Cotton in the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta has made a huge impact on the environment and the people surrounding it. Farming cotton has made a tremendous change over the years. The reason why is because of scientist. The scientist were trying to make it the easiest way possible. Clothes, shoes, and many other items that are useful to humans is produced by cotton. In this way, cotton has affected the economy of the Greenwood community in both positive and negative ways.
Cotton farms are located all throughout the Mississippi Delta. Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi. To this day, cotton remains the top money making crop in Mississippi (Petersen 6-1). Throughout the Mississippi Delta,
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there are exactly 800 cotton fields. Downtown Greenwood, one of Mississippi’s most intact commercial centers of the 21st century, is a tourist attraction by virtue of its character and buildings, locations, selections of unique businesses, and events.
In the heart of the Delta and the high point on the Yazoo River, Greenwood was a prime shopping point to connect with the Mississippi River, parts of Vicksburg, New Orleans, and St. Louis. The downtown area encompasses two of the seven: The Central Commercial and Railroad Historic District, and the Cotton Row district. Downtown’s Front Street, which is called the levy, bustled with cotton factors, and earned the name Cotton Row. The city prospered this way into the 1940’s. Growing into a strong cotton market, the key to the city’s success was its strategic geographic location in the heart of the Delta on the easternmost point of the Alluvial Plain, and astride the Tallahatchie and Yazoo rivers. Today, Greenwood houses the second largest U.S cotton exchange, with about one-fifth of the North America’s crops warehoused and sold by stap-cloth. The wealth of the Antebellum South is based on growing “white gold,” and Greenwood became interested in the cotton capital of the world because of its location (Cotton and …show more content…
Catfish). “As the profitability of cotton production increased, so did the importation of slaves.” By 1835, however, largely as a consequence of the increasing profitability of cotton and of popular revulsion against the radical abolition crusade politicians and writers began to define slavery as a bad nightmare. But in the final two decades of the Antebellum period, the agriculture industry went into depression. “In particular we investigate economic factors that underlie those choices.” (McLemore). Cotton Producers as other major crop producers, have future/option contracts, forward contracts, and cash sales at their disposal.
There has been many different machines invented over the years by farmers to help improve the cotton industry. In 1765, James Hargreaves fully developed the Spinning Jenny. Within twenty years, the number of threads one machine could spin rose from six, to eighty. In 1769, Richard Arkwright invented the “Water Frame.” This, as its title, would suggest that the water you use is a source of power. It also produced a better thread than the spinning Jenny. In 1773, John Kay invented the “Flying Shuttle.” This invention allowed wider cloth to enter in at a faster speed than before Kay decided to use his knowledge as a weaver to develop this machine. In 1779, Samuel Crompton’s “Mule” was invented. It combined the points of the water frame and the Spinning Jenny, which resulted in a machine that could spin a cotton thread faster than any other machine. In 1781, Matthew Boulton and James Watt invented a steam engine that was usable inside a cotton factory, as a result, by the 1790s, the steam engine helped the numbers in cotton factories, therefore there was less reliance on water and the availability of water. Factories tended to be built near coal mines as a result. In the 1800’s, the industry witnessed a spread in the use of chemical bleaches and dyes, which meant that bleaching, dyeing, and printing could all take place in the same
factory. In 1812, the first decent weaving machine, “the Power Loom,” was created. This meant that all stages of the cotton making process could take place in one factory (Trueman). Cotton has had a major impact on the population and the economy over the years. For example, the increase of people, and the amount of income cotton farmers makes. This helps them and their families out in many different ways. It helps them supply food, drinks, clothes, shoes, and many other items that help you live a good healthy life. If the population and the economy would have not increased as much as it did. The whole city would probably go into being a good healthy environment to a non healthy environment, because they are rising instead of falling. Cotton has affected the economy of the Greenwood community in both positive and negative ways. Throughout the years cotton has had its ups and downs, due to a confrontation between a group of people fighting for their rights. This led to people thinking the people were being races, because they did not need their help anymore. There are about as many cotton fields as there are farmers. The Mississippi Delta’s population and economy boom has made a huge impact on the environment and people who live there. Work Cited: “Cotton and Catfish" greenwoodms.com, 25 Aug. 2010, https://www.greenwoodms.com/327/Cotton-Catfish, Accessed 19 Jan. 2018. McLemore, Richard. A History of Mississippi. Hattiesburg University and College Press of Mississippi. Petersen, Jennifer. “Mississippi’s Economy.” [“Let’s Take a Look at Mississippi”]. Let’s Take a Look at Mississippi, 31 July 2017, pp. 6-1. Permalink: search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=14149040&site=ehost-live. Accessed 24 Jan. 2018. Trueman, C.N.“The Cotton Industry And The Industrial Revolution.” 15 March 2015, History Reference Center, The History Learning Site, Accessed 23 Jan. 2018. Vergara, O., et al. “Cotton Producers’ Choice of Marketing Techniques.” Agribusiness: An International Journal, vol.20, no.4, 2004, pp.465-479. EBSCOhost, Permalink: search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=agr&AN=IND43654814&site=ehost-live. Accessed: 24 Jan. 2018.
