The name means, simply, "big river." From northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, it flows some 2,400 miles through the heartland of America. It is the Mississippi, and its saga of adventure, conquest, disaster and riches is the story of America itself. The Mighty Mississippi journeys along the river and through its past, from St. Paul to New Orleans, from its formation during the Ice Age to the ambitious 20th century attempts to tame its waters. It is a spellbinding tapestry of cotton kings and riverboat gamblers, Native American legends and devastating floods, the tales of Mark Twain and the chords of the blues. The Mighty Mississippi would be useful for classes on American History, Maritime History, Economic History, American Culture and Geography. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

Steamboat's a Comin

This episode of The Mighty Mississippi chronicles the role of the river in commerce and travel, particularly the economic booms of the nineteenth century in the cotton and sugar industry. During the second decade of the 19th century the steamboat appears and eliminates one of the most problematic aspects of travel on the river-the upriver trip. But steamboats are more than carriers of goods and passengers-they are the romantic vessels that to this day are symbolic of a more gentile era-an era that contains the irony of a genteel society fueled by the labor of American slaves.

Vocabulary

• collage
• harbinger
• melange
• languid
• callous
• notorious
• personify
• consternation
• ostentation
• ardor
• confluence
• debris
• potentate
• amenities
• lucrative
• chasms
• precursor
• antebellum

Discussion Questions

1. Life along the Mississippi was varied and eclectic. How did the towns around the river and the river itself offer the best and worst that life had to offer?
2. Dixie is a common term for the southern states. How did this term Dixie originate?
3. 1811 was a significant year in the history of the great river. Discuss the events, manmade and natural, that changed the course of history for the river.
4. Romance and nostalgia surround riverboats. They are seen as more than merely a form of transportation. Why do these boats evoke such emotional feelings?
5. Robert Fulton harnessed steam power for water transportation in 1807. How did steamboats contribute to the expansion of America in the 19th century?
6. How did the riverboat revolutionize transportation? Discuss the ways in which transportation differed before and after the invention of the steamboat.
7. The steamboat had been called "a truly American invention." Why?
8. The advantages of steam powered boats were tremendous. But there were also some very real dangers. What were some of the dangers of the steamboats?
9. How did ship designers and builders create "floating palaces?"
10. Discuss the differences the wealth of cotton and sugar made in the lives of European-Americans and African-Americans.
11. Describe the effects of the cotton gin on American economic history.
12. What is the legacy of slavery?

Extended Activities

1. Create a timeline from 1800-1900 charting the dramatic changes on the river during this century.
2. Create a travel brochure for a steamboat company in the 19th century. How would you entice travelers to choose your boat for a cruise down the Mississippi?
3. Imagine that you are a country boy or girl in the 19th century and you visit the city of New Orleans. Write a letter home to your family describing the sights and wonders of the bustling city.