USA > Mississippi > School history of Mississippi; for use in public and private schools > Part 5
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72. Relief Attempted (1779) .- After Willing's expedition Captain Michael Jackson - was placed in charge of a com- pany of soldiers at Fort Panmure, in order to protect the inhabitants against future robberies. He was a horse-thief, and had been driven from the borders of civilization. His conduct soon led to his arrest and imprisonment, Captain Thaddeus Lyman being placed in command of the fort. Jackson again secured possession of the fortification
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HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
through treachery, but was again forced to retire, after having robbed the fort of all the valuables he could carry away.
73. Spanish Conquest of West Florida (1779 to 1781) .- On August 19, 1779, the Spanish officers at New Orleans recognized the independence of the thirteen colonies, and began hostilities against England. Galvez (gäl'věth), the newly appointed governor of the Spanish province of Louisiana, immediately after taking the oath of office (September, 1779), prepared for an attack on the English forts along the Mississippi. After capturing Fort Bute he made a vigorous assault upon Baton Rouge (băt'un roozh), which was defended by Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson with a force about one-third as large as that of Galvez. After an engagement of three hours, the Spaniards were victorious, and the English commander surrendered all the posts in the Districts of Manchac and Natchez, and retired with full honors of war. Thus all that part of Mississippi west of the Pearl River passed under the Spanish flag. A year later Mobile fell, and the rest of what is now the State of Mississippi was conquered. With the fall of Pensacola, the capital, in 1781, the conquest of West Florida was com- pleted. Although Spain was not in alliance with the colonies, her agent had notified General Washington of the intended invasion before it took place.
74. A Revolt Against the Spaniards .- Shortly before the fall of Pensacola the English commander at that place, General Campbell, agreed to a plan formed by the inhabi- tants of the Natchez District for the seizure of Fort Pan- mure, and promised to send troops to their support. A British fleet was said to be off the coast with orders to reconquer the country. Upon the arrival of a Choctaw chief and fifty of his warriors to aid the inhabitants, they boldly unfurled the English flag in full view of the fort
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WEST FLORIDA UNDER GOVERNOR CHESTER
(April 28, 1782). After some bloodshed they got posses- sion of the fort through strategy, the Spanish soldiers being allowed to withdraw to Baton Rouge. A courier then arrived at Natchez, bringing the sad news of the fall of Pensacola and the surrender of the whole of West Florida to the hated Spaniards. What had been thought to be a British fleet was, in fact, a Spanish fleet with reinforcements from Havana.
Upon the receipt of this news the settlers immediately abandoned the fort. The leaders, knowing that they would be severely punished by the Spaniards, sought safety in flight. One party, numbering over a hundred men, women, children, and slaves, started for the British posts in Georgia and the Carolinas. Their journey of one hundred and forty-nine days through the vast wilderness and over the wild prairies was one of the most intense suffering. Tor- mented by hunger and by thirst, and weakened by exposure and by travel, even the men of the party more than once threw. themselves on the ground to die. The account of this terrible flight forms one of the darkest pages in the . history of the State.
75. Life of the People .- The English were the first to cultivate the soil successfully in Mississippi. Their efforts were directed almost entirely to the raising of products for home consumption, and they cultivated only a few of the many acres they owned. Rice, corn, wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, cotton, flax, and tobacco were raised along the Mississippi in small quantities, and rarely, if at all, for exportation. Probably the most profitable industry at that time was the raising of indigo seed, which was sold for about forty dollars a barrel to the more wealthy planters, who were able to buy the machinery necessary for manu- facturing the dye on a profitable scale. Tobacco was raised, but in smaller quantities than in later years. The settlers
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HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
owned large numbers of cattle and hogs, which required little attention, except protection from the bear and wolf. Because of the difficulty of obtaining iron, agricultural implements were few and imperfect. Nails sold for a dollar a pound. Iron was seldom used in making wagons or carts. Wheels were generally made by sawing cross sections a few inches thick from a log of sufficient diameter. Many of the wealthiest families in the country used pewter plates and FLAX WHEEL spoons which they made in then own moulds. They raised the flax from which thread and cloth were made. Cotton was cultivated only in quantities sufficient for home use .*
Summary
1. In Governor Chester's administration trouble having arisen over the election of representatives, there was no meeting of an. assembly for the six years preceding 1778, and, when an assembly was finally chosen it held a stormy session of thirty-four days without passing the bills desired by the governor.
