Adsactly Education: Arkansas
Arkansas
The Natural State
Capital: Little Rock
Largest City: Little Rock
53,180 sq. mi. 137,733 sq. Km
29th Largest State
Admitted to US: 1836 (25th)
Population: 3,000,000 (33rd)
Highest Point: 2,753 ft (839 m)
Lowest Point: 55 ft (17 m)
State Bird: Mockingbird
State Flower: Apple Blossom
Motto: The People Rule
Bordered By: Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.
Arkansas
Arkansas takes it’s name from a local branch of the Osage tribe with the pronunciation being AR-kən-saw . Considered one of the ‘Deep South’ states it was a member of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
People first started settling this area a long time ago. Much of the state is heavily timbered, with low, wet fertile farming areas along the rivers. The Osage were are part of the Mississippian Culture and probably settled into Arkansas in the 13th Century.
Hernando De Soto was the leader of the first European contact in Arkansas. De Soto marched across the state, found nothing he considered useful, and returned to the Mississippi. He fell ill and died the day after his troops carried out a brutal massacre of a local tribe. It is not known where he is buried as his troops were concerned about grave desecration.
Exploration of the area was done primarily by French Explorers and it was a part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Settlement came relatively quickly to the region and Arkansas was admitted to the Union in 1836.
By 1821 all of the tribes that were native to Arkansas were moved west to the ‘Arkansas and Indian Territory’ which is now Oklahoma. Slavery was allowed in Arkansas and it quickly became dominated politically by a relatively small percentage of the population that were the Planter Class. That political domination would continue until the 1960s.
Civil War and Reconstruction
The planters in the southern part of the state were the ruling class with almost all the money generated in the state coming from the plantations. Farmers north of the cotton belt relied on barter and subsistence farming to get along. There was general support for the Confederate cause in the state at the start of the war, but that would change.
Arkansas and it’s long border on the Mississippi river was of deep importance to the Confederate strategy. There were a few battles fought in Arkansas and the North targeted the Mississippi River as a means to split the south.
The northern residents soon soured on the war. Most of them didn’t own slaves and the high taxes and the draft turned many of them against the powers that be. That rift is still apparent in the state today.
The result of that split was guerilla war fought by both sides all over the state. ‘Private’ armies fought each other and generally wrecked the infrastructure of the state.
Reconstruction brought a lot of diversity to the state in the form of needed farm workers to replace the slave labor. Many of these immigrants ended up owning businesses and farms of their own.
It all came crashing down in the 1870s and 80s. There were still private armies ‘upholding the peace’ and enforcing their code if not the law. Blacks fled the state like wild to escape the mayhem. The Federal government made the armies disband but a lot of damage was done.
Jim Crow
The wealthy planters retained and expanded their powers. A new constitution guaranteed that they would run the state for the next 100 years. Extreme Jim Crow laws targeted not only the black survivors but also Asian and poor white citizens.
Arkansas maintained it’s segregation and disparity until the Federal Government passed and enforced laws in the 1960s and 70s. The state is only now starting to recover from some of the damages caused by this failure.
Weather
Arkansas generally has warm and wet weather. There are lots of lakes and rivers and streams and swamps not to mention proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. All of these influences tend toward hot and humid summers and drier coolish winters. Little Rock (center of the state) temps average 93F (34C) and 73F (23C) in July (summer) and 51F (11C) and 32F (0C) in January (winter).
Arkansas is prone to extreme weather including Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Hail, Snow and Ice Storms. A few of the most destructive Tornadoes in US history have hit in Arkansas.
Fauna and Flora
Arkansas has trees of almost every size, shape and description covering 56% of the state’s total area. Cypress, Water Oak and Hickory are common in the low lying swampy and wet areas. Pine, Oak and Hickory are common across much of the state and logging for timber, pulp (paper) and fuel are common statewide. In the extreme north of the state more northeastern US species are found including beech and birch.
Arkansas’ game mammal population is quite diverse including Black Bear, Whitetail Deer, Elk and Feral Hogs. The elk that are now here are non native and introduced. The elk that historically lived in the central US is now extinct. The Feral Hogs are prolific and destructive with a high nuisance rating in the state.
Arkansas is home to many mid sized mammals including grey and red foxes, coyotes, mink, otter, bobcat and nutria. Small mammals are mice, voles, moles, squirrels and rabbits.
The People
The population of Arkansas is (rounded) 77% white, 16% African American, Asian 1%. All others including Native are less than one percent. Per Capita income is listed at just over $39,000 ranking 45th in the nation. Arkansas is listed as the most affordable state in the Union to live in.
The historic farming base has changed although it is still important. Walmart is headquartered here as is Tyson Foods. Mining, manufacturing and lumbering are part of the reason that Arkansas has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the nation.
Government
Arkansas follows the standard three part state government structure: Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.
The elected members of the Executive Branch include Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer and Auditor.
The Legislative branch includes the typical House and Senate. All terms are 4 years with half the legislature up for election every two years.
