Mississippi River

9/1/24

Overview

The mighty Mississippi River is the third largest watershed in the world, starting at Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota and winding some 2,340 miles before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico not far from New Orleans. Historically home to over a dozen Native American tribes who lived near its banks, the Mississippi river has been both a vital transportation artery and a fertile agricultural region throughout the entire history of North America, up to and including the United States. 

Key Lecture Points

  • An important resource. Including its many tributaries, the Mississippi River watershed includes all or parts of thirty-two US states and two Canadian provinces. It passes along and forms part of the state boundaries for Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana—all states that rely on the river for agriculture and drinking water. The Mississippi is also a vital transit corridor; one study estimated that shutting down traffic on the Mississippi River for just one day would have a cost of $259 million.
  • Historical Importance. Human beings have lived on the banks of the Mississippi for thousands of years. It was central in European wrangling over North America. And it has held a special place in American life since the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.  The introduction of the steamboat allowed for upriver navigation of the Mississippi, making the river a central artery crucial to the extension of American agricultural and industrial economy.
  • Efforts to Control the River.  Given the economic and geographic importance of the river, the US (and its respective states within the Mississippi watershed) have sought to maintain a regulated flow of the Mississippi for 200 years. Over the course of 200 years, the the US Army Corps of Engineers has developed a massive system of dams, locks and levees that attempts to maintain a flow at a navigable depth and prevent flooding.
  • Challenges ahead. Global climate change complicates political and environmental issues that have been a part of life on and around the Mississippi for hundreds of years, including how states share water and how human beings respond to natural disasters including both flooding and drought.

Discussion Questions

  • What are some of the key roles the Mississippi has played in American history?
  • In what ways is the Mississippi River still important to American life?
  • Have you ever visited the Mississippi River? Describe your experience?
  • Do you think states that are located away from the Mississippi River corridor have a right to Mississippi River water? Would you support piping water from the Mississippi to your state? Why or why not?

More to Explore

  • Travel guide to Mississippi Valley Click here
  • Mississippi River Delta restoration project Click here
  • Full text of Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi Click here

Books for Further Reading

  • Barry, John M. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America. Simon & Schuster. 1998. 528 pages. This highly-detailed New York Times Notable Book of the Year explores the disaster that accelerated the Great Migration and also highlights the way racism protected white Louisianans at the expense of their Black neighbors.
  • Klinkenberg, Dean. Mississippi River Mayhem: Disasters, Tragedy, and Murder on Ol’ Man River. Globe Pequot Press. 2022. 256 pages. Mississippi River historian and mystery writer Dean Klinkenberg chronicles some of the quirkier events to happen along the Mississippi in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  • Silverberg, Robert. The Mound Builders. Ohio University Press. 1986. 276 pages. Silverberg describes not only the mounds and their builders, but also the history of the American archeology of the mounds.
  • Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi. Signet. 2009. 400 pages. The publisher describes Twain’s iconic memoir of his early life as “an epochal record of America’s growth” and “a stirring remembrance of her vanished past.” Life on the Mississippi was originally published in 1883.
  • Upholt, Boyce. The Great River: The Making and Unmasking of the Mississippi. Norton 352 pages.. In this “biography” of a natural wonder, Upholt goes into detail about the evolution and growth of the Mississippi River, concluding with scientists’ efforts to reimagine its future.