2. As early as 1778 there were a greater number of respectable, wealthy planters along the Mississippi and the Manchac than in any other part of the colony of West Florida.
3. In 1778 Captain James Willing plundered the homes of several wealthy planters along the Mississippi and otherwise mal- treated them.
4. Spain declared war against Great Britain in 1779, and a force under Galvez conquered the entire province of West Florida within the two years following.
5. The inhabitants of the Natchez District revolted against the Spaniards in 1782, but were unsuccessful and many of their leaders sought safety in flight.
6. The English were the first to cultivate the soil successfully in Mississippi, but at first they raised crops entirely for home use
*See Waile's Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi, pp. 127-131
.
THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS TROUBLES
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EPOCH IV SPANISH RULE (1781-1798)
CHAPTER IX
THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS TROUBLES
76. A Diplomatic Struggle .- At the end of the Revolu- tionary War the possession of the Mississippi Valley became a bone of contention among the powers. Spain held West Florida by right of conquest. She was ambitious to get pos- session of all the territory west of the Alleghanies and thus to " coop up " the United States between those mountains and the Atlantic. France partly supported her, and proposed a western boundary line of the United States that would have made Mississippi a Spanish province. On the other hand, England was anxious to recover West Florida, and was willing to recognize the Mississippi as the western boundary of the United States. The English and American commissioners entered into a secret bargain. They agreed that, if England succeeded in regaining West Florida, they would recognize this territory as having the same northern boundary (32° 30') that it had at the time of the Spanish conquest ; but, if Spain declined to return it, they would insist upon the first northern boundary (31°), which was established by the proclamation of 1763. In either case all of the country lying along the northern boundary of the two Floridas was to belong to the United States. As Spain refused to give up West Florida, England, by the Treaty of Paris, recognized the independence of the thirteen colonies, with the thirty-first degree as their southern boundary between the Mississippi and the Chattahoochee. 5
.
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HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
Spain was, however, in possession of the country as far north as 32° 30', and for a period of twelve years (until 1795) she refused to recognize the boundary established by this treaty. Finally she yielded the point at issue in order to get herself out of other troubles, but she still hoped to hold the country by intrigue. Failing in this hope she unwillingly withdrew from that part of Mississippi north of the thirty-first degree (1798). These facts have been given at some length, because they not only largely determined the course of Mississippi history, but filled the annals of this period with cunning plots to make a large section of the most valuable portion of the State a part of the Spanish possessions in the New World. From 1783 to 1798 the United States considered Spain as an intruder in that part of Mississippi which lies north of latitude 31º .*
77. Character of Spanish Rule .- Very much to the sur- prise of the colonists, the Spanish rule was mild and liberal. Natchez was the capital of what was known as the Natchez District, which embraced the greater part of the settle- ments on the Mississippi above the limits of the present State of Louisiana. The commandant, or governor, at Natchez was supreme throughout the district in matters political and military. He was supreme judge, notary, and keeper of deeds and records. He appointed all the inferior officers, and had control of the militia.
The policy of the Spanish officials was to encourage im- migration into their territory, but to discourage trade with the inhabitants of the United States. The British subjects that desired to leave the country were given more than two years in which to dispose of their property, instead of eighteen months, as agreed upon in the treaty with England. The ease with which lands were secured by settlers and the
*An interesting discussion of this subject may be found in Hinsdale's Old Northwest. pp. 162-192
.
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THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS TROUBLES
fertility of the soil attracted a large number of them from the United States. No taxes were collected and no military services required of the inhabitants. In order to keep down trade with the United States, the Spanish officials captured and sold the boats and cargoes that were found on the Mis- sissippi from Tennessee and Kentucky and other western territories. Legal troubles were settled at little cost, as the usual mode of disposing of such matters was to get the com- mandant to appoint some of the best citizens in the country to decide these matters. More than once in time of general disaster, the embarrassment of the debtor class was relieved by passing " stay laws," which extended the time of the payment of debts, thus preventing the forced sale of the property of many of the inhabitants.
