History of Kansas

Important dates in Kansas's history

July–August 1541 Coronado explores Kansas April 30, 1803 Louisiana Purchase; US buys most of Kansas May 30, 1854 Kansas Territory organized July 29, 1859 Constitution adopted by convention; prohibits slavery January 29, 1861 Kansas becomes 34th state August 21, 1863 Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence Spring 1879 Exodusters February 19, 1881 First state to prohibit alcohol 1890s Populist Revolt July 1951 Great Flood of 1951 May 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

The first people who lived in Kansas were Native Americans who were nomadic (people who don't live in one place for very long). They hunted American bison. In the 1500s, Spanish conquistadores came to explore the place. Later, French fur trappers came to the area. They traded with the Native Americans. The United States added most of Kansas in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act opened the place for Americans to move there. A lot of fighting happened because the new residents had to decide if they wanted slavery. The new residents decided to make slavery illegal. The fighting helped start the American Civil War.

After the Civil War, Kansas had many frontier towns. The railroads were stops for cattle drives from Texas. Many black people moved from the south to Kansas. These people were called "exodusters". Farmers tried growing corn and raising pigs, but there was little rain, so they were not able to. They started growing wheat.^[1] They became very good at growing wheat, and they had enough to trade with Europe. Many angry farmers joined the Populist and Progressive movement in the 1890s, and they supported it until the 1940s. Since the 1940s, Kansas has been a very conservative state. Since 1945, the number of farmers has lowered, and manufacturing has become more popular.

1. ↑ James Malin, Winter Wheat in the Golden Belt of Kansas (1944)