Weekly Flag of the Union Archive

In 1821, four years after achieving statehood, the Mississippi state legislature appointed a three-member commission to find a more central location for the state capitol than Natchez, in the southwestern corner of the state. The site chosen, near the trading post of French-Canadian Louis LeFleur on a bluff overlooking the Pearl River, was named Jackson. Newspapers were among the earliest businesses in the newly incorporated town.

In November 1850, Thomas Palmer, editor/proprietor of the local Whig publication the Southron (1840-50) renamed it the Flag of the Union (1850-53?). The four-page paper was later known as the Weekly Flag of the Union (1853?-1858?). The Flag did not last long; a December 23, 1857 advertisement announced the sale of the building housing its offices; no known issues exist after 1858.

The Flag of the Union opposed secession; its prospectus stated ". . . we will, and do unite, heart and hand, as a Union party for the preservation of the Union." In the December 5, 1851 issue, a reprinted editorial presented the platform of the Union Party, a label adopted by some southern Whigs in 1850 to win over pro-Compromise Democrats. Many reprints, editorials and rebuttals against the Democratic Mississippian (1832-50) and the succeeding Mississippian and State Gazette (1851-59), also referred to as the Mississippian, underscored the Flag’s position that states were not sovereign. The paper discussed such issues as the fugitive slave law and the 1850 Nashville convention of nine southern states to consider secession; and printed legislative proceedings in full, including the 1852 acts to construct a levee on the Mississippi River and to incorporate the Mississippi Central railroad. By 1852, Whig news reappeared and the paper supported Whig candidates. By 1853, the Flag's content included more general interest and foreign news; advertisements and professional cards moved to the front page; and obituaries, marriage announcements and legal notices appeared. Despite the shift in content, a toast attributed to Andrew Jackson, "The Federal Union - It must be preserved" remained the motto throughout the Flag's run.