78. Increase of Population .- For twelve years after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Spain refused to recognize the thirty-first degree as the southern boundary of the United States, but it was confidently expected that sooner or later she would be forced to do so. This expectation gave an impetus to immigration into the Natchez District. Sir William Dunbar, who lived near Baton Rouge at that time (1783), wrote to a friend in Philadelphia : " I am sorry to say that our plantation falls considerably without the American line, in consequence of which it may not be worth a pinch of snuff as a salable commodity. . As Natchez is considerably above thirty-one degrees, we believe here that it must soon become a settlement of great consequence." He was so firmly convinced of the great advantage that the country would derive from this change, which he believed was certain to take place, that in a short time he moved into the Natchez District. Many others did likewise, and in three years the population of the Natchez District increased from 1,500 to 2,679 persons.
79. Relations with the Indians .- The natives were
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1
naturally hostile to the United States, for that government plainly desired to occupy their lands. The Spaniards, on the contrary, tried in every way to keep their friendship. Numerous councils were held, bribes and presents given, and firearms furnished. The Indians were induced to have no dealings except with Spanish traders. By this means New Orleans, Natchez, Mobile, and Pensacola became centers of Indian trade. The Spanish government feared the United States, and for this reason was forced to rely on the Indians for aid in the coming conflict between the two countries. Spanish envoys were sent not only among the Choctaws and Chickasaws, but among the other tribes of Mississippi. These envoys, while declaring that they were trying to keep the Indians at peace, were really inciting them to war.
80. Trouble with Georgia .- Georgia claimed that all the territory held by the Spaniards north of latitude 31° and east of the Mississippi was within her limits. By an act of the Legislature of Georgia the county of "Bourbon " was created (1785) ; it embraced the settlements on the Mis- sissippi above and below Natchez, and included the present counties of Warren, Claiborne, Jefferson, Adams, Wilkin- son, and Amite. This act also provided for carrying out. the laws and for the sale of land at not more than twenty- five cents an acre. Three years later (1788) the Legislature of Georgia passed an act giving this territory over to the United States upon certain terms, which were not accepted by Congress. Colonel Thomas Green, in behalf of the State of Georgia, demanded the surrender of the country, but his demand was treated with contempt, and at the first opportunity he was placed in confinement by the Spaniards. Georgia then tried another method of asserting her claim to this territory.
81. Land Companies .- With the spread of immigration
-
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THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS TROUBLES
to the westward at the close of the Revolutionary War, many companies were organized for the purpose of buying and selling land. The most notable of these were connected with what was known as the Yazoo lands, of central and northern Mississippi and Alabama. These lands were very attractive to the speculator, as they could be bought cheaply on account of the uncertain title to them. Although they were held by the natives under the protection of the Spanish' government, they were claimed by Georgia and the United States. The Virginia Company, having among its members Patrick Henry, secured a grant of nearly 20,000 square miles. The Tennessee Company secured a similar grant and organized a body of men under Zachariah Cox, who more than once tried to take possession of the grant. The South Carolina Yazoo Company purchased over 15,000 square miles of land in the present States of Mississippi and Alabama for about four dollars and a half a square mile. It organized a body of troops known as the " Yazoo Battalion," which consisted of over five hundred men, all of whom were to be paid in land. This force was preparing to invade the country, when the Federal Government, having had its attention called to the matter by the Spanish authorities, put a stop to the scheme.
When it became known that Spain had yielded to the United States her claim to the Yazoo country (1795), other companies were organized. They obtained from the Georgia legislature grants to the amount of over 30,000,000 acres, for which they paid less than two cents an acre. The most corrupt methods were used in order to secure the passage of these grants by the legislature. Every member of that body who supported them was, with one exception, a stockholder in some one of the companies. The indigna- tion of the people of the State was so aroused that at the next meeting of the legislature, the year following, the acts
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HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
were all repealed, and the records of the disgraceful trans- action were piled in front of the State House and destroyed by a fire kindled from the rays of the sun by the use of a convex lense .*
82. Commandants .- Don Estevan Miro (es tā'vän mē'ro) (1782); Don Pedro Piernas (pā'dro peer nas) (1782-
"CONCORD," HOME OF SOME OF THE SPANISH GOVERNORS.
