Contents
Kansas entered the union as a “free state,” because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that allowed the residents to decide if their state would allow slavery.
As Southern states secede from the Union, many of their elected representatives are removed from office. On January 21, 1861, the U.S. Senate finally approves the Wyandotte Constitution, which will admit Kansas into the Union as a free state.
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the free state of Kansas.
…
Kansas Territory.
1803 – The United States purchases Kansas from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. … It is called Bleeding Kansas. 1859 – Kansas outlaws slavery. 1861 – Kansas is admitted into the Union as the 34th state.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 made Kansas a recognized territory and promoted popular sovereignty (meaning that settlers in that territory had the right to choose whether or not to allow slavery). This act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that made it illegal to own slaves north of the 36′ 30″ boundary line.
June 1, 1792
1820s–1840s: Indian territory
Beginning in the 1820s, the area that would become Kansas was set aside as Indian Territory by the U.S. government, and was closed to settlement by whites.
Slavery existed in Kansas Territory, but on a much smaller scale than in the South. Most slaveholders owned only one or two slaves. Many slaves were women and children who performed domestic work rather than farm labor.
Between roughly 1855 and 1859, Kansans engaged in a violent guerrilla war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in an event known as Bleeding Kansas which significantly shaped American politics and contributed to the coming of the Civil War.
December 28, 1846
Kansas entered the union as a “free state,” because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that allowed the residents to decide if their state would allow slavery.
Kansas fought on the side of the Union, although there was a big pro-slavery feeling. These divisions led to some of conflicts. The conflicts included the Lawrence Massacre in August 1863.
March 4, 1791
In 1846 the Kansa were assigned a reservation at Council Grove (Kansas), their last home before removal to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1873. Before the reservation period their population had been much reduced by recurrent warfare with the Fox, Omaha, Osage, Pawnee, and Cheyenne.
The land we now call Kansas had been home to many American Indian peoples. The Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kansa, Kiowa, Osage, Pawnee, and Wichita are tribes that are considered native to present day Kansas. The area has also been inhabited by many emigrant tribes.
Many believe the rivalry can trace its history to open violence involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery elements that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of Missouri throughout the 1850s.
West Virginia became the 35th state on June 20, 1863, and the last slave state admitted to the Union. Eighteen months later, the West Virginia legislature completely abolished slavery, and also ratified the 13th Amendment on February 3, 1865.
Instead, federal law forced enslavers in Kentucky to emancipate enslaved people in December of 1865 when the 13th Amendment had the approval of ¾ of the states. Kentucky symbolically ratified the 13th amendment in 1976. UKNow: More than a century later, how does emancipation still resonate with society today?
#DidYouKnow: #USArmy field artillery Soldiers are referred to as “redlegs” because during the Civil War they were distinguished by scarlet stripes down the legs of their uniform pants.
November 2, 1889
One of the nation’s leading agricultural states, Kansas has long been known as “The Wheat State.” It was number one in all wheat produced, wheat flour milled, and wheat flour milling capacity in the year 2000.