This is a Keynote presentation created by 10th grade students during the Huck Finn Unit. Students created the Keynote to explain some key background information that is necessary for students' understand of the unit.

1. The Mississippi River
Tying together life on the Mississippi between
Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn

2. Impact of the Mississippi
A 1,300-mile waterway linking five
states to the Gulf Coast export
markets, the River System
supports a tremendous range of
uses. Commercial navigation,
recreation, and fish and wildlife all
flourish on the Upper Mississippi.
The region's more than 30 million
residents rely on river water for
public and industrial supplies,
power plant cooling, wastewater
assimilation, and other uses.

3. Impact of the Mississippi
Once served as our
Nation's western border,
and expansion beyond it
was a key turning point
in our history.
Through his writings,
Mark Twain made the
Mississippi River a
household word.

4. The River’s Impact Explained
• The Mississippi served as a central trading route
because it was the main link between the major
U.S. export markets
• Uses: Commercial navigation, recreation,
transportation, fishing, etc.
• Relied upon for public and industrial resources,
power plant cooling, wastewater assimilation, etc.
• Used to serve as the border between the eastern
and western sides of the U.S.
• Through his writings, Mark Twain made the
Mississippi River a part of everyone throughout the
country

5. Background
Information
• French and Spanish explorers are known
as the first Europeans to colonize along
the river basin (1500’s-1600’s)
• Was a main trade route for fur traders
• New Orleans became a key commerce
area (essentially, whoever controlled New
Orleans controlled the trade flow and the
Mississippi)
• After negotiations with France to gain
control of New Orleans, the United States
became the new owners of the Mississippi
River Valley.

6. Background
Information
• Through President Thomas
Jefferson’s Louisiana
Purchase, the U.S. gained
the Mississippi
• Control over the Mississippi
allowed the U.S. to continue
their westward expansion

7. The Role of the Mississippi
River in Huck Finn
The Mississippi River plays
a very important role in the
novel Huck Finn. The entire
novel revolves around
Huck and Jim floating down
the river on a raft.
Huck and Jim begin their
journey at St. Petersburg,
Missouri, a fictional town
based on Hannibal. Their
plan is to raft down the
Mississippi to Cairo,
Illinois and then take a
steam boat to Ohio.

8. Quotes about The Mississippi
“We said there warn’t
no home like raft after
all. Other places get
do seem so cramped up
and smothery, but a
raft don’t. You feel
mighty free and easy
and comfortable on a
raft” (Twain 116).

9. Mississippi River Quotes
“Sometimes we’d have the
whole river to ourselves
for the longest time. Yonder
was the banks and the
islands, across the water;
and maybe a spark--which was
a candle in a cabin window;
and sometimes on the water
you could see a spark or
two--on a raft or scow, you
know, and maybe you could
here a fiddle or a song
coming over from of them
crafts. it is lovely to live n
a raft” (Twain 119).

10. The Geography of the
Mississippi
• The Mississippi River flows south
from Minnesota nearly 2,350 miles,
drains 31 states from Montana to New
York
• Discharges 612,000 cubic feet of water
every second into the Gulf of Mexico.
• Home to fish, mussels, amphibians,
and mammals, the river system also
serves as the main flyway for migratory
birds.
• The floodplain supports thick forests,
prairie grasslands, rich farmlands, and
cypress swamps, yet also threatens life
along its banks with floods,
earthquakes, and pollution.

12. Bibliography
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Mississippi_River_View_from_Brady%27s_Bluff.jpg - Provided picture of the Mississippi River. Found
on Slide 1.
• http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/Mississippi/1intro.html - Provided information on the geography and background information of the Mississippi River.
Found on various slides.
• Provided Photos:
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Mississippi_River_Lock_and_Dam_number_21_HAER.jpg http://murphylibrary.uwlax.edu/digital/images/
riverboat.bmp
• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/explorers/de-soto-mississippi-river.jpg .
• http://farm1.static.flickr.com/70/178745970_ac0c423fed.jpg
• bp3.blogger.com/.../ Mississipi_River_PDSMO.jpg
• http://www.ecology.info/img/Mississippi-River.jpg
• http://jpdolan.com/TheAdventuresofHuckFinn.jpg
• http://media.rd.com/rd/images/rdc/books/most-scenic-drives-in-america/central-states-great-river-road-af.jpg