There was at least one pivotal event that occurred in United States before Kansas became a state. This event was like a lit fuse on a stick of dynamite. Make that several fuses on several sticks of dynamite.
The event I'm talking about, The Missouri Compromise. In the year 1820, pro-slavery and anti-slavery representatives in the United States Congress agreed that slavery would not be allowed in the Louisiana Territory north of approximately 36 degrees North of the Equator, except, EXCEPT within the proposed boundaries of what would become the state of Missouri.
If you know your geography Missouri borders Kansas. The fact that Missouri was able to maintain pro-slavery status, would cause problems for anti-slavery settlements in Kansas. In fact, a chain reaction of events would lead to what we know as 'Bleeding Kansas'.
If you click on the this link you'll see a cool animated image. Missouri Compromise (You'll have to scroll down just a little, but it's there).
2 comments:
So Kansas was actually inside the Missouri Territory. I tend to think of the Missouri Territory as being around Missouri, rather than running up through most of the Midwest.
I found the changing of territories can create a challenge when it comes to trying to find ancestors.
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