History of Missouri
Encyclopedia
The history of Missouri begins with France
claiming the territory and selling it to the U.S. in 1803. Statehood came following a compromise in 1820. Missouri grew rapidly until the Civil War, which saw numerous small battles and control by the Union. Its economy has become diverse and complex, and the state ranks in the middle of many economic and social indicators.
and French trader Louis Jolliet
sailed down the Mississippi River
in canoes along the area that would later become the state of Missouri
. The earliest recorded use of "Missouri" is found on a map drawn by Marquette after his 1673 journey, naming both a group of Native Americans
and a nearby river
. However, the French rarely used the word to refer to the land in the region, instead calling it part of the Illinois Country
. In 1682, after his successful journey from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Gulf of Mexico, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
claimed the Louisiana Territory
for France. During the journey, La Salle built several trading posts in the Illinois Country in an effort to create a trading empire; however, before La Salle could fully implement his plans, he died on a second journey to the region during a mutiny in 1685.
During the late 1680s and 1690s, the French pursued colonization of central North America not only to promote trade, but also to thwart the efforts of England on the continent. In that vein, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville
established Biloxi
in 1699 and Mobile
in 1701 along the Gulf coast, while Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac
established Detroit in 1701 along the Great Lakes. From these outposts departed a variety of fur traders and Jesuit missionaries that enabled France to build strong relationships with indigenous tribes and retain control of the continental interior.
Although both Marquette and La Salle had passed Missouri on their journeys, neither had established bases of operations in what would become the state. Encouraged by the building of Mobile and Biloxi, the first to do so was Pierre Gabriel Marest, a Jesuit priest who in late 1700 established a mission on the west bank of the Mississippi at the mouth of the River Des Peres
. Marest established his mission station with a handful of French settlers and a large band of the Kaskaskia
people, who fled from the eastern Illinois Country to the station in the hope of receiving French protection from the Iroquois. Marest became involved in learning their language and constructed several cabins, a chapel, and a basic fort at the station. However, bands of Sioux
were angry at the encroachment of the Kaskaskia onto Sioux lands at Des Peres; these Sioux forced Marest to move the station south and east in 1703 to a new location in Illinois known as Kaskaskia
.
From this time up until the building of the first railways in the Mississippi Basin in the mid-19th century, the Mississippi-Missouri river system waterways were the main means of communication and transportation in the region. The earliest traffic up the Missouri likely occurred in the 1680s by unlicensed fur traders; the first known ascent occurred in 1693, and within a decade, more than a hundred traders were moving along the Mississippi and Missouri. These early traders met two tribes within what would become Missouri: the Missouri and the Osage
.
The Missouri were a semisedentary people with a major village along the Missouri River in northern Saline County, Missouri; they lived at the village primarily during the spring planting and fall harvesting seasons, while pursued game at other time. The Missouri became an ally of the French, eventually even traveling to Detroit to assist in the defense of the town against a Fox tribe attack. The Osage for their part became a more significant player in the development of Missouri history; they lived along the Osage River
in Vernon County, Missouri and near the Missouri village in Saline County. Like the Missouri, the Osage lived in semi-permanent villages, and they also both had acquired horses.
The exposure to French activities brought significant changes to the indigenous peoples of Missouri. Although interactions were generally positive between them, the introduction of diseases, alcohol, and firearms proved detrimental to traditional lifestyles and cultures. The increased dependence on European goods altered cultural patterns of craft production, and an increased emphasis on hunting due to commercialism changed Osage marriage patterns. Younger Osage hunters who had achieved wealth from trade sought to increase their power in Osage society, and they at various times challenged the established political order of tribal elders. Although both the Osage and the Missouri were exposed to European diseases such as smallpox and typhus, the Osage suffered only slightly compared to the Missouri, who were drastically reduced in population.
to create a joint stock company
to manage colonial growth. Law's Mississippi Company
(renamed the Company of the West in 1717 upon receiving its charter) was given a monopoly on all trade, ownership of all mines, and use of all military posts in Louisiana in return for a ten-year requirement to settle 6,000 white settlers and 3,000 black slaves in the territory. The Illinois Country (which included Missouri) was also to be part of the charter. Investment in the company began in earnest, and in 1719, Law merged the Company of the West with several other joint stock companies to form the Company of the Indies. Appointed as provincial governor of Louisiana by the company, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville founded the city of New Orleans in 1718, and the company appointed Pierre Dugué de Boisbriand
as commander of the Illinois Country.
