Mississippi

Mississippi, a state located in the Southeastern United States. It is bordered to its north by Tennessee, to the east and Alabama, to the south by the Gulf of Mexico, to the southwest by Louisiana, and to the northwest by Arkansas. The Mississippi River forms the Mississippi River’s western boundary. The 32nd-largest and 35th-most populous state in the United States is Mississippi. It also has the lowest per capita income in the United States. Jackson is the capital of the state and its largest city. Greater Jackson is the state’s most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 in 2020.

On December 10, 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state admitted to the Union. Mississippi was the nation’s largest cotton-producing state by 1860. 55% of the state’s population was slaves. Mississippi declared its secession and became the seventh Confederate State, the largest slaveholding state in the country, on January 9, 1861. Following the Civil War, it was restored to the Union on February 23, 1870.

Before the Great Migration of 1930s, Mississippi was home to a majority of African Americans. In 2010, 37.3% of Mississippi’s population was African American, the highest percentage of any state. Mississippi was the site of many prominent events during the civil rights movement, including the Ole Miss riot of 1962 by white students objecting to desegregation, the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers, and the 1964 Freedom Summer murders of three activists working on voting rights.