Name

The state is named after the Mississippi River, which traces most of its western boundary. The word Mississippi itself comes from Messipi, the French version of the Native American Ojibwe word for the river, misi-ziibi, which means “Great River”.

Consultant: Nicholas Harris

History of Mississippi

16th century
At the time of the first European explorers, Native American descendants of the Mississippian culture, including the Chickasaw and Choctaw, inhabit the area; other peoples include the Natchez, Yazoo and Biloxi

1540–42
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto passes through the northeastern part of the state

17th century
French claim the territory that includes Mississippi as part of their colony of New France

1699
A French group under Pierre le Moyne establishes the first permanent settlement at Fort Maurepas (also known as Old Biloxi) near present-day Ocean Springs

1716
The French found Fort Rosalie (now Natchez) on the Mississippi River; it becomes the main trading post in the area

1718
The colony comes under the authority of the French Mississippi Company

1763
Great Britain takes over the area after the French and Indian Wars

1783
Britain cedes the area to the US after the American Revolution

1798
US takes control and creates Mississippi Territory (the northern parts of present-day Mississippi and Alabama combined) with Natchez as its capital

1802
Georgia gives up its claim to its western lands (which include most of present-day Mississippi)

1810
US annexes West Florida from Spain, including what is now southern Mississippi; part of it is added to Mississippi Territory in 1812

early 19th century
The population in Mississippi Territory rises dramatically, from less than 9000 to more than 220,000 as American settlers bring African American slaves with them to work on the cotton plantations

1817
Mississippi becomes the 20th state admitted to the Union; the eastern section of Mississippi Territory becomes Alabama Territory

1830
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek signed between the US Government and the Choctaw Native American people; the Choctaw agree to sell their homelands in Mississippi and Alabama and move to reservations in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), opening up land for European-American settlement

1850s
Cotton is king: Mississippi plantation owners became wealthy due to the high price of cotton on the international market; they use their profits to buy more land for cultivation and more slaves

1861
Mississippi secedes (breaks away) from the Union

1863
During Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant's long siege of Vicksburg finally gives control of the Mississippi River to the Union

1870
Mississippi is readmitted to the Union after it abolishes slavery

1870s–80s
Many African American farmers succeed in gaining land ownership, but as cotton prices slump, many of them are forced to sell their land to pay off debts

1910–40
Tens of thousands of African Americans leave Mississippi for the North in the First Great Migration. Seeking jobs, better education for their children, the right to vote and freedom from discrimination, they head for industrial cities such as St Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia and New York. Most migrants from Mississippi take trains directly north to Chicago

1912–13
Flooding overwhelms northwestern Mississippi

1927
The Great Mississippi Flood: in the most destructive river flood in the history of the US, 70,000 sq km (27,000 sq miles) are inundated. More than 200,000 African Americans are displaced from their homes in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. As a result of this disruption, many join the Great Migration to the industrial cities of the North and Midwest

1940s–70
Second Great Migration: almost half a million people leave Mississippi, three-quarters of them black. Many head west, especially to California, where the growth of the defence industry offers higher-paying jobs.

1962
Ole Miss riot, also known as the Battle of Oxford: segregationist opponents to the enrolment of James Meredith, an African American, at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), in Oxford, Mississippi become violent. The mob assault federal officers, burn and loot property and hijack vehicles. Two civilians are murdered. The riot ends when more than 13,000 soldiers arrive on the scene

1964
Freedom Summer, a volunteer campaign to register as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi, is launched. In response, three civil rights workers, are murdered by members of the white supremacist terrorist organization Ku Klux Klan and buried in an earthen dam outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, along with the bodies of several other black Mississippi residents. President Johnson uses the outrage over their deaths to bring about passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

1969
Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people

2005
Mississippi is hit by Hurricane Katrina, killing hundreds of people, mostly in Harrison County

2020
The previous flag of Mississippi, featuring the Confederate battle flag, is replaced by the "New Magnolia" flag, which becomes the new official state flag in 2021.

2023
(24th March) Violent tornado takes a path through the towns of Rolling Fork, Midnight and Silver City in western Mississippi, causing catastrophic damage and loss of life.