During the 50’s and 60’s, African-Americans fought and yes died for the rights that were given to white Americans. The right to vote, lives without fear, and achieve the American Dream. Fanner Lou Hamer, a civil rights pioneer, spent time in jail. According to Wikipedia, “Hamer was invited, along with the rest of the MFDP officers, to address the Convention's Credentials Committee. She recounted the problems she had encountered in registration, and the ordeal of the jail in Winona, and, near tears, concluded. Mississippi’s history makes the state what it is today. From Indians to Europeans, to people moving west to find a home and land, the growth of the state was made in stages that spans hundreds of years. The past has affected the modern …show more content…
The past has affected the modern Mississippi’s culture, political events, and educational level. December 10, 1817. By 1860 there were approximately 437,000 black men, women, and children in slavery. There were some freed slaves but not many until President Lincoln freed all the slaves in the United States during the Civil War. After the Civil War, The Great Depression and low prices for cotton back in the day made people sell their land and become sharecroppers. The sharecropper system excluded poor blacks and poor whites from the political system and public life. Thousands left Mississippi making their way to the North to work in factories and other businesses. If you ask the regular citizen you would think that Mississippi is a great place to work and live. Employment is still high but the working people are making fair wages and pay their bills on time. Mississippi still has a long way to go in producing high paying jobs. There are good high paying jobs in several areas of the state. Nissan in Canton, G.E. in Batesville, and several “green” companies across the Northern part of the State pay good