The compromise admitted California into the Union as a free state. The conflict generated by this compromise led to the creation of the “Southern” or “State’s Rights” party and the “Union” party in Mississippi.
1850: Mississippians divided over United States Compromise of 1850
1850: John A. Quitman becomes Mississippi’s sixteenth governor
Governor John A. Quitman
Quitman served from 1850 to 1851.
Link to the catalog1850: Birth of the levee system
Cotton scraper used to prepare soil for planting
Mississippi was given title to more than three million acres of swamp and overflow land along its northwestern border with the Mississippi River. At this point only 310 miles of levees had been built along the river, allowing for expanded cotton production within the Delta region of the state.
Image: This cotton scraper was used at Prospect Hill Plantation in Jefferson County.