Eudora Alice Welty practically spent her whole life living in Mississippi. Mississippi is the setting in a large portion of her short stories and books. Most of her stories take place in Mississippi because she focuses on the manners of people living in a small Mississippi town. Writing about the lives of Mississippi folk is one main reason Welty is a known author. Welty’s stories are based upon the way humans interact in social encounters. She focuses on women’s situations and consciousness. Another thing she mostly focuses on is isolation. In almost all of Welty’s earlier stories the main character is always being isolated. Throughout her short stories, a hidden message is always evident. Eudora Welty does a wonderful job of exposing social prejudices in the form of buried messages.
First, it is important to know a few facts concerning the resources of the state state. The state gets its name from the Mississippi River, which flows along the western boundary of the state. Mississippi is heavily forest except for the Delta area, which is mainly agricultural. Its primary crops in the Delta are cotton beans, rice, potatoes, peanuts, and catfish. Its aquaculture farms produce the majority of the farm raised catfish in the U.S. Belzoni, Mississippi is widely known as the “Catfish Capital” of the world. Mississippi has a wide variety of land forms. Its many lakes and streams make it conducive to attract tourists who are interested in hunting and fishing. The lakes and parks are attractive to persons looking for good vacations spots. The thriving coastal area creates a perfect place to live with a wealth of opportunities along the coastline for shrimps, lobsters and deep water fishing. Within the last 20 years, Mississippi has become a great tourism are, especially along the Mississippi coast. There are casinos at Biloxi, Gulfport, Natchez, Vicksburg and all along the Mississippi River from Tunica to Natchez. Many Civil War Battles were fought in Mississippi. Some are the Battle of Vicksburg, the Battle of Clinton, the Battle of Natchez, the Battle of Jackson and therefore, now serves as memorial area that attract many tourists each year.
The film begins in 1972 in Uganda. It centers around an Indian family that is being forced out of their home by General Idi Amin, the new regime. This happens because Jay (the father of the main character, Mina) gives an interview with BBC in which he badmouths the General. Amin does not take to this too lightly and expedites the removal of all “Asians” from Uganda. Jay and his family, along with others are exiled to London. Eighteen years pass by and the film refocuses on Jay, his family and their lives in Greenwood, Mississippi. Mina is now twenty-four years old and works at a motel to help support her family. Her mother, Kinnu, owns a liquor store and her father, Jay, spends a majority of his time time writing to the Ugandan government about suing them in order to regain his lost property.
The Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) is a court trial movie that was released in 1996 and its setting is in Mississippi during the early 1960's. This movie is directed by Rob Reiner and produced by Castle Rock. This film is created on a true story. It relates to Byron De La Beckwith’s final trial, a white supremacist who is alleged to have shot and killed Medgar Evers- a civil rights activist. According to Smith, “race relations during the 1960’s were an area with potential for violence even though a lot of black leaders such as Martin Luther King stressed non-violence in the quest to end racial segregation” (Smith 67). The main highlight of this movie is the decision by Myrlie Evers to reopen as well as pursue this case, along with the opposition
Jennifer Thompson-Cannino was raped at knife point in her apartment. She was able to escape and identify Ronald Cotton as her attacker. The detective conducting the lineup told Jennifer that she had done great, confirming to her that she had chosen the right suspect. Eleven years later, DNA evidence proved that the man Jennifer Identified, Ronald Cotton was innocent and wrongfully convicted. Instead, Bobby Poole was the real perpetrator. Sadly, there are many other cases of erroneous convictions. Picking cotton is a must read for anybody because it educates readers about shortcomings of eyewitness identification, the police investigative process and the court system.
As the Indians used slash and burn to make room for crops when the Americans came to Alabama they learned this type of agriculture and started growing cotton. This led to several events that dramatically affected Alabama's early agricultural development. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain created a greedy appetite for cotton fiber, and in 1794 Eli Whitney patented a new type of cotton gin in the United States, which lowered the cost of processing fiber. “By the time Alabama became a state in 1819, the interior of the state was easily accessed via the Tombigbee, Warrior, Alabama, and Chattahoochee rivers. Crops could also be transported to European and New England markets via the ports of Mobile and Apalachicola, Florida. Settlers poured into the new state with one objective to grow cotton. As time passed there was almost four million acres of cotton growing in Alabama” (Mitchell, 2007). As time progressed people thought of a new type of agriculture.
