Joining the United States, 1799–1832

OVERVIEW

The election year cycle brings extra attention every four years to statewide government offices. How those offices affect our lives between elections is the focus of this lesson plan.

CONNECTION TO THE CURRICULUM

Mississippi Studies Framework: Competencies 1, 4, and 5

TEACHING LEVELS

Grades 6 (with modifications) through 12

OVERVIEW

The Mississippi History Now profiles on Mississippi’s governors offer brief summaries of the personal and political lives of each of the state’s chief executives. Although students usually are aware of the current governor and perhaps can name others who have served in the position, rarely is there enough time in the classroom to permit them a more personal glimpse into the lives of those who have served in the state’s highest elected position. Students can use these gubernatorial biographies in a variety of ways.

OVERVIEW

Throughout the school year, students will analyze Mississippi's four constitutions to determine the various forces that influenced the writing of each one. They will identify specific examples in the documents that indicate how the writers responded to those forces. Students will seek to answer these questions:

• How do the "times" affect the writing of a constitution?
• Does it matter who writes a constitution?

CONNECTION TO STANDARDS

Mississippi Studies Framework: Competencies 1,3,4; Objectives 01, 03.

OVERVIEW

Religion and politics are topics often hotly debated by Mississippians and just as often, deliberately avoided in conversation. This lesson will explore the story of religious groups in the state, beginning with the French and Spanish periods and concluding with the current perception of Mississippi as part of a regional “Bible Belt.” Students will be encouraged to examine relationships between religious beliefs through the years and prevailing societal realities.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS

Mississippi Studies Framework: Competencies 1 and 3.

OVERVIEW

Much of the story of Mississippi’s people, both past and present, has focused on, as Willie Morris writes, her two great blood sources: Great Britain and West Africa. (Morris, My Mississippi , p.

OVERVIEW

In every period of history there exist extraordinary citizens that make everlasting contributions to their society. Gideon Lincecum is one such individual. Through his writings we can gain much insight into the experiences of settlers during the early period of Mississippi’s statehood. His works are an invaluable source of reference for grasping an understanding of how social and cultural changes effected Mississippians of his era.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS

Mississippi Studies Framework: Competencies 1, 2, and 3.

OVERVIEW

With the exception of a brief mention and reference to William Johnson, the free barber of Natchez, very little attention is given by Social Studies texts to free Black people in pre-Civil War Mississippi. In this lesson, students will become acquainted with the free Black population of Mississippi, the prevailing attitudes of slaveholders toward this class, and the efforts of the American and Mississippi Colonization Societies to resettle the free individuals in Africa.

Students will be expected to answer these questions: