Indians Removed from Kansas Lands. It must be remembered that at this time Kansas was an Indian country; that many of the eastern tribes had given up their lands in exchange for lands here which had been promised to them forever. Nevertheless, the Indians were removed from Kansas, many of them at once and others more leisurely. They were taken to what has since become Oklahoma, where many of them still live. In this way room was made for the white settlers to enter Kansas.
SUMMARY
For many years there had been bitter feeling between the North and the South on the slavery question. In 1820 the Missouri Compromise was passed. This measure provided that all the Louisiana Purchase lying north of the southern boundary of Missouri, except Missouri itself, should be forever free. This agreement was observed until the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 1854. This bill provided that the settlers of each of these territories should decide whether it was to be made slave or free. Each side was determined to win Kansas, and as a result the slavery struggle was brought here. In order to make room for settlers the Indians were moved to Indian Territory, now known as Oklahoma.
REFERENCES
- Prentis, History of Kansas, pp. 63-73.
- Spring, Kansas, pp. 2-16.
- Andreas, History of Kansas, pp. 81-82.
- Holloway, History of Kansas, chap. VI.
- Tuttle, History of Kansas.
- Larned, History for Ready Reference.
- Gihon, Geary and Kansas, chap. III.
- Historical Collections, vol. IX, p. 115; vol. VIII, p. 86.
- Foster, A History of the United States, pp. 325-329.
- Muzzey, American History, 379-412.
- Hodder, Genesis of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1912, pp. 69-86.
QUESTIONS
1. Why is 1854 an important date in Kansas history?
2. What great national question affected Kansas at that time? Explain.
3. Explain the attitude of the North and the South toward slavery.
4. What was meant by the “balance of power”?