ARKANSAS - Short & Quick
Arkansas comprises 52,068 square miles,
making it the 25th largest state. Generally considered as part of the
South due to its late adherence to the Confederacy, Arkansas lies
immediately south of the geographical center of the lower forty-eight
states in southern Missouri.
Arkansas was explored by Europeans as early as the mid-1500s by Hernando
De Soto, but the first permanent European settlement was the Arkansas
Post, founded in 1686 by Henri de Tonti. In 1803, Arkansas was acquired
for the United States by President Jefferson from Napoleon as part of the
Louisiana Purchase. In 1812, Arkansas was made part of Missouri
Territory, but became its own territory in 1819 after a substantial influx
of white settlers. Scotch-Irish pioneers in the mold of Daniel Boone and
Davy Crockett formed the bulk of the new inhabitants of northern and
western Arkansas, while Southerners moved westward into the Mississippi
flood plains and delta lands to plant cotton and extend their plantation
system.
Arkansas voted to stay in the Union until
after Lincoln's call for troops following the firing on Fort Sumter. In March of 1861 the
first Arkansas Secession Convention met and chose to stay in the Union by
a vote of 39 to 35. Only the southeastern portion of the state containing
the slave working plantations was solidly for the Confederacy. The April
15th call for troops by President Lincoln and General Nathaniel Lyon's
actions to secure Missouri for the
Union prompted reconsideration.
When word came that Virginia and Tennessee had seceded, a second Secession
Convention was called. Arkansas joined the Confederacy in May, 1861, with
only a single dissenting vote.
Nonetheless, Northern Arkansas was badly
fragmented in its sentiments, and citizens readily volunteered in
substantial numbers for both sides. Extended families often declared for
one side or the other, and local fighting continued for some ten years
after the war was over. The northern part of the State was occupied by
Union troops from 1863 onwards, but controlling its truculent backwoods
population was always problematical.
Following Reconstruction, Arkansas became a
backwater in the center of the country and took almost no part in the
expansion to the West or the industrialism in the East. The hill people
of northern and western Arkansas slowly replaced their small farms with
subsistence cattle ranching, and residents of the Mississippi flood plains
developed sharecropper systems for cotton production.
By the end of the 20th Century, Arkansas
could be split into three regions based on economical, political, cultural
and land use factors. The capital, Little Rock, located geographically in
the center, became a modern and diverse city of over 180,000 inhabitants
by 2004 and could be considered as a region unto itself. South and
eastwards of a line drawn from Texarkana in the Southwest, through Little
Rock to Pocahontas in the Northeast, are the delta lands containing mostly
bottom-land farming. This region is classically Southern like its
counterparts in Eastern Louisiana and Mississippi. North and west of the
line is a region similar to Southern Missouri, Eastern Tennessee and the
foothills of the Blue Ridge. This third region is relatively ethnically
homogenous, conservative in political attitude, and traditionally a
bastion of self-determination.
Residents of Arkansas are called Arkansans,
pronounced "Ar-Can`-sons." The State's nickname is "The Natural State"
due to its rather undeveloped condition, large number of state parks and
mostly rural population. Its motto is "Regnat populus" (The People Rule),
a motto often taken literally by its residents. For example,
in Arkansas property ownership is viewed as a near-sacred right with a
minimum of government interference. The courts in Arkansas have
traditionally taken a dim view of restrictions on property use, zoning is
often absent except in the larger cities and towns, and eminent domain is
used very sparingly by local governments in comparison with other states.
For US residents outside of Arkansas it may be difficult to understand
this very conservative attitude in Arkansas. In Du Page County, Illinois,
for example, real estate taxes are due on June 1 and September 1, in equal
amounts. Thereafter penalties are assessed, and the method of payment
becomes increasing restrictive until 4:30 PM on November 17th. After that
time no payment will be accepted, and the property owner faces the dire
situation of losing his property to the local government and its friends.
Such punitive measures are essentially unthinkable in Arkansas. Nor does
Arkansas place extensive government employee pension plan funding on real
estate taxes. By way of comparison, in the Du Page County example above
from Illinois, a home selling for under $240,000 on a lot of 1/8 acre
incurs real estate taxes of over $4,780 per year, while in Arkansas a
similar home on 5 acres would likely see taxes of less than $900.00 and be
subject to an additional homeowner exemption deduction of $300.00 for
qualified homeowners. Yes, Arkansas is people and homeowner friendly. As
its motto says, "The People Rule." The State currently has
four US Representatives, split three to one in favor of the Democratic
Party in 2006. The Governor, Mike Huckabee, and Lt. Governor, Winthrop
Rockefeller, are Republicans, but both US Senators, Mark Pryor and Blanche
Lincoln, are Democrats.
By 2005 Arkansas lagged far behind the more
developed states in land values and building costs. Along with Southern
Missouri, Northern Arkansas offers investment and retirement opportunities
unmatched in the United States. Large tracts of farm acreage are
available below $1,300 per acre, and modern homes can be built from $65 to
$90 per square foot. Even large executive homes with elegant features and
expensive fixtures rarely exceed the latter number. Prime location home
sites, of course, command higher land prices, but even these are usually a
fraction of that demanded for comparable sites in other states. Taxes
remain low except in Little Rock, and retirees often find themselves
capable of living comfortably in Arkansas in comparison to barely
remaining solvent in other states.