The Mississippi Territory and the Southwest Frontier, 1795-1817 (review)

This is an essential book on the complex and colorful period between the organization of the Mississippi Territory in 1795 and its division into the state of Mississippi and the Alabama Territory in 1817. The author has thoroughly researched primary source collections throughout the country, especially the extensive territorial series in the National Archives. The result is a richly detailed narrative of the men and events of the period. Although the focus is mostly on political and regional rivalries within the Mississippi Territory, the author develops his argument around a number of important themes, including the influence of geography, borderland rivalries, tension between Native American settlements and American expansionism, the frailties of territorial government under the Northwest Territories Act (1787), as well as the influence of the prolonged hostilities with Britain from the Jefferson administration through the War of 1812.

Geography was a controlling influence in the development of the Mississippi Territory. Settlements along the Mississippi River, notably Natchez, quickly prospered, especially after the Louisiana Purchase. By 1810, with the introduction of cotton and the expansion of slavery, the territory resembled a mature southern economy more than a frontier settlement. Those living along the Tombigbee River, which traversed the future state of Alabama, faced a more problematic situation because their access to the Gulf of Mexico was under Spanish control. Conditions worsened after 1803 when the Jefferson administration claimed Florida as part of the Louisiana Purchase, and Spain responded with more aggressive assertions of sovereignty. In addition, Native Americans held much of the desirable land in the region. Not surprisingly, as political power gravitated to the more settled areas near the Mississippi River, and little was done to ameliorate their problems, "Bigbee" residents became ardent separatists.

This study also offers insight into the complexity of a borderland settlement. Once governed by the British and the Spanish, and subject to Georgia's Yazoo land scheme, there were overlying title claims, each with its own unique terms, which had to be resolved. Persisting efforts to acquire lands from Native American tribes, either by squatting or purchase, further complicated the situation. The establishment of federal land offices did not resolve these problems.

In addition to the elaboration of the interpersonal rivalries that undermined effective territorial government, this study offers insight into unappreciated weaknesses of the Northwest Ordinance. That system is generally credited with the seamless transition from a sparsely populated settlement, through stages of greater self-government mirroring population growth, culminating in statehood. This may have been true in the unpopulated Northwest, but it did not work as well when it was imposed on existing settlements in the Mississippi Territory, where residents expected to participate in government. This system, exacerbated by the initial appointment of Federalists who held frontiersmen in contempt, produced a series of dysfunctional governments where officials constantly undercut each other in their quest for power and influence. The situation did not improve much under Republican administrations until the appointment of David Holmes as the last territorial governor in 1809. Even as its population grew with the expansion of slavery, the territory failed to attain the requisite 60,000 "free" inhabitants for statehood by the end of the War of 1812. Ultimately proponents of statehood in 1817 sought admission as an act of courtesy rather than as a right, which was supported by the Madison administration.

America's strained relations with Great Britain retarded territorial expansion. Population growth slowed as cotton exports fell. The Jefferson administration, recognizing the vulnerability of New Orleans, pressed to develop a series of post roads in the "Bigbee" region, which raised tensions between local tribes and settlers. Fear that the British were about to occupy Florida prompted Andrew Jackson to occupy Pensacola. Only the American victory at New Orleans and the ensuing Creek War restored confidence in territorial settlement.

This book complements several recent works on the period. Fallen Founder (2007), Nancy Isenberg's biography...