That same year, Jones County, located in Mississippi’s northeast, seceded as the “Free State of Jones”, with Confederate army deserter Newton Knight as its leader.
After the Civil War, Mississippi was occupied by Union troops. The state was brought back into the union on February 23, 1870. Decades after the restoration of statehood, Democrats took back power and passed racist laws against the state’s freedmen, which would continue for nearly a century afterwards.
In 1965, after nearly a century, Black Mississippians were given voting rights after having them ceased in the late 19th century. This was done after Federal civil rights laws were passed the previous year.
On August 17, 1969, Hurricane Camille struck the coastal areas of Southern Mississippi, killing 248 people and causing 1.5 billion dollars in damages. 36 years later in 2005, Hurricane Katrina would make landfall in Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
In 2020, Mississippi governor Tate Reeves signed a law that removed the Confederate flag from the state flag. This was done in the aftermath of the George Floyd riots, which made all Confederate symbols now taboo. A new flag was adopted the following year, which is still in use today.
In the 2024 election, Mississippi congressman Sergey Putin was elected president, becoming the first Mississippian to hold the executive office. He is going to take office on January 20, 2025, as the 47th United States president.