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When the flooding ends and the river recedes back to its channel, it leaves behind silt on the floodplain. Silt is a fine dirt that holds water. The cycle of flooding, depositing silt, and receding waters makes the soil around rivers particularly good for growing things.
But as people began living permanently in the low-lying plains around the Mississippi, flooding on the river became destructive. When the Mississippi floods today, millions of people are affected. And because the river's drainage system covers more than 40 percent of the United States, wet weather in one section of the country can cause serious floods many miles away.
For example, in December 1926, snowstorms blanketed Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Then in March 1927, blizzards buried Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska and parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Farther south, it rained. That spring, melting snow fed into nearby rivers, which overflowed their banks. Most of that water eventually reached the Mississippi.
By the time the Mississippi River rolled through Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana that year, it was so swollen that the levees crumbled under the immense weight of the water. The river spilled into the farmlands and towns of the Mississippi River Delta. It filled 27,000 square miles, the size of four New England states. More than 600,000 people lost their homes. An estimated 500 people lost their lives. It was the biggest flood on record to hit the Lower Mississippi.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2023-Ausgabe von Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2023-Ausgabe von Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
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nellie Bly Journalist
nellie Bly's first newspaper articles appeared in print when she was just 20 years old.
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Arabella Mansfield -Lawyer
Arabella Mansfield started out life as Belle Babb (1846-1911). She grew up in a Midwest family that valued education. In 1850, her father left to search for gold in California. He died in a tunnel accident a few years later.
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Sarah Josepha Hale Editor
Long before Vogue or Glamour caught women's attention, Godey's Lady's Book introduced the latest fashions.
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Louise Blanchard Bethune - Architect
Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856-1915) showed early promise in math. Lucky for her, her father was the principal and a mathematics teacher in a school in Waterloo, New York. Instead of going to school, Louise's father taught her at home until she was 11 years old. She also discovered a skill for planning houses. It developed into a lifelong interest in architecture and a place in history as the first professional female architect in the United States.
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Sojourner Truth Speaker
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Getting Started
In this editorial cartoon, a young 19th-century woman must overcome the obstacle of carrying a heavy burden while climbing a multirung ladder before she can achieve \"Equal Suffrage.\"
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Leonora M. Barry - Investigator
When Leonora M. Barry (1849-1923) was a young girl, her family left Ireland to escape a famine. They settled in New York. Barry became a teacher. In 1872, she married a fellow Irish immigrant. At that time, married women were not allowed to work. So, Barry stayed home to raise their three children.
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Finding a New Path
For many Americans, this month's mystery hero represents the ultimate modern trailblazer. She is recognized by just her first name.
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The Grimké Sisters Abolitionists
Every night, Dinah was supposed to brush the E hair of her mistress, Sarah Moore Grimké (1792-1873). But one night, 12-year-old Sarah stopped Dinah. She wanted to help Dinah instead. They had to be quiet so they wouldn't get caught. It was 1804 in Charleston, South Carolina. The Grimkés were among Charleston's major slaveholding families. Strict laws regulated the behavior of both master and enslaved people.
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Frances Willard Leader
During Frances Willard's lifetime (1839-1898), she was the best-known woman in America: She headed the largest women's organization in the worldthe Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). In that role, her abilities shone as a social activist, a dynamic speaker, and a brilliant organizer. She educated women on how to run meetings, write petitions, give speeches, and lobby state and federal legislators.