After Boisbriand's arrival in the Illinois Country, he ordered the construction of Fort de Chartres
about eighteen miles north of Kaskaskia as the base of operations and headquarters for the company in the area. After the construction of Fort de Chartres, the company directed a series of prospecting expeditions to an area 30 miles west of the Mississippi River in present-day Madison
, St. Francois, and Washington
counties. These mining operations generally focused on discovering either lead or silver ore; the company appointed Philip Francois Renault
as commander of the mines, and in 1723 Boisbriand ceded land to Renault in Washington County (in an area now known as the Old Mines) and in the Mine La Motte
area. Because of the unappealing nature of mine work, white laborers demanded high wages; in response, Renault brought five black slaves to work in the mines, the first black slaves in Missouri. Despite these efforts, weather and hostility among indigenous tribes slowed production, and Renault sold his lands in 1742 having made little profit.
Despite severe financial losses in late 1720, in January 1722 the company's directors sent Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont
to Missouri to protect the company's trade networks on the Missouri River from Spanish influence. Bourgmont arrived in New Orleans in September 1722, and he departed from the city for Missouri in February 1723 with a poorly equipped force. In November 1723, Bourgmont and the party arrived in present-day Carroll County in northern Missouri, where they constructed Fort Orleans
. Within a year, Bourgmont negotiated alliances with indigenous tribes along the Missouri River, and in 1725, he brought a party of them to Paris
to visit the French royal court. Bourgmont remained in France when the party returned to North America, and Fort Orleans was abandoned by the company in 1728. The quick abandonment of the fort after its construction was necessitated by the general retreat on the part of the company after the financial losses of 1720, and in 1731, the company returned its charter and control of Louisiana to royal authority.
During the 1730s and 1740s, French control over Missouri remained weak, and no permanent settlements existed on the western bank of the Mississippi River. Despite this lack of permanence, French fur traders continued to ascend the Missouri River and interact with indigenous peoples; one such duo, Paul and Pierre Mallet, journeyed from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico
in 1739, although future expeditions to New Spain were stopped by Spanish officials. In 1744, the French commander of Fort de Chartres gave five years of fur trading rights along the Missouri River to Joseph Deruisseau, who built a small fort (Fort de Cavagnal
) on the Missouri River near present-day Kansas City, Missouri
. However, the trading post never grew into a full-fledged settlement, and it disappeared by 1764.
French settlers remained on the east bank of the Mississippi at Kaskaskia and Fort de Chartres until 1750, when the new settlement of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
was constructed. During its early years, Ste. Genevieve grew slowly due to its location on a muddy, flat, floodplain, and in 1752, the town had only 23 full-time residents. Despite its proximity to lead mines and salt springs, the majority of its population came as farmers during the 1750s and 1760s, and they primarily grew wheat, corn and tobacco.
in 1754 (known as the Seven Years' War
in Europe).Foley (1989), 25. The successful English attack on Quebec in 1759
and on Montreal in 1760
virtually guaranteed the loss of French Canada, although France remained in control of Missouri and the rest of the Illinois Country. In January 1762, Spain joined with France against England, but the war quickly turned against them for England. To persuade Spain to sign a peace settlement with England and to compensate for Spanish losses in the war, France secretly offered Spain control of Louisiana in November 1762 in the Treaty of Fontainebleau
. In addition to the loss of Louisiana in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the final settlement with England, known as the Treaty of Paris
, transferred Canada from French to English control.
However, due to slow transit times, word of the Treaty of Fontainebleau did not arrive in Louisiana until 1765; in that period, the French governor of Louisiana granted a trade monopoly over Missouri to New Orleans merchant Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent
and his partner, Pierre Laclède
. In August 1763, Laclede and his stepson Auguste Chouteau departed New Orleans for Missouri, where in February 1764 they established St. Louis
on high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi.
Although Laclede had brought the news in December 1763 of the transfer of the eastern Illinois Country to the United Kingdom, the French commander Pierre Joseph Neyon de Villiers only received his orders to begin evacuations in April 1764. Villiers departed for New Orleans in June 1764 with 80 families, and he transferred temporary control to his subordinate, Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, who was given responsibility to monitor the remaining settlers in Illinois. Concern about living under British rule led many French settlers to decamp for Missouri, especially with encouragement from Laclede; upon the arrival of the British at Fort de Chartres in October 1765, St. Ange himself departed for St. Louis, where he took temporary command until Spanish representatives could take official control. From that point through the arrival of the Spanish in St. Louis in September 1767, St. Ange was the interim commander of the entire upper Louisiana region.
