Placed on the eastern bank of Mississippi River, and bordered by Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Gulf of Mexico, the state of Mississippi is entirely composed of lowlands, the highest point being Woodall Mountain, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, 246m above sea level. Most of it is part of the East Gulf Coastal Plain, and the coastal plain is generally composed of low hills, such as the Pine Hills in the south and the North Central Hills. The Pontotoc Ridge and the Fall Line Hills in the northeast have somewhat higher elevations.
The coastline includes large bays, being separated from the Gulf of Mexico proper by the shallow Mississippi Sound, which is partially sheltered by islands. Over half of the state's area is covered by wild trees, but the northwest remainder of the state consists of the Mississippi Delta. Therefore has a humid subtropical climate with long summers and short, mild winters. Its riverfront areas were cleared for cotton cultivation in the antebellum era. A largely rural state with agricultural areas dominated by industrial farms, Mississippi is ranked low or last among the states in such measures as health, educational attainment, and median household income.
Descendant Native American tribes of the Mississippian culture in the Southeast include the Chickasaw and Choctaw. Other tribes who inhabited the territory of Mississippi (and whose names were honored by colonists in local towns) include the Natchez, the Yazoo, and the Biloxi. The first major European expedition into the territory was that of Hernando de Soto, who passed through the northeast part of the state in 1540. The first European explorers settled in the area were French colonists, and later some Spanish and English, particularly along the Gulf Coast.
European Americans did not enter the territory in great number until the early nineteenth century, and then they brought many enslaved African Americans to develop cotton plantations along major riverfronts. Through the 1830s, the federal government forced most of the native Choctaw and Chickasaw people west of the Mississippi River. A small elite group of white planters controlled most of the richest land and the politics of the state, which seceded from the Union in 1861. Its river cities particularly were sites of extended battles during the Civil War, and there was widespread destruction.
Since the 1930s and the Great Migration, Mississippi has been majority white, albeit with the highest percentage of black residents of any U.S. state. From the early 19th century to that period, it was majority black, a population composed largely of African-American slaves before the American Civil War. On the other hand, since 2011 Mississippi has been ranked the most religious state in the country. The capital of and the largest city in the state is Jackson, located on the Pearl River, and named after General Andrew Jackson, who was honored for his role in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, and later was elected as US president.
The flag of the state of Mississippi was first adopted in April 1894, replacing the flag that had been adopted in 1861. The flag was subsequently repealed in 1906 and readopted in April 2001. The flag is unique among U.S. state flags as it is the sole remaining which still depicts the Confederate battle flag's saltire, after Georgia adopted a new state flag in 2003. Its three horizontal stripes recalled the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy, while the Confederate Battle Flag formed its canton. The separation of the canton from the blue and red stripes by a white fimbriation (narrow border) was confirmed by gubernatorial decree in 1996.
About the stamp, Inverted Jenny, I wrote here.
References
Mississippi - Wikipedia
Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 26.01.2015
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