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"Our Mississippi Friends"
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| First explored for Spain by Hernando De Soto, | |||||||||||||||||
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| who discovered the Mississippi River in 1540, the region was later claimed by France. | |||||||||||||||||
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In 1699, a French group under Sieur d'Iberville established the first permanent settlement near present-day Ocean Springs. | ||||||||||||||||
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| Great Britain took over the area in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars, ceding it to the U.S. in 1783 after the Revolution. | |||||||||||||||||
| Spain did not relinquish its claims until 1798, and in 1810 the U.S. annexed West Florida | |||||||||||||||||
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| from Spain, including what is now southern Mississippi. | |||||||||||||||||
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| For a little more than one hundred years, from shortly after the state's founding | |||||||||||||||||
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| through the Great Depression, cotton was the undisputed king of Mississippi's largely agrarian economy. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Over the last half-century, however, Mississippi has diversified its economy by | |||||||||||||||||
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| balancing agricultural output with increased industrial activity. | |||||||||||||||||
| Today, agriculture continues as a major segment of the state's economy. | |||||||||||||||||
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| For almost four decades soybeans occupied the most acreage, while cotton remained the largest cash crop. In 2001, however, more acres | |||||||||||||||||
| of cotton were planted than soybeans, and Mississippi jumped to second in the nation in cotton production (exceeded only by Texas). | |||||||||||||||||
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| The state's farmlands also yield important harvests of corn, peanuts, pecans, rice, sugar | |||||||||||||||||
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| cane, and sweet potatoes as well as poultry, eggs, meat animals, dairy products, feed crops, and horticultural crops. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Mississippi remains the world's leading producer of pond-raised catfish. |
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| The state abounds in historical landmarks and is the home of the Vicksburg National Military Park. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Other National Park Service areas are Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, Tupelo National Battlefield, and part of Natchez Trace National Parkway. | |||||||||||||||||
| Pre–Civil War mansions are the special pride of Natchez, Oxford, Columbus, Vicksburg, and Jackson. | |||||||||||||||||
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Friendship Section - Help!
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