The first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Antonio de Ulloa
, arrived in New Orleans in March 1766, and in early 1767 he dispatched his subordinate, Francisco Riu, to replace St. Ange as commander of a soon-to-be-built fort at the mouth of the Missouri River. St. Ange, however, remained the administrative authority in the town and south of the Missouri River. The fort that Ulloa had ordered built, known as Fort Don Carlos, ultimately was constructed on the southern bank of the Missouri; however, disputes during the construction led to the dismissal of Riu and his replacement by Pedro Piernas in August 1768.
Weather and ice delayed Piernas's ascent to Fort Don Carlos through April 1769; between his arrival and his departure, the Louisiana Rebellion of 1768 broke out in New Orleans against Spanish rule, and Ulloa was forced to flee. Only 13 days after his arrival to Fort Don Carlos, Piernas received orders to evacuate the fort and return control to St. Ange. When Piernas and his garrison left Louisiana in July 1769, they were the last Spanish forces to leave the territory. Spanish officials acted quickly to crush the rebellion, however, and in August 1769, resistance collapsed. Although the rebellion led to the execution of five rebel leaders in New Orleans, no reprisals were necessary or occurred in Missouri.
Upon the reestablishment of Spanish control of Louisiana, both of Missouri's permanent settlements, Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis, were growing as a result of French immigration from British-held Illinois. Ste. Genevieve continued to suffer from periodic flooding, although during the 1770s its population of 600 made it slightly larger than St. Louis. While the residents of Ste. Genevieve took a balanced approach between fur trading and farming, St. Louisans had a particular focus on fur trading, which led to periodic food shortages and the city's nickname of 'Paincourt', meaning short of bread. South of St. Louis a satellite city known as Carondelet was established in 1767, although it never thrived. A third major settlement was established in 1769, when Louis Blanchette
, a Canadian trader, set up a trading post on the northwest bank of the Missouri River, which eventually grew into the town of St. Charles.
In 1770, Piernas fully replaced St. Ange as administrator of the colony, although he retained the veteran Frenchman as an adviser. Local administrators of Ste. Genevieve also were Spanish-appointed, but frequently were forced to acquiesce to local customs. Throughout the 1770s, Spanish officials were forced to contend not only with the wishes of their predominantly French populations, but also with repeated incursions from British traders and hostile indigenous tribes.
To reduce the influence of British traders, Spain renewed efforts to encourage French settlers to decamp from Illinois to Missouri, and in 1778, the Spanish granted land and basic supplies to Catholic immigrants to Missouri; however, few settlers actually took up the offers to move to the region. A second effort by the Spanish against the British found greater success: starting in the late 1770s, the Spanish officials began openly supporting American rebels fighting against British rule in the American War of Independence. Spanish officials in both St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve were instrumental in supplying George Rogers Clark
during his Illinois campaign of 1779.
However, Spanish aid to the rebels came at a price: in June 1779, Spain declared war on England, and word reached Missouri of the war in February 1780. By March 1780, St. Louis was warned of an impending British attack, and the Spanish government began preparations for a fort at the town, known as Fort San Carlos. In late May, a British war party attacked the town of St. Louis; although the town was saved, 21 were killed, 7 were wounded, and 25 were taken prisoner.
After the American victory in its war of independence, the European countries involved negotiated a set of treaties known as the Peace of Paris
. The Spanish, who retained Louisiana, were forced to contend with large numbers of American immigrants crossing into Missouri from the east. Rather than attempt to stifle the immigration of American Protestants, however, Spanish diplomats began encouraging it in an effort to create an economically successful province.
As part of this effort, in 1789 Spanish diplomats in Philadelphia encouraged George Morgan
, an American military officer, to set up a semi-autonomous colony in southern Missouri across from the mouth of the Ohio River
. Named New Madrid
, the colony began auspiciously but was discouraged by Louisiana's governor, Esteban Rodríguez Miró
, who considered Morgan's infant colony as flawed due to its lack of provisos for ensuring the settlement's loyalty to Spain. New Madrid's early American settlers departed, as did Morgan, and New Madrid became primarily a hunting and trading outpost rather than a full-fledged agricultural city.
