Natchez, Mississippi. This town was alternately under French, Spanish and British rule prior to the American Revolution, so when The American Civil War broke out, and the Union army was sweeping south, Natchez accepted Yankee rule rather than have the town burned to the ground in battle. As a result, many of the old pre-Civil War antebellum homes still stand. They date back to the early 1800s and were financed by cotton plantations. The planter who owned the Auburn home had over 1000 slaves. Natchez was one of the largest slave trading centres in the south in the early nineteenth century, especially after the import of foreign slaves was banned but internal trade of existing slaves was still permitted. Many slaves were "sold south" from points north to work the cotton plantations of the south. When Natchez banned the sale of slaves, the traders moved to a point just outside the city limits called "The Forks of the Road"

The site of the Natchez slave market at the "Forks of the Road"

Advertisement for the sale of slaves

Cotton Bolls

The Auburn Antebellum House, Natchez

Auburn House

The Longview Antebellum House, Natchez

Longview

Grounds at Longview

Stanton House, Natchez

The Mississipi

Hand stamp at The Gun Show

Don't tread on me at The Gun Show