Kansas & Nebraska: From Wilderness to Statehood

Kansas and Nebraska: From Wilderness to Statehood. . , This survey monument lies on the 40th parallel north latitude which also is the boundary between the present states of Kansas and Nebraska. In 1803 this area was but a small portion of a large, French-owned region known as Louisiana. That year, President Thomas Jefferson sent emissaries to Paris to attempt to purchase the vital port city of New Orleans. There, they were surprised to be offered the sale of all of Louisiana. This was accepted. The amount paid for this inland empire was $15 million. In May 1804, the famous "Corps of Discovery" army expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark headed up the Missouri River from St. Louis to explore the newly acquired territory and fins a route across the Rockies to the Pacific. On July 11, 1804, they passed upriver near this spot and again on their return downstream in 1806. Their expedition was a remarkable success in spite of terrible hardships, but it also demonstrated the Missouri River was not a practical cross-continental route. In the ensuing decades the Platte River, in what became Nebraska, became the favored overland route westward., In 1812 Louisiana became a state; the remainder of the territory was renamed Missouri Territory. By 1820 Missouri was pushing for statehood, but an impasse over the issue of slavery blocked its admission as such in Congress. The "Missouri Compromise" was offered by Senator Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and passed by Congress. It allowed the admission of Missouri as a slave state, of Maine as a free state, the creation of Arkansas Territory with slavery allowed, and all remaining lands of the original Louisiana Purchase as unorganized territory that would be forever free of slavery. The following year, 1821, Missouri was admitted to the Union., In the 1820's and 30's adventurous men in search of furs, gold, and other riches, explored into the Rockies, the disputed Oregon country, and into the Mexican owned Southwest. In so doing, they found the best routes westward. In the 1840's a growing tide of pioneers followed the "Oregon Trail" westward along the Platte River route to reach Oregon. Following the annexation of Texas in 1845 and victory in the controversial "Mexican War", 1846-1848, the United States had possession of all the southwest, including California. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to the massive "gold rush" of 1849 and the admission of California as a state in 1850. An obvious need was to tie California and the Oregon Territory to the eastern states with a transcontinental railroad. Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois was an ardent backer of such a railroad and pushed for a route through his home state and westward from Omaha, however, for this route to be politically and financially acceptable, the region west of Omaha needed to be made into an organized territory (Iowa had become a state in 1846). Several attempts to accomplish this were thwarted, mainly by southern interests that wished to protect the balance of power between "Slave" and "Free" states in the United States Senate. To gain broader support, Senator Douglas introduced a compromise legislation, the "Kansas - Nebraska Act". It created two large territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and allowed "Popular Sovereignty" in each. This allowed each Territory's elected legislatures of self-determination whether to allow slavery or prohibit it. This negated the "Missouri Compromise" of 1820 since both territories lay north of the 36-30' line prohibiting slavery established by that legislation. The Act was passed by Congress on May 25, 1854. Douglas thought he had found a way to avoid the controversies of the slave issue; instead, they rapidly worsened. Both factions saw the opportunity to influence the outcome of the voting by rushing their own people into Kansas. Pro-slavery groups from Missouri established the towns of Atchison, Leavenworth, and Lecompton. Anti-slavery groups (also referred to as "Free-soilers" and "Jayhawkers") from New England states established Lawrence and Topeka. Voting done for a territorial legislature was tainted by pro-slavery Missourians crossing into Kansas to vote. The anti-slavery groups refused to recognize that legislation and elected their own separate one. President Franklin Pierce pushed for Congress to recognize the pro-slavery Kansas legislation. Congress could not agree to support either one. Violence broke out in Kansas. Pro-slavers sacked and partially burned Lawrence. Radical abolitionist John Brown and his followers retaliated by murdering five (5) pro-slavery men. Osawatomie, Kansas was pillaged by 300 pro-slavers. Eventually, troops were used to restore order. In all, over 200 had died in what was being called "Bleeding Kansas". For the most part, Nebraska Territory escaped this violence. One important impact of the troubles in Kansas was the boost it gave to a new political party emerging on the national scene. The Republican Party was born in 1854 and just two years later made a strong showing in the presidential election in 1856. Democrat James Buchanan was elected but his administration proved incapable of dealing with the increasing sectional crises. At the 1860 National Democratic Convention, Senator Douglas was nominated. The Southern Democrats bolted and chose their own candidate. Vice-President John Breckinridge, of Kentucky. The democratic schism led to the election of the Republican nominee, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. By the time Lincoln took the oath of office in March 1861, many southern states had already seceded from the Union and one new one, Kansas, had been admitted as a "free" state (January 29, 1861). Topeka was chosen the state capital. On May 20, 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, the "Homestead Act" was passed by Congress. This Act granted ownership of 160 acres of public land to any citizen who lived upon and improved a filed claim for five (5) successive years. This Act hurried the settlement of the Nebraska Territory, especially after the end of the Civil War in 1865. Present-day Homestead National Monument near Beatrice, Nebraska, interprets this important Act. On March 1, 1867, Nebraska was admitted to the union as the 37th state. The territorial capital of Omaha was shifted to the village of Lancaster and renamed Lincoln in honor of the assassinated President.