Despite Spanish diplomats' efforts, during the early 1790s both Governor Miró and his successor, Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet
, were cool toward the idea of American immigration to Missouri. However, with the onset of the Anglo-Spanish War in 1796, Spain again needed an influx of settlement to defend the region. To that end, Spain began advertising free land and no taxes in Spanish territory throughout American cities, and Americans responded in a wave of immigration. Among these American pioneer
s was Daniel Boone
, who settled with his family after encouragement from the territorial governor.
To better govern the region of Missouri, the Spanish split the province into five administrative districts in the mid-1790s: St. Louis, St. Charles, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau
and New Madrid.Foley (1989), 84. Of the five administrative districts, the newest was Cape Girardeau, founded in 1792 by trader Louis Lorimier as a trading post and settlement for newly arriving Americans. The largest district, St. Louis, was the provincial capital and center of trade; by 1800, its district population stood at nearly 2,500. Aside from Carondelet, other settlements in the St. Louis district included Florissant
, located 15 miles northwest of St. Louis and settled in 1785, and Bridgeton
, located 5 miles southwest of Florissant and settled in 1794. All three settlements were popular with immigrants from the United States.
However, these American settlers fundamentally changed the makeup of Missouri; by the mid-1790s, Spanish officials realized the American Protestant immigrants were not interested in converting to Catholicism or in serious loyalty to Spain. Despite a brief attempt to restrict immigration to Catholics only, the heavy immigration from the United States changed the lifestyle and even the primary language of Missouri
; by 1804, more than three-fifths of the population were American. With little return on their investment of time and money in the colony, the Spanish negotiated the return of Louisiana, including Missouri, to France in 1800, which was codified in the Treaty of Ildefonso
.
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At the time of the transfer to France in 1800, the population of Upper Louisiana was primarily concentrated in the settlements along the Mississippi in present-day Missouri. A dirt roadway linked the towns of Ste. Genevieve and New Madrid, but a trail between St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve was mostly unused due to rough terrain. Most residents traveled between towns on riverboats, primarily canoes, pirogues, and bateaux (later replaced by keelboats). Subsistence agriculture was the primary economic activity, although most farmers also raised livestock. Fur trading, lead mining, and salt making were also significant economic activities for residents during the 1790s.
Religion in colonial Missouri was a strong element of cultural life, and the Catholic Church had been a significant part of life among the colonists since the earliest settlements.Foley (1989), 102. Although the Jesuits were the primary religious authority in the region, the French expelled the order in 1763 due to its growing wealth and power. Combined with the expulsion of the Jesuits, the transfer of the colony to Spain also caused a shortage of priests, as French priests under Canadian jurisdiction were prohibited from conducting services. Through 1773, Missouri parishes lacked resident priests, and residents were served by traveling priests from the east side of the Mississippi. During the 1770s and 1780s, both Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis gained resident priests, although not without difficulty; during the 1790s, St. Charles and Florissant were forced to share a resident priest, despite both having built parish churches. Throughout the period, both the French and the Spanish provided monetarily for the sustenance of the church; as part of their support, both governments forbade Protestant services in the colony.Foley (1989), 104. However, itinerant Protestant ministers frequently visited the settlements in private, and restrictions on Protestant residency were rarely enforced. According to Missouri historian William E. Foley, colonial Missouri lived under a "de facto form of religious toleration
," with few residents demanding rigid orthodoxy.
Social class was particularly fluid during the colonial period, although there were some distinctions.Foley (1989), 105. The highest class was based upon wealth and constituted of a mixed group of colonial-born merchants linked by familial ties. Below this class were the artisans and craftsmen of the society, followed by laborers of all types, including boatmen, hunters, and soldiers. Near the bottom of the social system were free blacks, servants, and coureur des bois
, with black and Indian slaves forming the bottom class.
Crime and social indiscretions also were a part of life in colonial Missouri; however, government officials quickly dealt with those who broke social norms. In 1770, when a trader mocked Spanish regulations outside the church in St. Louis, he was banished from the colony for ten years; the same year, a laborer was banished for stealing and illicit relations with slave women. During the late 1770s, a series of robberies was ended by the institution of nightly patrols in St. Louis. Spanish soldiers often were responsible for the major crimes; in 1775, a soldier killed a Ste. Genevieve resident in a drunken knife fight, while soldiers in St. Louis frequently were accused of fighting, drunkenness, and stealing.
