June 25, 1933, in Kosciusko, Mississippi.
From 1951 to 1960 he served in
the U.S. Air Force. Then he entered
Jackson State College, in Jackson, Mississippi.
At that time all schools in Mississippi
were segregated by race. This
meant that black and white students
went to separate schools. Jackson State
College had only black students.
In 1961 Meredith applied to the allwhite
University of Mississippi. It
rejected him twice. Meredith then asked
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) to file a lawsuit against the
school. In 1962 the U.S. Supreme Court
ordered the school to admit Meredith.
But the governor of Mississippi still tried
to stop Meredith from attending the
school. Violence broke out among
people who wanted to keep Meredith
out. President John F. Kennedy sent
thousands of U.S. soldiers to help
Meredith enter the school. Some soldiers
stayed to protect Meredith until he
graduated in 1963.
Meredith later earned a law degree from
Columbia University in New York City.
In 1966 he led a march through the
South to encourage African Americans
to vote. During the march he was shot,
but he recovered. In later years Meredith
turned away from the civil rights movement.
#More to explore
Civil Rights Movement • National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People
Meredith’s
1966 march
was called the
“March
Against Fear.”
Civil rights leader James Meredith is pictured
at the University of Mississippi.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Meredith, James 103
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a Greek name that
means “land between the rivers.” It
describes an ancient region between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the
Middle East. Some of the world’s first
civilizations developed in Mesopotamia.
Today the region is part of Iraq.
Sumer and Akkad
The earliest known civilization started in
southern Mesopotamia in about 4500
BC. It was called Sumer. The people of
Sumer found that the soil was good for
growing crops. Because there was little
rain, the people built irrigation systems
to carry water from the rivers to their
fields. After 4000 BC the world’s first
cities began in Sumer. Sumerian cities
included Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Lagash. In
about 3000 BC the Sumerians created
the world’s first writing system, called
cuneiform.
North of Sumer was the region called
Akkad. Beginning in about 2350 BC an
Akkadian ruler named Sargon conquered
Sumer and much of the rest of
Mesopotamia. This was the world’s first
empire.
Babylonia and Assyria
In about 1900 BC people called the
Amorites conquered all of Mesopotamia.
Under their rule Babylon became the
most important city in Mesopotamia.
Because the city was so powerful, the
whole region became known as Babylonia.
The most important Babylonian
king was Hammurabi. He is famous for
a set of laws made during his reign.
Babylonia began to lose strength after
about 1600 BC. The next major power
in Mesopotamia was Assyria. In the
1300s BC the Assyrians began to build
an empire in northern Mesopotamia and
beyond. In 671 BC the Assyrians
expanded their rule all the way to Egypt.
The Assyrian Empire ended in about
609 BC.
After the fall of Assyria, people called
the Chaldeans created a new Babylonian
empire. In 539 BC invaders from Persia
conquered the Chaldeans. The conqueror
Alexander the Great defeated the
Persians in about 330 BC. Then Mesopotamia
was ruled in turn by the
Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Turks. In
1921 Mesopotamia became the kingdom
of Iraq.
#More to explore
Civilization • Iraq •Writing
Metacom
Metacom was the leader of the
Wampanoag, a group of Native Americans.
TheWampanoag traditionally
lived in what are now Rhode Island and
Massachusetts. The English called Meta-
104 Mesopotamia BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
com King Philip. Metacom is best
known for his role in King Philip’sWar,
an uprising against English settlers.
In about 1620 English settlers began
occupying theWampanoag’s land. These
settlers were the Pilgrims of the Plymouth
Colony. Metacom’s father, Massasoit,
was the chief of theWampanoag
at the time. Massasoit kept peace with
the newcomers until his death in 1661.
Metacom became chief in 1662. By this
time many new settlers were arriving.
They wanted to take increasing amounts
of theWampanoag’s land without paying
for it.
This caused Metacom to ask other tribes
to help him fight the English. The battle
came to be known as King Philip’sWar.
Metacom proved to be an able military
leader, but after a year of fighting the
Indian alliance began to fall apart. Metacom
fled to what is now Rhode Island.
On August 12, 1676, he was killed by
an Indian who was fighting on the
English side.
#More to explore
King Philip’sWar • Massasoit • Native
Americans • Plymouth Colony
•Wampanoag
Metal
Metals are a large family of more than
70 chemical elements. Chemical elements
are the basic substances that make
up the universe. People use metals to
make countless things, from toasters to
skyscraper buildings.
What Metals Are Like
Metals are usually easy to recognize.
Every metal except mercury is solid at
room temperature. (Mercury is liquid.)
Most metals are gray in color and shiny
