The Indians called it the Father of the Waters. Indeed, its name comes from the Algonkian Indian words for "big" (michi) "water" (sipi).Sometimes it's affectionately called the Big Ditch. The Mississippi is without doubt the most important geographic feature in the eastern United States. It runs 2,300 miles, from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. At one end, bears prowl through snow; at the other, alligators lie in the sun. With its tributaries, the Mississippi drains all or part of 31 states.Early HistoryEarly explorers of the Mississippi mainly found disappointment. The Spaniard De Soto searched futilely for gold. The French explorers Marquette and Joliet hoped the Mississippi would be a passage to the Orient. The Frenchman La Salle, the first to travel its length, was killed by his own men. In 1803, the United States wanted to buyNew Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi, from the French. To everyone's surprise, Napoleon, in need of money, offered to sell all the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. The Louisiana Purchase, as it was called, gave the United States control of the Mississippi and the ability to expand west. Many boats soon traveled down the Mississippi,bringing cotton and other goods to New Orleans. But currents made the return trip difficult or impossible. The boats had tobe pulled back by ropes tied to trees. Often their owners just destroyed them.SteamboatsIn 1811, the steamboat was introduced to the Mississippi. Skeptics said that such a large boat could never survive the Mississippi's currents,bends, sandbars, and floods. The steamboat New Orleans proved them all wrong, by traveling from Pittsburgh to New Orleans and back. This first trip was quite a test: On the returnthere was an earthquake! Steamboats were a great success. The value of goods carried on the Mississippi increased astronomically. The steamboats became largeand luxurious. They had ballrooms, pianos in ladies' cabins, velvet chairs, and marble tablesCommerce and MemoriesFor a while, at the end of the 19th century, the Mississippi lost out to railroads. But today the river is more important than ever for commerce. Boats - now diesel-powered - carry bulk cargo, like oil, steel, and coal, that trains can't transport, The Mississippi is also a river of history and' memories. And you can still take a steamboat from Pittsburgh to New Orleans.Mark Twain's RiverNo writer captured the Mississippi River better than Mark Twain. Twain knew the river well. As a boy, he almost drowned in it nine times; as a young man, he was a riverboat pilot. Twain's Huckleberry Finn may be the greatest American novel ever written. It tells the adventures of Huck Finn, a runaway boy, and Jim, an escaped slave. Huck and Jim travel the Mississippi on a raft; Jim tries to reach theBắc. Để an toàn, Huck và Jim du lịch bởi đêm. Đây là một số của Huck mô tả của sự sống trên sông: đó là loại trang trọng, trôi xuống sông vẫn còn lớn, đặt trên lưng của chúng tôi nhìn lên những ngôi sao... Twoor ba ngày và đêm đã đi theo; Tôi nghĩ tôi có thể nói họ swum bởi, họ trượt dọc theo rất yên tĩnh và mịn màng và đáng yêu...Chúng tôi cho phép cô [bè] một mình, và cho cô ấyphao bất cứ nơi nào hiện nay muốn cô ấy để;sau đó chúng tôi thắp sáng ống, và dangled chúng tôi chân trongnước và nói chuyện về tất cả các loại củanhững điều...Đôi khi chúng tôi sẽ có con sông đó toàn bộTất cả để bản thân cho thời gian dài...Một lần hoặc hai lần trong một đêm, chúng ta sẽ thấy mộtSteamboat trượt dọc theo trong bóng tối, vàbây giờ và sau đó cô sẽ belch nói chungthế giới của tia lửa lên trên chimbleys của mình,và họ sẽ mưa xuống trên sông vànhìn đẹp khủng khiếpThảo luận vềĐây là một cách khác để đi xuống cácMississippi:Nữ hoàng Delta hoặc của Huck bè?-bạn sẽ chọn cho chuyến đi trên sông Mississippi?Cho biết lý do tại sao.Ảnh hưởng sớmElvis Presley được sinh ra vào năm 1935, ở đông Tupelo, Mississippi. Gia đình ông là người nghèo. Họ chuyển tới Memphis, Tennessee trong tìm kiếm cơ hội tốt hơn. Những gì ảnh hưởng Elvis và âm nhạc của mình? Trước tiên, có là mẹ Gladys. Cho ông thứ mười mộtsinh nhật, Elvis muốn một khẩu súng trường. Gladys thuyết phục anh ta để có được một guitar. Sau đó cóthe revivals, or religious meetings, he went to. These revivals were highly emotional, with singing as well as preaching and prayer. Elvis was influenced by the gospel music sung and by the way the preachers stirred up the crowds' emotions. Finally, there was Memphis. Memphis was a center for blues music and had a radio station that played gospel, blues, and rhythm-and-blues. Elvis often listened to this station.FameElvis became a truck driver. One day in 1954,he stopped in at the Memphis Recording Studio and, just for fun, recorded a song. Sam Phillips, the studio head, heard the song and immediately recognized Elvis's potential. He called Elvis back for a real recording session. The session was nearly a disaster. Elvis sang a sentimental country ballad. Phillips was not at all impressed. Then, during the break, he heard Elvis and the band fooling around with a blues song called "That's All Right,Mama." Before long, Elvis's first record was made. Elvis was an instant hit on the radio and soon went on tour. Again, success came more from spontaneity than from deliberate plans. As Elvis said, "Everybody was hollerin' and I didn't know what they were hollerin' at. ... When I came offstage, my manager told me they were hollerin' because I was wigglin' my legs .... I did a little more, and the moreI did the louder it went."By 1955 Elvis had three songs on the national charts and had signed a contract withRCA.The ReactionTeenagers loved Elvis and rock and roll. The music critics of the time, however, were unimpressed. They found Elvis "unspeakably untalented and vulgar" with "no discernible singing ability." But most criticism of Elvis and rock and roll had little to do with music. Typical headlines read:DOES ROCK AND ROLL CAUSEDELINQUENCY?TEENAGE MUSIC CRAZE HAS PARENTSWORRIEDElvis and rock and roll were blamed for the nation's problems. The music was called"atheistic," "criminal," and "a threat to democracy." Yet his popularity only grew.The Later YearsElvis's career was interrupted in the late 1950s, when he went into the army. When he came" out, at his manager's urging he turned to acting Most of his films were not very good, but they were financially successful. In 1968 Elvis returned to live performances. But to many people, these performances were like a bad imitation of his former self. Elvis also had problems in his personal life (his wife divorced him), as well as problems with his weight and with drugs. Elvis died in 1977, at age 42. Was he a failure? The answer-from musicians and fans-is no. The Beatles replaced Elvis in the early 1960s as the most important figures in rock.When asked about Elvis and rock, the Beatles' John Lennon said simply, "Before Elvis there was nothing." Elvis's mystique lives on. Each year thousands of fans visit Graceland, his mansion in Memphis. Elvis look-alike contests are still popular. And each year there are many people who claim they have seen, not just a look.alike, but Elvis himself.
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