Women in the region were responsible for a variety of domestic tasks, including food preparation and clothing making. French colonial women were well-known for their cooking, which incorporated both French staples such as soups and fricasses and African and Creole foods such as gumbo. The colonists also ate local meats, including squirrel, rabbits, and bear, although they preferred beef, pork and fowl. Most foods were local, although sugar and liquor were imported until the late colonial period.
Women also were responsible for child-rearing and basic schooling, and for nursing the sick. Diseases such as malaria
, whooping cough, and scarlet fever
were frequent maladies throughout the period, with malaria particularly affecting low-lying settlements such as Ste. Genevieve. Smallpox
only affected the settlements late in the 1700s. Schools were private and classes were tutor-based; small schools operated intermittently during the 1780s and 1790s in both St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve, and a private English-language school opened in New Madrid during the late 1790s. The wealthiest families sometimes sent children to other regions to obtain education: François Vallé
of Ste. Genevieve sent his son to New York City in 1796, while Auguste Chouteau sent his eldest son to Canada in 1802.
The black population of Missouri and the region was not insignificant. In 1772, nearly 38 percent of residents were of African descent, and although suffering a decline, in 1800 it remained nearly 20 percent of the total. The first blacks in Missouri were the handful of slaves of Philippe Renault, but they were followed by groups imported by Spain to work in agriculture. These slaves made significant contributions to regional development through their labor in mines, fields, and in transportation. Both the French and the Spanish used black codes to regulate the use of enslaved Africans in the territory. It had certain protections for what was considered an economic investment, such as prohibitions on imprisonment, mutilation, and death. The Spanish regime continued most of the Code Noir in 1769, but also permitted enslaved blacks to own property, appear as parties to lawsuits, work on their own account, and purchase their freedom.
ended the French expedition. In October 1802, these officials suspended foreign trade at the port of New Orleans, which led the United States to negotiate with France to purchase New Orleans in March 1803. However, the French defeat in Haiti and the desire for money to fight Britain led Napoleon to sell all of Louisiana, including Missouri, to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase
.
Official news of the transfer had reached the region in August 1803 in a letter from the governor of the Indiana Territory
, William Henry Harrison
. Although the transfer of all of Louisiana was formalized in a ceremony in New Orleans in December 1803, a separate ceremony took place in St. Louis in March 1804 to commemorate the transfer of Upper Louisiana.
Even before the purchase President Thomas Jefferson
was planning to explore the region; he sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition
and the Pike expedition
to map the region. In 1805 Congress organized the Louisiana Territory
was with the government seat in St. Louis. The U.S. Army soon built trading and military forts to establish control over the territory, Fort Bellefontaine
was made an Army post near St. Louis in 1804, and Fort Osage
was built along the Missouri River in 1808.
The Mississippi-Ohio river systems were navigated by steamboat
starting in 1811 with the New Orleans steamboat travelling from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, to New Orleans
. On December 16, 1811, the New Madrid earthquakes smashed the lightly populated region.
became a state in 1812, the remaining Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory
. That year, the first general assembly of the Missouri Territory was created, with the five original counties being Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, Saint Charles, Saint Louis, and Ste. Genevieve.
Southerners poured into Missouri Territory during 1804-21. The rapid population growth was facilitated by treaties that extinguished Indian land titles, with settlers attracted by the abundance of high quality inexpensive land, and the easy access provided by the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. By 1810 European Americans dominated the population, demographically, and financially. They overwhelmed the small French-speaking element and sent Native Americans to lands further west. Land in the public domain was quickly surveyed and sold to yeoman farmers
, whose hard work was rapidly rewarded. Ranchers raised cattle; the Missouri woodland had ample grass for natural grazing. European Americans in early Missouri laid the groundwork for the new state, and their stamp remains strong in the landscape into the 21st century.
Missouri was at the western frontier during the War of 1812
, and the main regional headquarters of the U.S. Army was based at Fort Bellefontaine
near St. Louis. Other forts included Fort Cap au Gris
; Fort Osage
was abandoned at the start of the war. Several skirmishes were fought in Missouri, including the Battle of the Sink Hole
, one of the last battles of the war, on May 24, 1815.
