Who says that Southern states are run by reactionary old curmudgeons? On February 18, 2013; the Mississippi state legislature voted to ratify the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. The move came as a result to popular reaction to the Steven Spielberg movie ‘Lincoln’, which focused on Lincoln’s efforts to pass the 13th Amendment.  It only took the Mississippi legislature 148 years to ratify the amendment. Mississippi has still not ratified a number of other Constitutional amendments, including the 24th Amendment, which abolished to poll tax, a device used to prevent poor people from voting. Many other Southern states also never ratified the 24th Amendment. The 24th Amendment became part of the Constitution in 1964.

Prohibition. Mississippi has also never ratified the 21st Amendment, the repeal of Prohibition. Until 1966, it was illegal to produce, advertise, transport, or sell alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine, anywhere in Mississippi. Mississippi is still the driest state in the U.S. In half the countries in Mississippi, the transportation and sale of alcohol is still illegal. You can be arrested in Mississippi for driving through the state with a can of beer in your trunk. That is because it is impossible to drive through Mississippi on an interstate highway without passing through dry counties.