Was there any real reason not to choose Vicksburg as the capital of Mississippi?

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thatsbaseball

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May 29, 2007
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Exactly. @mstateglfr is being a douche. Racism was much bigger than Mississippi, he knows that. And we aren't talking about Atlanta, simply talking about survival. His take is just a totally idiotic one. His pathetic, desperate tone in his replies tells the whole story. I'm really trying to not to give it attention, though I've already failed.

Good point about the other states being less stupid with more dumb luck.

Glfr wants to talk about 200 yrs ago but not now. Iowa is one of the most segregated states in the country and that is not changing. I've lived in Mississippi for a very long time and I know we have changed.
 

Maroon Eagle

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All of those things are more or less true for other Southeastern states too though. And they've all basically done better than Mississippi, partly by being slightly less stupid, but mostly just by dumb luck of having good resources (ports, iron deposits, coal, oil & gas, coastline, etc.).

Mississippi does have oil and gas — ranks 13th in the US which has benefited a lot of folks mostly in the southern part of the state.

Unfortunately the top five states produce over 70 percent of oil and gas in the US.

 

Boom Boom

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We put the capital of the whole US of 17ing A in the middle of a swamp. Mississippi is too good to do the same?
I learned from some New Orleans history that this isnt uncommon. What eventually became cities started as settlements, and those settlements were usually chosen for high ground next to navigable rivers. Those locations tended to have high ground due to soil subsidence(?), but that's not a very large area, think French Quarter. You get outside that area of high ground....it's usually a swamp. Low ground near a river usually is.

River navigation being a chief need seems dumb today, but it absolutely wasn't back then. Railroads changed that.
 

mstateglfr

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Feb 24, 2008
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All of those things are more or less true for other Southeastern states too though. And they've all basically done better than Mississippi, partly by being slightly less stupid, but mostly just by dumb luck of having good resources (ports, iron deposits, coal, oil & gas, coastline, etc.). Having one decent city would be a big help for Mississippi. Would the capitol, plus river trade, plus a major university give us a major city? I'm guessing it'd probably look something like Baton Rouge? Hopefully a little cleaner and safer but probably not. But yes, probably better than Jackson for what's that worth. IF MSU had been put there presumably they would have been able to keep a stronger presence in South Mississippi and not let LSU have such a strong presence. So an improvement but probably not going to do much other than better position MS compared to other southeastern states. But probably not likely to create an atlanta or Nashville in Mississippi.
Agreed, other Southern states had many of those challenges too.
My point is not that Mississippi was unique in those ways. My point is there isnt any reason to confidently claim those things wouldnt have still held the state back even if the Capital was 40mi west than where it is now, because all those things could have still happened even though the Capital was put 40mi to the east.

I cited multiple states where the Capital is not in the largest population center or economic center. As such, Vicksburg could have grown into a large city and the state's economic center even with Jackson as the Capital.
And MSU could have been located wherever Goat is wishing it had been located, even if Vicksburg wasnt the Capital. But it wasnt located there for whatever reason(s) so there is no reason to think it would have been placed there had Vicksburg been the Capital.



Could things be better had Vicksburg been the Capital and MSU been placed in/near Vicksburg? I mean, sure things could have possibly been better had both of those huge things happened. But like you mention, it likely wouldnt have been huge because so many actually important things would have still held the state back.
 

mstateglfr

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Exactly. @mstateglfr is being a douche. Racism was much bigger than Mississippi, he knows that. And we aren't talking about Atlanta, simply talking about survival. His take is just a totally idiotic one. His pathetic, desperate tone in his replies tells the whole story. I'm really trying to not to give it attention, though I've already failed.

Good point about the other states being less stupid with more dumb luck.
Dude, one of your reasons for why things would be significantly better is that if the Capital of MS was Vicksburg, an interstate wouldnt have been built over a lake in another state. And you claim not placing the Capital in Vicksburg is the state's most fatal flaw with regard to where it is 200 years later.
...but my take is the idiotic one?
 

mstateglfr

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Glfr wants to talk about 200 yrs ago but not now. Iowa is one of the most segregated states in the country and that is not changing. I've lived in Mississippi for a very long time and I know we have changed.
Goat wants to talk about 200 years ago- he literally started this thread about a decision that was made 200 years ago and I posted things that I think would be more impactful to the state if they had been implemented 200 years ago.
...are you not following that?

As for your link, I like the 'Racial Progress Ranking' which measures racial progress achieved over time. The South is overall leading the way. One could look at that and think 'wow, the South is really progressive!' or one could look at that and think 'yeah, the states that are leading racial progress are doing so because so much progress has had to be made to bring them up to basic expectations.'

But this isnt about Iowa, even though you seem to really want it to be about Iowa.
If you would like to start a thread about how terrible Iowa's race relations are, feel free to start one. Forcing it into this thread is just desperate whataboutism and deflection.
 

OG Goat Holder

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Sep 30, 2022
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River navigation being a chief need seems dumb today, but it absolutely wasn't back then. Railroads changed that.
Then you have Jackson, which was chosen for....no reason.

And that's the point, decisions seem to compound on themselves. In a sea of bad ones, this one seems like it could have made a difference.
 

OG Goat Holder

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Sep 30, 2022
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Goat wants to talk about 200 years ago- he literally started this thread about a decision that was made 200 years ago and I posted things that I think would be more impactful to the state if they had been implemented 200 years ago.
...are you not following that?

As for your link, I like the 'Racial Progress Ranking' which measures racial progress achieved over time. The South is overall leading the way. One could look at that and think 'wow, the South is really progressive!' or one could look at that and think 'yeah, the states that are leading racial progress are doing so because so much progress has had to be made to bring them up to basic expectations.'

But this isnt about Iowa, even though you seem to really want it to be about Iowa.
If you would like to start a thread about how terrible Iowa's race relations are, feel free to start one. Forcing it into this thread is just desperate whataboutism and deflection.
And you just want to argue. About race no less, which was going to be a problem throughout the south, no matter where we placed cities. I'm talking about things that could have been changed, basically due to a few people's decision-making.

Thread Ruination = Engaged.
 

johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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Mississippi does have oil and gas — ranks 13th in the US which has benefited a lot of folks mostly in the southern part of the state.

Unfortunately the top five states produce over 70 percent of oil and gas in the US.

Yea, I knew we had it, and obviously it used to be pretty good, particularly in the Natchez area, but still pretty minor compared to Louisiana. And just looking at that link, I think it understates the difference between MS and LA because so much of the Gulf of Mexico rigs are serviced out of Louisiana compared to MS. Certainly we have rig workers and we do have some companies, particularly boating companies, that make their hay serving the oil rigs, but the lion's share of that seems to be based out of Louisiana compared to Mississippi.
 
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