In 1817, the first steamboat reached Saint Louis. That year, the commerce from New Orleans to the Falls of the Ohio
at Louisville
was carried in barges and keel-boats having a capacity of 60 to 80 tons each, with 3 to 4 months required to make a single trip. In 1820 steamboats were making the same trip in 15 to 20 days, by 1838 in 6 days or less. By 1834 there were 230 steamboats, having an aggregate tonnage of 39,000 tons, engaged in trade on the Mississippi. Large numbers of flat boats, especially from the Ohio and its tributaries, continued to carry produce
downstream. In 1842 Ohio completed an extensive canal system that connected the Mississippi with the Great Lakes
. These were in turn connected in 1825 by the Erie Canal with the Hudson River
and the Port of New York on the Atlantic Ocean. There was expansive growth of resource commodity, and agricultural products trade throughout the rivers and Great Lakes network.
In 1818, Saint Louis University
was founded, a Catholic Jesuit Seminary that was the first college west of the Mississippi River. It expanded its programs to include secular instruction.
cleared the way for Missouri's entry to the union as a slave state, along with Maine
, a free state, to preserve the balance. Additionally, the Missouri Compromise stated that the remaining portion of the Louisiana Territory above the 36°30′ line was to be free from slavery. This same year, the first Missouri constitution was adopted. The following year, 1821, Missouri was admitted as the 24th state, with the state capital temporarily located in Saint Charles until a permanent capital could be built. Missouri was the first state entirely west of the Mississippi River
to be admitted to the Union. The state capital moved to Jefferson City in 1826.
and Tennessee
moved into the bottomland of "Little Dixie
" region in the central part of the state. They bought up large tracts of fertile land, and brought in slaves to do the work of growing hemp (for rope making) and tobacco, traditional crops of the Upper South. Slaves were expensive, with the average price of $700 in 1860, the equivalent of three or four years' pay for a free worker. In most of the state, slavery was unprofitable, and in 7/8 of the counties, farmers had no slaves.
In 1824, the Missouri State Supreme Court
ruled that free blacks could not be re-enslaved, a principle known as "once free, always free." In 1846, the Dred Scott v. Sandford
case began. Dred and Harriet Scott
, who were slaves, sued for freedom in state courts. This was on the premise that they had previously lived in a free state. This case continued until 1857, culminating in a landmark United States Supreme Court decision rejecting Scott's arguments and sustaining slavery. In 1860, 3600 free blacks lived in Missouri.
The proportion of slaves in the state population peaked at 18 percent in 1830; by 1860 the proportion was 9.8 percent in 1860, following heavy Irish and German immigration from the 1840s, as well as continued migration from the eastern United States. In St. Louis, nine percent of the 14,000 residents in 1840 were slaves, and only one percent of the 57,000 residents in 1860, Although few Missouri families owned slaves, many whites of southern origin thought that slavery was basically a good idea, and that freeing the slaves would be a calamity for the white population. The state officially abolished slavery in January 1865 when the governor signed the Ordinance of Emancipation
.
in the Kansas City West Bottoms
. Land in what is now northwest Missouri was deeded to the Iowa (tribe) and the combined Sac (tribe)
and Fox (tribe). Following encroachments on the land by white settlers—most notably Joseph Robidoux
-- William Clark persuaded the tribes to agree give up their land in exchange for $7,500 in the 1836 Platte Purchase
. The land was ratified by Congress in 1837. The purchase received widespread support from Southern Congressmen since it would mean adding territory to the only slave state north of Missouri's southern border. An area only somewhat smaller than the combined area of Rhode Island
and Delaware
was added to Missouri. It consisted of the Andrew
, Atchison
, Buchanan
, Holt
, Nodaway
and Platte
counties.
After the California Gold Rush
began in 1848, Saint Louis, Independence
, Westport
and especially Saint Joseph
became departure points for those joining wagon trains to the West. They bought supplies and outfits in these cities to make the six-month overland trek to California, earning Missouri the nickname "Gateway to the West". This is memorialized by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
In 1848, Kansas City
was incorporated on the banks of the Missouri River. In 1860, the Pony Express
began its short-lived run carrying mail from Saint Joseph to Sacramento, California
.
. They introduced the upper South agricultural-economic pattern, with its mix of hog and corn production practiced by small-scale farmers and cattle and tobacco production practiced by large-scale farmers. Families typically moved to the region not as solitary units but as elements of large kin-based networks that maintained geographic integrity by purchasing clustered tracts of land.