1783) ; Francisco Collett (frän thes'ko kol'let) (1783) ; Don Philip Trevino (trā vē'no) (1783-1785) ; Don Francis Bou- ligny (boo lin'yā) (1785-1786) ; Don Carlos de Grand Pré (cär'los dā gränd prā) (1786-1792); Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos (măn ū el' gē yō'ső dā lā'mos) (1792-1798) ; Don Stephen Minor (1798).
" Read Haskins' Yazoo Land Companies, in the Papers of the American Historical Association for October, 1891; also, Sparks' (W. H.) Memories of Fifty Years.
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OCCUPATIONS DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD
Summary
1. By the Treaty of Paris (1783) England recognized 31º as the southern boundary of the United States, but Spain ignored this provision of the treaty and held the Natchez District until 1798.
2. The general policy of the Spaniards was to encourage immigration from the United States, but to discourage trade with citizens of that country.
3. The Spaniards cultivated the friendship of the natives, whom they finally incited to war against the United States.
4. Georgia asserted her claim to the northern part of West Florida, first by creating the county of Bourbon and then by selling a greater part of the territory to land companies.
5. Some of the land companies, particularly the Tennessee and the South Carolina companies, made efforts to invade the country in order to seize by force the lands they had bought.
CHAPTER X
OCCUPATIONS DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD
83. Tobacco Culture .- When the country passed under Spanish control, a market for the agricultural products of the Natchez District was for the first time opened at New Orleans. Attention was then directed to the raising of products for sale. The cultivation of tobacco was encour- aged by the Spanish government, and the planters were paid ten dol- lars a hundred pounds for all of it that passed inspection at the king's warehouse. An acre of land pro- duced from fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds. Under this sys- tem the country began to prosper. THE TOBACCO PLANT In order to increase the output of tobacco a large number of slaves was introduced,
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HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
and more land was put into cultivation. The larger planters packed their tobacco in hogsheads. As roads were bad and wagons and carts few, hogsheads were frequently harnessed to horses by means of shafts or poles attached to
TORACCO HOGSHEAD
the hogsheads by bolts driven into the heads, and thus rolled off to market. Tobacco was prepared for market in smaller quantities by wrapping it with the inner bark of the bass- wood, which at that time was very common .*
84. General Wilkinson and the Spaniards .- In 1787 Gen- eral Wilkinson went down the Mississippi from Louisville to New Orleans with a flatboat loaded with tobacco, flour, bacon, etc., which he sold at a great profit. He then entered into an agreement with Governor Miro, who gave him some special privileges, such as supplying the Mexican market with tobacco, and storing it in the king's store at New Orleans. These privileges were very hurtful to the agricul- tural interests of the Natchez District on account of the superior quality of the tobacco raised in Kentucky. In a short time the price of the tobacco raised by the planters of Mississippi was so much reduced that the culture of it was abandoned.
85. Indigo Culture .- Indigo next became the staple agricultural product of the Natchez District. This plant was now cultivated for the dye as well as for the seed, each
* For further information on this subject, see Waile's Agricul- ture and Geology of Mississippi, pp. 127-181.
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OCCUPATIONS DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD
workman raising annually enough to make about one hun- dred and fifty pounds of the former, for which he received from one dollar and a half to two dollars a pound. Owing to the disagreeableness of manufacturing the dye and the ravages of an insect on the plant, the culture of it was soon abandoned (1795) for the cultivation of cotton, which has since remained the staple product of Mississippi.