"Forgiveness" and "racism" are two words that usually do not go together. Surprisingly enough Picking Cotton tells the story of how Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton showed the upmost forgiveness for a wrongful conviction that in part was caused due to the racism. Racism was surely present in the South in the early 1900 's, but historically one does not think racism was a major issue in the 80 's. In one man 's opinion, Ronald Cotton, the Burlington police had racist views that contributed to him serving a life imprisonment for a crime he never committed. In 1984 when two white women were raped by a black man, race played a role in convicting the wrong black man in Burlington, North Carolina. Ronald Cotton was wrongfully convicted by racism
Prior to the cotton gin, a laborer could only pick the seeds out of approximately one pound of cotton a day. The cotton gin made it possible to clean up to 50 pounds per day. The farmers could now plant as much cotton as they wanted and not have the worry about the difficulties of seed removal. Eli’s invention spurred the growth of the cotton industry, and the South took up the slogan “Cotton is King.”
Before the outbreak of the Civil War, Vicksburg, Mississippi had become one of the most prosperous and sophisticated towns on the old southern frontier. The city was a booming center of trade, its wharves crowded with boats carrying all manner of goods and commodities. It boasted a municipal orchestra, a Shakespeare repertory company, and an imposing courthouse in the Greek revival style. To its proud citizens, Vicksburg was the "Queen City of the Bluff" and a center, as one of them wrote, of "culture, education and luxury."
The crops started many years ago, with the switch grass, which is now made for bundling and farm feed, with out the switch grass we may not have the dairy and poultry we have today. Making sure our animals are fed well, is and important thing for the people and the communities. Cotton is another big thing Mississippi has started. Without cotton we would not have the comfortable cloths we wear today, and the towels we dry off with and the pillows and the blankets we sleep with at night, cotton is also used for many medical reason such as gauze for after surgery, and to keep the medicines fresh such as ibuprofen. I am proud to say that cotton is playing an even greater role in our every day lives.
Shortly after arriving in Mississippi, the youth was put to work in picking cotton with the rest of his cousins. On one particularly hot day and after picking cotton, Emmett and a few other black boys went to a local store in Money, Mississippi. The store, which was owned and ran by a young white couple named Carolyn and Roy Bryant, catered mainly to the black field workers in the small to...
"Take Cover!" This phrase was used daily as the citizens of Vicksburg scattered from the raining of mortars by Union guns. Vicksburg, Mississippi is a city in the heartland of the deep South. It sits on high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River near the mouth of the Yazoo River. Settled in 1790, Vicksburg was and is an important shipping and trading center (Leonard 40). During the Civil War, Vicksburg was a key factor in the control of the entire Mississippi River. After the surrender of Natchez, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, the Union wanted Vicksburg. The city wouldn't go easy. "Mississippians don't know, and refuse to learn how to surrender…"(Ward 420). Confederates fortified it with guns and field artillery to keep the city out of the Union's hands. The Union knew it wasn't going to be easy. In the siege of Vicksburg, Farragut tried to take the city, Grant took over, and he seized the city.
The Civil Rights Movement is usually seen as a social movement primarily throughout the Southern states during the 1950’s and throughout the 1960’s. However, the movement is taught by giving specific points, events, places, and people. The Civil Rights Movement in some regions such as the Mississippi Delta is not credited enough in history. The movement found crucial support inside of the Mississippi Delta due to its population being predominately African American. The Mississippi Delta played a key role not only in the movement, but in its development from encompassing Civil Rights activist, movements, tragic events, and more.
The invention of the cotton gin helped speed up the growth of the United States, of course with the help of Eli Whitney who helped the United States in many other ways. As a result, cotton became the cheapest and most widely used textile fabric in the world.
Many African Americans were afraid and frightened in staying in the Mississippi Delta, so many began to relocate and the population continued to decrease dramatically. Not only was the moving due to lack of security, many residents wanted a better job and better living conditions. Poverty was depriving citizens from their basic necessities of life like food, shelter and revenue. On the average, seven African Americans were lynched or beaten each year in the Mississippi Delta since the ending of slavery. Sunflower County illustrated a major decrease in population. In the mid 1970s, the county population consisted of majority African Americans making up roughly 80.9 percent of the county population.