Missouri was nationally famous for the quality and quantity of its mules. The state produced a superior breed from Mexican and Eastern stock. Some were used on the western trails, and a larger number were used on southern plantations. The industry provided a full-time livelihood for a few traders, feeders and breeders, but it supplemented the income for a far larger number of farmers. Horses, which are larger and more expensive to maintain, but which can do more work, remained the favorite animal on Missouri farms.
that western Missouri, specifically the area around Independence
, and other areas of western Missouri, were to become Zion
and a place of gathering. By the early 1830s, Mormons came into the area, at first to Independence and its nearby environs. The neighbors refused to tolerate the newcomers because the Mormons would vote in blocks and congregate in concentrated areas, and would typically trade only amongst themselves, and they would not hold slaves. Open claims by the Mormons that the area was given to them by God only worsened the situation. By the mid 1830s, Mormons had effectively been driven from the Independence area, but they relocated to counties north and a little east. By 1838, open hostility was peaking again. Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs
issued Missouri Executive Order 44, which encouraged Missourians to expel Mormons by all means possible or exterminate them if they would not leave. Skirmishes and small battles occurred and a number of people were killed, mostly Mormons. Joseph Smith, Jr., was jailed, along with other LDS leaders and held in several jails for more than five months, with no hope of a trial or court hearing. Smith was allowed to escape and he and his church moved to Illinois to form the city of Nauvoo
in 1839. Missouri still holds many important sites still considered significant by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ
. In 1976 Missouri officially revoked the extermination order.
. When war broke out in April 1861 sympathies ran for both sides, the Confederacy
and the Union, and it was in Saint Louis where the first blood was spilled in the "Camp Jackson Affair". Union military forces quickly seized control of all strategic points and drove the Confederate government into exile.
The majority of St. Louis business leaders supported the Union and rejected efforts by Confederate sympathizers to take control of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce in January 1862. Federal authorities intervened in this struggle but the conflict splintered the Chamber of Commerce into two organizations. The pro-Unionists finally gained the ascendancy and St. Louis became a major supply base for the Union forces in the entire Mississippi Valley.
In 1861, Union General John C. Fremont
issued a proclamation that freed slaves who had been owned by those that had taken up arms against the Union. Lincoln immediately reversed this unauthorized action. Secessionists tried to form their own state government, joining the Confederacy and establishing a Confederate government in exile
first in Neosho
, Missouri and later in Texas (at Marshall, Texas
). By the end of the war, Missouri had supplied 110,000 troops for the Union Army
and 40,000 troops for the Confederate Army.
commanded by Sterling Price
initiated a long retreat from Boonville
to the Southwestern portion of the state in 1861. In Carthage
, the Guard defeated a heavy detachment of Federal regulars commanded by Col. Franz Sigel
. Shortly afterward, the 12,000-man force of the combined elements of the Missouri State Guard, Arkansas State Guard, and Confederate regulars soundly defeated the Federal army of Nathaniel Lyon
at Wilson's Creek
or "Oak Hills".
Following the success at Wilson's Creek, southern forces pushed northward and captured the 3500-strong garrison at the first Battle of Lexington
. Federal forces contrived to campaign to retake Missouri, causing the Southern forces to retreat from the state and head for Arkansas and later Mississippi.
In Arkansas, the Missourians fought at the battle of Pea Ridge, meeting defeat. In Mississippi, elements of the Missouri State Guard participated in the struggles at Corinth
and Iuka
, where they suffered heavy losses.
In 1864, Sterling Price plotted to liberate Missouri, launching his 1864 raid on the state
. Striking in the southeastern portion of the state, Price moved north, and attempted to capture Fort Davidson
but failed. Next, Price sought to attack St. Louis but found it too heavily fortified. He then broke west in a parallel course with the Missouri River. The Federals attempted to retard Price's advance through both minor and substantial skirmishing such as at Glasgow
and Lexington
. Price made his way to the extreme western portion of the state, taking part in a series of bitter battles at the Little Blue
, Independence, and Byram's Ford. His Missouri campaign culminated in the battle of Westport
in which over 30,000 troops fought, leading to the defeat of the Southern army. The Missourians retreated through Kansas
and Oklahoma
into Arkansas, where they stayed for the remainder of the war.
In 1865, Missouri abolished slavery, doing so before the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
, by an ordinance of immediate emancipation. Missouri adopted a new constitution, one that denied voting rights and had prohibitions against certain occupations for former Confederacy supporters.
