Monette, John W. History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi, by the Three Great European Powers, Spain, France and Great Britain, and the Subsequent Occupation, Settlement, and Extension of Civil Government by the United States, Until the Year 1846, in two volumes, Volume II . New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1846. [format: book], [genre: history]. Permission: Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures, Aurora University
Persistent link to this document: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/file.php?file=monette2.html

[A.D. 1817.] The Territory divided. — On the 21st of January Congress adopted the views contained in the memorial from the General Assembly, and assented to the formation of a state Constitution. The subject having been duly considered, on the first of March following a bill was passed authorizing the people of the western portion of the Mississippi Territory to form a state government, preparatory to its admission into the Union as an independent state. ⁵¹¹ The eastern limit of this portion was "a line to be drawn direct from the mouth of Bear Creek, on the Tennessee River, to the northwestern corner of Washington county, on the Tombigby, thence due south with the western limit of said county to the sea."

State of Mississippi admitted into the Union. — Agreeably to the provisions of the act of Congress, the General Assembly proceeded to provide for the election of delegates to a convention which was to assemble on the first Monday in July. The convention was to consist of forty-four members, representing fourteen counties, and to be convened and held in the town of Washington. After a session of more than five weeks, the Constitution was finally adopted on the 15th of August, 1817, and on the 10th of December following it was approved by Congress, when the "State of Mississippi" was admitted into the Federal Union. ⁵¹²

At this time the whole white population of the new state was restricted to fourteen large counties, sparsely inhabited, and situated chiefly in its southern extremity, immediately north of the old Spanish line of demarkation, and south of the old Choctâ line, established by the treaty of Mount Dexter in 1805.