86. Cotton Culture .- Cotton was probably introduced into the Mississippi Valley by the French colonists from San Domingo. Charlevoix (char leh vwa') saw cotton grow- ing in a garden at Natchez in 1722, and Bienville men- tioned the profitable cultivation of the same product in Louisiana in 1735 .* Many varieties of cotton have been cultivated in the State, the most important being the Upland, the Tennessee green seed, and the Mexican. The first variety has a smooth, black, naked seed. The staple of the second variety was difficult to gather; yet for a few years it took the place of the first, because it was free from the rot. Walter Burling of Natchez greatly aided cotton culture in Mississippi. While dining with the viceroy of Mexico (1806), he requested in the midst of their conver- sation permission to import some of the Mexican cotton seed into the United States. The request was declined on the ground that it was forbidden by the Spanish govern- ment, but the viceroy humorously granted his guest per- . mission to take home with him as many Mexican dolls as he might desire. This offer was promptly accepted by Mr. Burling, who returned to Natchez with the dolls stuffed with the cotton seed he desired.
87. Cotton Gins in Mississippi .- The small roller gin was the first machine used to separate the lint from the seed. It consisted of two rollers, less than an inch in diameter,
* See Waile's Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi.
-
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HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
and about eight inches long.
They were attached to a frame and made to revolve - in opposite directions. . In order to run the machinery two boys sat face to face, each turning a crank at- tached to a roller, and one feeding the roller with seed cotton, while the other pulled the lint through, leaving the seed to fall below. An improvement was made by the use of a treadle worked by the foot for revolving the rollers, PRIMITIVE ROLLER GIN thereby leaving both hands of the operator free to attend to the cotton. Until the introduction of the Whitney gin the small hand gins could be found in nearly every planter's house, and for many years after could be seen on the small farms in the interior, where cot- ton was raised only for home consump- tion.
Before the close 0 of the period of Spanish rule the in- vention of a new gin gave new life WHITNEY'S GIN to the raising of cotton. This celebrated invention of Eli Whitney was introduced into Georgia in 1794. The year following, a negro mechanic belonging to Mr. Daniel
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OCCUPATIONS DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD
Clarke, who lived near Fort Adams, Mississippi, made a very good gin from a rude drawing and an imperfect de- scription obtained from a traveler who had seen Whitney's gin in Georgia. Within the next three years several gins were made in Mississippi. They were run almost entirely by horse or water power. So tedious had been the process of separating the lint from the seed, that probably not more than three bags of cotton were exported from Missis- sippi before the invention of the Whitney gin. This ship- ment was made by Mr. Wil- liam Vousdan, who lived on Second Creek, a few miles below Natchez.
88. Effect of the Invention of Whitney's Gin .- In 1797 Sir William Dunbar, who at that time lived near Natchez, wrote that cotton was then the universal crop of the Natchez District. David Greenleaf, one of the first manufacturers of gins in Mississippi, began this work near Natchez (1796). Cotton : culture increased so rapidly 7 along the Mississippi River that some of the gins were kept constantly busy for COTTON GIN (1764) several years. The receipts which the ginners gave to the planters took the place of paper money, and were received by merchants for the purchase of goods. Seed cotton sold readily for five dollars a hundred pounds.
89. The Screw Press .- Cotton was first prepared for
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HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
market by packing it in bags. Later it was packed in wooden boxes by means of levers. Sir William Dunbar conceived the idea of packing it in square bales, and displacing the lever by a cast-iron screw, which he ordered. from Philadelphia (1799). David Greenleaf, who substituted wooden for iron screws, gave this idea a more practica! form.
90. Cotton Seed .- With the increased production of cotton after Whitney's invention, the cotton seed came te be regarded as a great nuisance. They were neither fed tc stock nor used to fertilize the fields, but were burned o' left to decay in some remote part of the farm. Gin owners were required to keep the seed inclosed to prevent the hogs of the neighborhood from being killed by feeding upor. them. As early as 1800 Sir William Dunbar made an un- · successful attempt to manufacture cotton-seed oil for market. In one of his letters to a correspondent in Phila- delphia he says of such oil: " It will probably be a grade between the drying and fat oils, resembling that made from linseed in color and tenacity, but less drying. Where shall a market be found for such an oil? "
Summary
1. Under the Spanish ruie a market was first opened for the agricultural product of the Natchez District, and attention was then directed to the raising of commodities for sale.
2. The Spanish authorities first encouraged the cultivation of tobacco, and it remained the staple product of Mississippi until driven from the market by the excellence of the tobacco of Ten nessee and Kentucky.
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