On August 11, 2021, Christian Pinnen and Charles Weeks discussed their new Heritage of Mississippi book Colonial Mississippi: A Borrowed Land as part of the History Is Lunch series.
The volume is the first composite of histories spanning the entire colonial period of the area now known as Mississippi. The stories feature a diverse array of individuals and peoples from North America, Europe, and Africa—and the lasting impacts of their encounters, good and bad.
“First contacts involved primarily Native Americans and Spaniards in the first half of the sixteenth century following the expeditions of Columbus and others to the large region of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Pinnen. “More sustained interaction began with the arrival of the French and the establishment of a French post on Biloxi Bay at the end of the seventeenth century.”
“Such exchanges continued through the eighteenth century with the British, and then again the Spanish until the creation of the territory of Mississippi in 1798 and then two states, Mississippi in 1817 and Alabama in 1819,” said Weeks. “We wanted our book to reflect the diversity and complexity of this history.”
Christian Pinnen is an associate professor of history at Mississippi College. He began his studies in the North America Program at the University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany, and received his master’s and doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi. Pinnen is the author of Complexion of Empire in Natchez: Race and Slavery in the Mississippi Borderlands , published in February by the University of Georgia Press.
Charles Weeks is an adjunct professor of history in Mississippi College. He earned his BA in European history from Dartmouth College, an MA in U.S. history from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Latin American history from Indiana University. Weeks is the author of two books published by the University of Alabama Press: The Juarez Myth in Mexico and Paths to a Middle Ground: The Diplomacy of Natchez, Boukfouca, Nogales, and San Fernando de las Barrancas, 1791-1795.
Colonial Mississippi is the eighth book in the Heritage of Mississippi series, which is aimed at a broad audience of scholars, teachers, students, and interested general readers. The works are intended to stand as the definitive studies on the topics for years to come. The series is published jointly by MDAH, the Mississippi Historical Society, and the University Press of Mississippi, with funding assistance from the Phil Hardin Foundation.
History Is Lunch is sponsored by the John and Lucy Shackelford Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation for Mississippi. The weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History explores different aspects of the state's past. The hour-long programs are held in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building at 222 North Street in Jackson.
-- Press Release from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History --
