overland, by riverboat, and by ocean-going ships to New Orleans. This forced migration broke up families and transplanted a large new African-descended population (with also European and Native American ancestry among many) to the area. The Deep South developed as a strong center of African-American culture. Many cotton planters became so wealthy that they acquired thousands of acres and hundreds of African American slaves to work the lands. They built elegant mansions in and around the town of Natchez, and they hired overseers to manage their plantations in the countryside. Stephen Duncan (1787-1867) of Mississippi was reported to have owned more than 1,000 slaves, making him the richest cotton planter in the world at the time. In 1806, an improved Mexican variety of cotton made the commodity crop even more profitable. The Mexican variety was crossed with the older black-seeded species to make improved varieties that made the state of Mississippi famous. The most noted cotton varieties (Belle Creole, Jethro, Parker, and Petit Gulf) were bred in Mississippi. In 1803 the United States had made the Louisiana Purchase, acquiring vast territories west of the Mississippi River. The lowlying delta area west of the river across from Natchez also became informally considered part of the Natchez District. Unlike southern Louisiana, which was devoted to sugar cane cultivation, this area was developed for cotton plantations. When organized, the parishes included Carroll Parish, Louisiana (split between East Carroll and West Carroll in 1877), Concordia, Madison and Tensas. Following the American Civil War, African Americans here joined the Republican Party, as did others in the state. They were severely suppressed after Reconstruction. For example, whites allowed no black voters in East Carroll Parish, which was majority black, until a federal judge registered some in 1962. The cotton boom of the early 19th century spread across the South from two primary cultural hearths: coastal South Carolina and the Natchez District. Cotton plantations were developed throughout the Southeast. In the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama, the cotton-growing areas became known as the Black Belt. From Natchez, the cotton plantation system spread north into the Mississippi embayment region, and west along the rivers of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. In the antebellum years, nearly all plantations were developed with frontage on a river, for transportation. The U.S. government recognized the strategic importance of Natchez early on, and as the city developed as a primary cotton port, Congress financed the