When was the state of Kansas admitted to the Union?”
The Kansas–Nebraska Act divided the nation and pointed it toward civil war. The act itself virtually nullified the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850. The turmoil over the act split both the Democratic and Know Nothing parties and gave rise to the Republican Party, which split the United States into two major political camps, North (Republican) and South (Democratic). Eventually, a new anti-slavery state constitution was drawn up. On January 29, 1861, Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state. Nebraska was not admitted to the Union as a [free] state until after the Civil War in 1867.
In the United States (U.S.) during the pre-Civil War era, the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries. The initial purpose of the Kansas–Nebraska Act was to create opportunities for a Mideastern Transcontinental Railroad. It was not problematic until popular sovereignty was written into the proposal. The act was designed by Democratic Sen. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. The act established that settlers could vote to decide whether or not to allow slavery, in the name of popular sovereignty or rule of the people. Douglas hoped it would ease relations between the North and the South, because the South could expand slavery to new territories but the North still had the right to abolish slavery in their states. Instead, opponents denounced the law as a concession to the slave power of the
Kansas (Listeni /ˈkænzəs/) is a state located in the Midwestern United States.[4] It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, which inhabited the area.[5] The tribe’s name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean “people of the wind” or “people of the south wind,” although this was probably not the term’s original meaning.[6][7] Residents of Kansas are called “Kansans.” Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas
