Historical1861
Kansas Admitted as 34th State
Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state, culminating years of violent conflict known as "Bleeding Kansas." Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers had clashed throughout the 1850s over whether Kansas would permit slavery, making it a prelude to the Civil War.
Why It Matters
The struggle over Kansas statehood illustrated how the slavery question was tearing the nation apart and demonstrated the dangers of political violence, making it a cautionary chapter in American democratic history.