1388, 1403, 1421 UNITED STATES (Arkansas) - Arkansas map and flag

Posted on 01.01.2015, 05.01.2015, and 25.01.2015
Located in the Southern region of the United States, between Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, nicknamed in the past the Land of Opportunity, Arkansas is often stereotyped as a "poor, banjo-picking hillbilly" state, a reputation dating back to early accounts of the territory by frontiersmen in the early 1800s. Its name is of Siouan derivation, denoting the Quapaw Indians. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the  U.S. Interior Highlands, to the densely forested land in the south known as the  Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta. The capital and most populous city is Little Rock, the home city of Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the U.S.

 

Prior the arrival of Europeans, Arkansas was inhabited by indigenous peoples as the Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw. The Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto passed through the region in 1541, but only the Frenchman Henri de Tonti established the first European settlement in the territory, Arkansas Post, in 1681. In the early 18th century the fur trappers used Arkansas Post as a home base and entrepôt, and during the colonial period, it changed hands between  France and Spain following the Seven Years' War. In April 1783, Arkansas saw its only battle of the American Revolutionary War, a brief siege of the post by British Captain James Colbert. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the U.S. in 1803, including all of Arkansas (Louisiana Purchase), and following a controversy over allowing slavery in the territory, the Territory of Arkansas was organized on July 4, 1819.

 

Slavery became a wedge issue, forming a geographic divide that remained for decades. In the 1830s the U.S. government forced the removal of many Native American tribes to Arkansas and Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. The Congress admitted it in the Union in 1836 as the 25th state. When the Gulf states seceded in early 1861, Arkansas voted to remain in the Union, and didn't seceded until Lincoln demanded Arkansas troops be sent to Fort Sumter to quell the rebellion there. Upon returning to the Union, the state would continue to suffer due to its earlier reliance on slavery and the plantation economy, causing the state to fall behind economically. White rural interests continued to dominate the state's politics until the Civil Rights movement in the mid-20th century.

The flag of the state of Arkansas is a red field charged with a blue-bordered white diamond. 29 five-pointed stars appear on the flag: 25 small white stars within the blue border, and 4 larger blue stars in the white diamond. The inscription "ARKANSAS" appears in blue within the white diamond, with one star above and three stars below. The design was created by Willie Kavanaugh Hocker and selected from a field of 65 entries in a 1912 contest. The Arkansas State Seal was adopted in 1864 and modified in 1907. The outer ring of the seal contains the text "Great Seal of the State of Arkansas". The inner seal contains the Angel of Mercy, the Sword of Justice and the Goddess of Liberty surrounded by a bald eagle. The eagle holds in its beak a scroll inscribed with the Latin phrase "Regnat Populus", the state motto, which means "The People Rule". On the shield of the seal are a steamboat, a plow, a beehive and a sheaf of wheat, symbols of Arkansas's industrial and agricultural wealth.

About the stamps 
On the first postcard
About the first stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here.

 

The following two stamps are part of a series of commemorative forever stamps issued on March 16, 2011, to honor some entertainment giants, Latin Music Legends:
• Selena Quintanilla-Perez (1971-1995) - it's on the postcard
• Carlos Gardel (1890?-1935) - it's on the postcard
• Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) - it's on other postcard
• Tito Puente (1923-2000)
• Celia Cruz (1925-2003)

On the second postcard
About the first stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here. The last two stamps are part of the series Building a Nation, about which I wrote here.

On the third postcard
The first stamp, depicting an American Clock (10c / 2003), is part of the definitives series American Design, about which I wrote here. The second stamp, dedicated to Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970), is part of the series Music Icons, about which I wrote here.

References
Arkansas - Wikipedia
Flag of Arkansas - Wikipedia
Seal of Arkansas - Wikipedia

Sender 1, 2, 3: Denise 
1: Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 07.11.2014
2: Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 17.03.2014
3: Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 15.11.2014