The Judicial Branch includes the Arkansas Supreme Court, Arkansas Court of Appeals, Circuit Court, District Court and City Courts. The Supreme Court is the court of last resort in Arkansas and it’s decisions can only be reviewed by the Supreme Court of the US. Justices in the top two tiers are elected to 8 year terms.
Education
Education
Arkansas funds and administers Kindergarten through 12th grade education. Corporal punishment is still allowed in Arkansas schools with only Mississippi having a higher rate of paddling in the US.
Colleges and Universities abound in Arkansas. Two state funded University Programs along with a number of state funded College programs and a relatively large number of private Universities and Colleges.
Transportation
Arkansas is served by 7 interstate highways and also has the 13th largest State Highway system in the Nation. Nearly 3000 miles of railroad track belonging to 25 railroad companies are located in the state.
Four major airports and the traffic on the extensive river (including the Mississippi) system in the state insure good transportation options for people and businesses.
Special Law
As a resident of Arkansas you could be known as an Arkansan, Arkansawyer or a Arkanite.
It’s strictly prohibited to pronounce “Arkansas” incorrectly. Further it is against state law to keep an Alligator in a bathtub.
I hope you enjoyed this synopsis of Arkansas. The words and ideas are mine but I used Wikipedia Arkansas as the source for the information.
All images in this post are properly licensed and used.
This is part of a series on the various states. California is up next, I hope you will return.
Authored by: @bigtom13
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I found the easiest and fastest way to get to know your country: reading your post, @bigtom13! I love reading you. You really make historical and geographic data easier to capture and remember. I know very little about Arkansas, I had only heard in a relevant way what happened in Little Rock and the nine students of color enrolled in Central High School, until then only for whites. With this post I am surprised at how prosperous it can be and how strict or permissive it can be with some things. For example: Is physical punishment still allowed in schools? And is it strictly forbidden to pronounce "Arkansas" incorrectly? What happens to people who mispronounce it? Do they put them in jail or are they fined? And another thing: who can keep a crocodile in the bathtub? Thank you for sharing so educational and enjoyable posts, @bigtom13 and @adsactly for sharing interesting work like this. Greetings;)
You can be fined for mispronouncing the state name. They have really thin skin about it and there are at least three legislative acts on the books dealing with it.
I may write about Jim Crow and segregation after I am done with this series on the states. It's a wide ranging topic that has made me crazy since I first found out that Baseball had to be integrated about the time that I was born. I personally believe that it is the single most harmful thing that has happened to/in our country and that includes the Civil War that killed and maimed over 500,000.
Physical punishment is still allowed in some states. Arkansas had over 14,000 paddling incidents in the most current year available (2016 I think).
Arkansas is swampy in the south. Dark Bayous are everyplace, and there are lots of Gators. I'm guessing this law was passed to limit illegal capture and sales to the pet market. I know I would hate to take a bath with a gator no matter how small :)
Here I am again learning about Arkansas from the hand of @bigtom13. It's an enriching publication, Arkansas looks like a beautiful, organized and prosperous state. I was struck by the extreme weather. I would be very afraid to be there in the middle of a tornado. I can't imagine. Thank you for sharing this valuable information, @bigtom13 and @adsactly.
I agree. Tornadoes just scare the beejeepers out of me. I've never lived in a tornado zone, but I have gotten frightfully close in some of my travels. The sky turns a weird green color and stuff is going to start happening. I try to stay as far away as I can.
I find your posts on the states of the USA, @bigtom13, very instructive. They are very complete in their information. I see again that, curiously, the name of this also has its origin in an indigenous word, which speaks of the preponderance that such ethnic groups or tribes had in the territory. Although later the colonizers and later inhabitants have assumed the marginalization or mistreatment of such towns. What I knew about the states of the "Deep South" comes to me from William Faulkner's novel (of course, he was from Mississippi) and certain films that deal with stories -mostly terrible- that occur on plantations, and there you can appreciate the hard life of those swampy spaces, black slavery, intolerance and racial segregation. His photos are very illustrative. Thank you for this post, and also @adsactly for offering it.
Thank you for the kind words!
Arkansas was particularly thorough in their forced removal of the natives and was completely dominated politically by the planters. That led to some just bloody in state fighting, particularly once the Mississippi fell to the Union. There were far more killed and wounded in the guerrilla fighting than actual battles in Arkansas. This was a deep south place, and in some ways still is.
LOL an arkanite is one of the most bad ass names for a resident I’ve ever heard! Is the police force in the city called arkanites of the round table? Because that would be epic
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I know, right. That's just a crazy name and the other two are no particular bargain.
Cool guide! Swear that most of our nation is not closely familiar with those facts. Keep up with education :)
The facts I use are readily available, but you have to sort through a lot of stuff to find them. My hope here is to condense the information into a usable form.
Thanks for the comment.
Thanks @adsactly for sharing this valuable and informative content
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