Mississippi in the 20th Century
Chapters. 7 and 8
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The dawn of the 20th century
Mississippi became one of the ________states in the Union after
the Civil War.
Very little industry existed (expect __________________)
Agriculture _____________________the region.
______________________ led to poverty and misery for most
people – black and white.
Sharecropping
________________________ - tenants that had a contract to
work a piece of land for a landowner. The sharecropper and his
family worked and lived on the land.
“_______________” - a line of credit issued to the sharecropper
Landowner received ________ of the crop and the sharecropper
sold the other half for his own profit. However, the sharecropper
had to pay back the “furnishes” with _________________and
support his family for one year.
Sharecroppers were generally
• Lived in _________________
• Had ___________ diets (cornbread, salt, and molasses)
• Were in deep ______________ to their landowner
Sharecropping was much like ____________________. Planters
often cheated the sharecroppers.
Sharecroppers usually could not repay their furnishes and became
____________ tied to the Planter through debt
During 1890’s most sharecroppers were____________, but by
the 1930’s most were white and former small landowners.
Early Lumber industry
Giant ____________ trees covered Mississippi at the turn of the
century.
Between 1880 and 1930, lumber companies
__________________ the entire state.
By the end of ________________ the lumber boom had ended
and all the valuable trees were gone.
Fast growing ____________________ pines eventually became
profitable and people started to replant.
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Many cities in Mississippi got their start from the
_______________________. (Hattiesburg, Laurel, D’Lo)
Early 20th century Politics
BY 1902 the new Democratic Party had approved a
“_____________________” primary.
James K. ________________________ emerged as the premier
politician of early 20th century Mississippi.
Vardaman is known today for helping the poor farmer and his
___________________ of the time.
• Believed _______________ children should not be educated
• Convict _________________ system (state hired out prisoner
to individuals for work)
• Believed in breaking up _______________________ and
distributing the land to small farmers.
MS in WWI
In 1917 America enters _____________, on the side of Great
Britain and France against Germany and Austria.
Most of MS __________________ the US entering WWI.
______________________ loses popularity in MS after WWI,
because he opposed the war.
Almost ________________ men (black and white) served in the
armed forces during the war.
The Great Migration (the Black Exodus)
During WWI blacks began _____________________ MS in large
numbers looking for a better life
This ___________________white leaders in MS, b/c the labor
force was leaving.
Northern Labor ____________promised Black Mississippians a
better life away from the oppression and economic woes of MS
This _____________________ continued through the Great
Depression and WWII
When it was all over MS had lost _____ of its black population
Today African Americans make up ______ of MS pop. the highest
in the U.S.
The Flood of 1927
The flood of _______ was the worst flood in Mississippi history.
______________ people had to evacuate different areas of the
state.
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The National Guard was sent to help ___________ victims.
___________ were evacuated, ________ were set up in camps.
The camps were set up more like prisons than help camps,
eventually the problem was ____________. (p. 188)
The flood water did not _________________ until late summer.
Prohibition in MS
In 1920 the United States added the ________ amendment to
the constitution which made alcohol illegal to make and drink in
America.
This was known as _____________________.
During Prohibition the MS Gulf Coast (particularly the ________)
became famous for supplying Chicago gangsters with moonshine.
This became known as “Kiln __________________.”
______________________ is illegally distilled liquor.
MS ________________ became a major illegal port of entry for
alcohol.
The _________________________ era ended this boom.
The Great Depression in MS
The Great Depression of the 1930’s was the ______________
economic disaster in modern history.
MS farmers were greatly ______________________because they
could not pay back their loans.
In April of 1932, ___________ of all MS land was auctioned off
because of unpaid taxes.
Unemployment rate was 25% and ___________________
farmers were being kicked off land by the landowners.
People went hungry ________________ rich farmland.
Though both black and white suffered, segregation and inequality
were________________________ in the state.
MS Governor Mike ____________________concentrated all his
efforts to solving the financial crisis in MS.
• Creating ___________________ tax
• Cutting government _______________________(jobs)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt came up with the ____________.
The “___________________” was a series of laws and programs
designed to pull the country out of the Great Depression.
MS Senator Pat __________________ was key in the New Deal
as head of the Senate Finance committee.
Several key programs were operated in MS and gave many new
jobs.
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Works _____________________ Administration (WPA)
__________________ Works Administration (PWA)
Civilian Conservation ________________________ (CCC)
_____________________ Adjustment Administration (AAA)
Theodore Bilbo
______________________ was twice governor of MS (1916-20
and 1928-32) and served in the US senate for MS (1935-1947)
Bilbo was known for his ________ and unscrupulous activities.
He used_____________ tactics against his opponents and during
his time in the senate he turned these tactics against blacks.
John_________________ replaced Theodore Bilbo in the Senate,
after his death from cancer.
Mississippi in WWII
On Dec. 7 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and this
brought America into ___________________.
1 out of every ____ (over 250,000) Mississippians served in the
armed forces during WWII.
Many young ________________ went to fight and did not return
in sacrifice for their country.
__________________ brought great change to MS.
Pascagoula, the home of Ingall’s Shipyard, became
a______________.
Biloxi and Hattiesburg expanded with the arrival of
______________________________and the expansion of
________________________.
On the home front during the war items were
_____________________, citizens had curfews and people had
to do without.
People moving in and out of the state brought new
____________ to the area.
_____________________ began to play a larger role in the
workforce to replace the men who were off at war.
Military pay and benefits and wartime prosperity
__________________________ the state’s average income
between 1941 and 1945.
By 1945 the state was modernizing and changing, but
___________________________ was still a major issue to be
overcome.
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