Mississippi Territory
The Mississippi Territory was a historic territory of the United States that was established on April 7, 1798 and expanded twice (1804 and 1812). It stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the southern border of the state of Tennessee . ( Georgia ceded the northern portion in 1802 and the Gulf Coast region was acquired by Spain in 1812. ) The original Mississippi Territory included what is now the state of Alabama , and 9 months before Mississippi was admitted to the Union in 1817 Alabama Territory to the east split off March 3rd. On December 10, 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state to join the Union.
history
Mississippi Territory was established in 1798 from land contested by the United States and Spain after Spain ceded its claim to it in the Pinckney Treaty of 1795. This area extended from latitude 31 degrees north to 32 ° 28 'N (estimated to be the southern half of what is now the states of Alabama and Mississippi).
The state of Georgia maintained a claim over almost the entire area of the present-day states of Alabama and Mississippi (from 32 ° N to 35 ° N) until it gave up this claim in 1802. Two years later, the United States Congress extended the borders of Mississippi Territory to include all of the cessions of Georgia.
In 1812, the US Congress incorporated the Mississippi Territory into the Mobile District of West Florida, claiming that it was included in the Louisiana Purchase . Spain denied this and maintained its claim over the area. The following year General James Wilkinson occupied this district militarily - the Spanish commander did not offer any resistance.
On March 3, 1817, the Mississippi Territory was partitioned. The western part became the State of Mississippi and the eastern part became the Alabama Territory, with St. Stephens on the Tombigbee River as the provisional seat of government.
