1540

1540-1541: Spanish explorer, Spanish Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) becomes the first European to enter Mississippi and discovers the Mississippi River

1673

The Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette (1637-1675) and the French Explorer and fur trader Louis Jolliet (1645-1700) explore the Mississippi

1680

Father Louis Hennepin (1626-1705), the Flemish Recollect friar and explorer, sees the Falls of St. Anthony, future site of Minneapolis

1682

French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-1687) navigates the Mississippi River to its mouth and claims it for France

1699

Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville (1661 - 1706) and his brother Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur D'Bienville (1680–1768), establish the first capital of the French colonies

1700s

French fur trading era begins

1729

French settlers at Fort Rosalie are massacred by Natchez Indians

1732

The French retaliate for the massacre at Fort Rosalie decimating the Natchez Indians

1756

1756 - 1763: The Seven Years War (French and Indian War) due to disputes over land is won by Great Britain. France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans. The Spanish give up east and west Florida to the English in return for Cuba.

1763

1763 - 1767 Legal battles were settled by a survey -- which resulted in the Mason-Dixon line, surveyed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, establishing Maryland's northern boundary

1775

1775 - 1783 - The American Revolution creates the United States of America. The Revolution was due to the British burden of taxes and total power to legislate any laws governing the American colonies. George Washingtonled the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War (American War of Independence)

1776

July 4, 1776 - United States Declaration of Independence

1778

July 10, 1778 - France declares war against Britain and makes an alliance with the American revolutionary forces

1779

Bernardo Galvez (1746-1786) captures Natchez but the area is reclaimed by America

1783

September 3, 1783: The Treaty of Paris is signed by the victorious United States and the defeated Great Britain

1803

The Louisiana Purchase - In 1803, the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France. The U.S. Secretary of State, James Madison paid 15 million dollars for the land

1805

By the Treaty of Mount Dexter, the Choctaws sell 4.5 million acres of land to the U.S. government and this opens up land to white settlement

1812

1812 - 1815: The War of 1812 between U.S. and Great Britain, ended in a stalemate but confirmed America's Independence

1805

Zebulon M. Pike (1779-1813), a native of New Jersey, explores Upper Mississippi

1812

1812 - 1815: The War of 1812 between U.S. and Great Britain, ended in a stalemate but confirmed America's Independence

1817

Statehood - The Date that Mississippi was admitted to the Union - December 10, 1817. Constitution - Mississippi was the 20th State to be admitted to the Union. State Motto - " Virtute et armis " the State Motto is translated as " By Valor and Arms ".

1861

1861 - 1865: The American Civil War. In 1859 John Brown raided Harpers Ferry and set in motion events that led directly to the outbreak of the Civil War. outbreak of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln,a known opponent of slavery, was elected president and in 1861 the South Secedes. The initial Secession of South Carolina was followed by the secession of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War.

1865

The surrender of Robert E. Lee on April 9 1865 signalled the end of the Confederacy

1865

1865 December 6 - The Abolishment of Slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, thus officially abolishing slavery

1898

1898-1901 The Spanish American War. On December 10, 1898 the Treaty of Paris the US annexes Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines.

Mississippi Timeline

Origin of the State name - Named after In 1666 French explorers in the western Great Lakes region recorded 'Messipi' as their rendering of the Ojibwa name for the river they had come upon - misi-sipi meaning “big river.”

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