The Sovereignty Commission & The State of Mississippi

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Mississippi's state government felt that segregation was threated by Federal encroachment. Segregation was the legal practice of separating blacks and whites in public life in the Deep South of the United States. 

From 1956 to 1973, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission enforced segregation from the shadows. The Commission spied on Mississippi residents, American citizens, and promoted segregation across America. The Ku Klux Klan helped.

Socials:

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Sources:

Sov Com Database: https://da.mdah.ms.gov/sovcom/ 

 

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Cawthon, W. (2017). Was the South Poor Before the War? – Abbeville Institute. Abbevilleinstitute.org.

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Tonge, P. (1983, March 22). Natchez: in 1850 half of the millionaires in the US lived here. The Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0322/032230.html

 

Cotton in a Global Economy: Mississippi (1800-1860) - 2006-10. (2025). Ms.gov. https://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/cotton-in-a-global-economy-mississippi-1800-1860

 

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Dunbar-Ortiz, R. (2018, January 18). United States Policing and “Gun Rights” Began With Slave Patrols. Truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/united-states-policing-and-gun-rights-began-with-slave-patrol/#:~:text=By%201704%2C%20the%20South%20Carolina,militia%20rolls%20in%20every%20locale

 

Slave Patrols. (2017, July 11). Mississippi Encyclopedia. Mississippi Encyclopedia. https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/slave-patrols/

 

Trigger Events of the Civil War. (2025). American Battlefield Trust. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/trigger-events-civil-war

 

Springston, R. (2019, May 23). Fighting myths, misconceptions and misunderstandings about race, slavery and the Civil War • Virginia Mercury. Virginia Mercury. https://virginiamercury.com/2019/05/23/fighting-myths-misconceptions-and-misunderstandings-about-race-slavery-and-the-civil-war/

 

Williams, D. (2020, September 27). Banned Books Week: Maine Authors - First Amendment Museum. First Amendment Museum. https://firstamendmentmuseum.org/banned/

 

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Capital-Star Guest Contributor. (2020, March 2). Here’s 15 things you didn’t know about the “Dred Scott” decision | Opinion • Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Pennsylvania Capital-Star. https://penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/heres-15-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-dred-scott-decision-opinion/#:~:text=2

 

Dred Scott v. Sandford. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/60us393

 

The Election of 1860. (2025). Tulane.edu. https://www2.tulane.edu/~sumter/Background/BackgroundElection.html

 

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Gienapp, W. E. (2025). Abraham Lincoln and the Border States. Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, 13(1). http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.2629860.0013.104

 

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Cornerstone Contributions: Investing in the Confederacy: The Role of Bonds in Funding the Confederacy. (2023, May 25). DHR. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/blog-posts/cornerstone-contributions-investing-in-the-confederacy-the-role-of-bonds-in-funding-the-confederacy/#:~:text=The%20Confederate%20government%20turned%20to,(Weidenmier%201993%3A2)

 

Post, E. G. (2021, July 29). The Economic Challenges of the Confederacy - Emerging Civil War. Emerging Civil War. https://emergingcivilwar.com/2021/07/29/the-economic-challenges-of-the-confederacy/

 

Reconstruction. (2017, July 11). Mississippi Encyclopedia. Mississippi Encyclopedia. https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/reconstruction/

 

Black Codes. (2025). American Battlefield Trust. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/black-codes

Mississippi Black Code, 1865 | The American Yawp Reader. (2016). Americanyawp.com. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/reconstruction/mississippi-black-code-1865/#:~:text=South%20Carolina%20and%20Mississippi%20passed,also%20denied%20other%20fundamental%20rights

 

U.S. Constitution - Fourteenth Amendment | Resources | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. (2025). Congress.gov. https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/

 

U.S. Constitution - Fifteenth Amendment | Resources | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. (2025). Congress.gov. https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-15/

 

Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era - New Georgia Encyclopedia. (2020, August 12). New Georgia Encyclopedia. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ku-klux-klan-in-the-reconstruction-era/

 

Fedell, V. A. (2022, December 16). VICKSBURG FACTS: The bloody steps to the Vicksburg Massacre - The Vicksburg Post. The Vicksburg Post. https://www.vicksburgpost.com/2022/12/16/vicksburg-facts-the-bloody-steps-to-the-vicksburg-massacre/

 

The End of Reconstruction - Vicksburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service). (2024). Nps.gov. https://www.nps.gov/vick/learn/historyculture/the-end-of-reconstruction.htm#:~:text=White%20Democrats%20took%20control%20of,1877%20that%20made%20Rutherford%20B

 

Emmett Till | Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2016). Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/emmett-till

 

Graball Landing | Emmett Till. (2024). Emmett Till. https://www.emmett-till.org/graball-landing

 

Mississippi Burning | Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2019). Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/mississippi-burning

 

Man convicted of 3 killing civil rights workers dies in jail. (2018, January 13). AP News. https://apnews.com/article/3d82e778b5d643088268c3214ae904f8

 

Media, C. (2011, September 9). The Case of the Supposedly Sealed Files—And What They Revealed - Nieman Reports. Nieman Reports. https://niemanreports.org/the-case-of-the-supposedly-sealed-files-and-what-they-revealed/#:~:text=But%20then%20there%20was%20the,to%20see%20them%20until%202027

 

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education. (2023, April 25). Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes252031.htm

 

Taft, I. (2024, November 7). Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba Is Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/us/jackson-mayor-indicted-federal-corruption.html

 

Dred Scott v. Sandford. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/60us393

 

Yazoo Land Fraud - New Georgia Encyclopedia. (2017, June 8). New Georgia Encyclopedia. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/yazoo-land-fraud/

 

Pottawatomie Massacre | Civil War on the Western Border. (2024). Civilwaronthewesternborder.org. https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/pottawatomie-massacre

 

Trouble Brews in Mississippi. British Pathe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Fo4AWaXis&ab_channel=BritishPath%C3%A9

Music:

Scorching Action by Jonathan Margrove

Blood Kiss by Hainbach - Topics

Cinematic Ambient Orchestral Drama Trailer by Media Music Group

Dramatic Investigation by Jon Presstone

Bones - Quirky and mysterious plucked strings. Murder mystery and gothic mood by Gerardo 

Final Speech by Humans Win

Discovery of Lost Worlds by Humans Win

On the Edge of War Jon Presstone

Mississippi Ridin’ Son by Yagull Music

Suspenseful Piano Documentary Music Trailer by Media Music Group

 

Sound FX:

Storyblocks

Special thanks to KFW Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@kyfirearms