Happy Birthday, Kansas!

Exactly 151 years ago this weekend, Kansas gained her statehood after more than six years of struggle over the issue of slavery. Through years of oppression by the proslavery “Bogus Legislation,” the unsteady leadership of six governors in six years, and bloody violence between proslavery and free state forces, the citizens of Kansas persevered in their desire to create a free state constitution for Kansas. Although the citizens of Kansas approved the Wyandotte Constitution in October 1859, the largest hurdle remained: approval of Congress. In April 1860, the House of Representatives passed the bill granting statehood to Kansas. The Senate, however, dominated by the proslavery Southern states, refused to vote on the bill before the Congressional session ended in June of 1860. On January 21, 1861, the bill was at last scheduled for voting in the Senate. But before the discussion began that day, senators from the South resigned their seats because their states had seceded from the Union. After they left the hall, the vote was called, and the bill passed. President Buchanan signed the bill on January 29, 1861, making Kansas a state.