The Mississippi Territory
The Mississippi country was opened to settlement in 1798 when Congress organized the Mississippi Territory. (Until it became a separate territory in 1817, Alabama was part of Mississippi.) A few settlers already lived in Mississippi when it became a territory. They were concentrated in two principal areas — the Natchez District and the lower Tombigbee settlements above and west of Mobile. Approximately 4,500 people, including slaves, lived at Natchez, considerably more than the combined free and slave population of 1,250 that inhabited the Tombigbee settlements in 1800. Outside of these two areas, the territory was populated only by American Indians.
Immigrants coming into the country could expect none of the conveniences or comforts of the civilized world they left behind. The deprivation and hardship that awaited the immigrant in the raw, primitive Mississippi wilderness of 1800 raises a fundamental question: Why would a person choose to leave the comfort and convenience of an established farm in one of the older communities for the perilous uncertainty of life in the Mississippi wilds? The answer to this question, in a word, is — Opportunity.
For the average person, economic opportunities had diminished in the older southern agricultural states as the available supply of fertile land dwindled. Generations of ruinous agricultural practices had, by 1800, exhausted the soils of the old plantations. This made the rich virgin land of Mississippi all the more attractive. The decline in soil fertility of the upper South had been accompanied by a sharp decrease in demand for tobacco, the region's staple product.
During the first phase of the Great Migration, which began in 1798 and continued until 1819, two distinct waves of immigrants swept into the Territory. The first wave began when the Territory was organized and subsided when the War of 1812 began. The second wave developed after the war ended in 1814. It peaked in the years 1818-1819 and receded after the Panic of 1819 brought about a general economic depression. In the period from 1798 to 1812, the flow of immigrants was steady but unspectacular, at least by comparison with the 1815-1819 period.
In the first period, settlers moved primarily into three general areas — the
Natchez country, the lower Tombigbee River basin, and the Tennessee Valley.
Of these three regions, Natchez received the largest number of settlers during the first period of migration. In 1798 Natchez had a total population, white and black, of 4,500 persons. Two years later the counties of Adams and Pickering (later renamed Jefferson County), into which Natchez had been divided in 1799, contained a total population of 4,446 whites and 2,995 slaves. By 1811, a tier of five new counties lying north and south of Adams county and eastward to the present Alabama state line had been created. The total population of these counties amounted to 31,306 persons, 14,706 of whom were slaves. During the same period, the settlements along the lower Tombigbee, in what became part of Alabama in 1817, grew much more slowly than the Natchez country. The Mississippi portion of the Territory increased by almost 27,000 persons during the period 1798-1880. The settlements in south Alabama grew by less than 3,000.
Migration to the Territory slowed during the War of 1812. But after peace was made in 1814, immigration resumed and surpassed anything that had ever been witnessed. Thousands of immigrants began to pour into the country. By horse, by wagon, by boat, and on foot, the flood of humanity swept into the Territory. One traveler, during nine days of travel in 1816, counted no fewer than 4,000 immigrants coming into the Territory during nine days of travel. Residents of the older states, such as Virginia and the Carolinas, began to fear that the “Mississippi Fever” would depopulate their states. Everyone seemed to be moving to Mississippi.
(Questions are on the back)
Question 1
This passage is mainly about
A. The cotton industry in the Mississippi Territory
B. How Mississippi became a state
C. How the population of the Mississippi Territory dramatically increased
D. How the War of 1812 contributed to the growth of the Mississippi Territory
Question 2
As it is used in the passage, the underlined word fundamental most nearly means
A. Extra
B. Advanced
C. Secondary
D. Essential
Question 3
Paragraph 5 is mainly about
A. The fertile soil of the Mississippi Territory
B. The numbers of immigrants to the Natchez region of the Mississippi Territory
C. Tobacco losing its status as a staple product in the Mississippi Territory
D. The lower half of the Mississippi Territory developing in to counties
Question 4
This passage states that which is true of American Indians in the Mississippi Territory
A. The area outside of Tombigbee and Natchez districts were populated only by American Indians
B. American Indians were a part of the slave population in the Mississippi Territory
C. American Indians welcomed the new settlers in to their land
D. Congress asked the American Indians permission before opening up the territory to settlers