. In such a bitterly divided state, neighbors frequently used the excuse of war to settle personal grudges and took up arms against neighbors. Roving insurgent
bands such as Quantrill's Raiders
and the men of Bloody Bill Anderson terrorized the countryside, striking both military installations and civilian settlements. Because of the widespread guerrilla conflict, and support by citizens in border counties, Federal leaders issued General Order No. 11 in 1863, and evacuated areas of Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties. They forced the residents out to reduce support for the guerrillas. Union cavalry could sweep through and track down Confederate guerrillas, who no longer had places to hide and people and infrastructure to support them. On short notice, the army forced almost 20,000 people, mostly women, children, and the elderly, to leave their homes. Many never returned, and the affected counties were economically devastated for years after the end of the war. Families passed stories of their bitter experiences down through several generations.
Western Missouri was the scene of brutal guerrilla warfare during the Civil War, and some marauding units became organized criminal gangs after the war. In 1882, the bank robber and ex-Confederate guerrilla Jesse James
was killed in Saint Joseph
. Vigilante groups appeared in remote areas where law enforcement was weak, to deal with the lawlessness left over from the guerrilla warfare phase. For example, the Bald Knobbers
were the term for several law-and-order vigilante groups in the Ozarks. In some cases, they too turned to illegal gang activity.
was a private agency based in St. Louis that was a rival of the larger U.S. Sanitary Commission. It operated during the war to help the U.S. Army deal with sick and wounded soldiers. It was led by abolitionists and especially after the war focused more on the needs of Freedmen. It was founded in August 1861, under the leadership of Reverend William Greenleaf Eliot
(1811-87), a Yankee, to care for the wounded soldiers after the opening battles. It was supported by private fundraising in the city of St. Louis, as well as from donors in California and New England. Parrish explains it selected nurses, provided hospital supplies, set up several hospitals, and outfitted several hospital ships. It also provided clothing and places to stay for freedmen and refugees, and set up schools for black children. It continued to finance various philanthropic projects until 1886.
The state convention began deliberating on January 7, 1865 in the Mercantile Exchange Library Building in St. Louis; the group was, like the General Assembly, dominated by relatively young Radical Republicans. Among the first measures taken by the convention was the passage of an emancipation
ordinance on January 11 that took effect immediately. With the passage of the ordinance, spontaneous celebrations broke out in major cities, and Governor Thomas Clement Fletcher
issued an official proclamation in honor of the event. St. Louis held an official celebration on January 14, which included a reading of the proclamation, interracial social events, and a fireworks display.
as a compromise candidate for governor of Missouri. During the Civil War, Hardin had supported the Union cause, and from the 1850s to the early 1870s, he had served three terms in the Missouri House and two terms in the Missouri Senate. The Democrats nominated agriculturalist Norman Jay Colman
as candidate for lieutenant governor, who drew support from rural areas due to his endorsement of Free Silver
and his desire to repeal the National Bank Act. With Colman's popularity, Hardin was elected in November 1874 with support from 81 of 114 Missouri counties.
In May 1875, delegates from Missouri met in Jefferson City to consider a new state constitution to replace the state's Reconstruction era constitution. The majority of the delegates were conservative, well-educated, and generally had ties to the American South. 35 of the 68 delegates either served with the Confederacy or were allied to its cause; the presiding officer, Waldo P. Johnson
, had been expelled from the U.S. Senate in 1862 after he joined the Confederacy. The document produced by the convention was a reaction to the radicalism of the 1860s and 1870s, and it encouraged local control and a reduction in the powers of the state. The document removed the ability of the state to suspend the writ of habeas corpus
, increased the standards required to prove the crime of treason, limited the ability of the state and local governments to tax, and reduced the restrictions on churches being able to own property. It also required a two-third vote by citizens to authorize the issuance of bonds, and it restricted the ability of state legislators to craft legislation that would benefit their localities. The proposal was submitted for popular vote on August 2, 1875, and the constitution passed overwhelmingly.
to commerce. When the war was over, the prosperity of the South was temporarily ruined. Hundreds of steamboats had been destroyed, and levees had been damaged by warfare and flooding. Much of the commerce of the West had been turned from New Orleans, via the Mississippi, to the Atlantic seaboard
, via the Great Lakes
and by the rapidly multiplying new lines of railways connecting through Chicago. Some revival of commerce on the Mississippi took place following the war, but this was checked by a sandbar at the mouth of the Southwest Pass in its delta on the Gulf of Mexico. Ead's jetties created a new shipping passage at the mouth of the South Pass in 1879, but the facilities for the transfer of freight in New Orleans were far inferior to those employed by the railways, and the steamboat companies did not prosper.
Up to the 1880s, the six southeastern counties of Missouri's Bootheel
, swampy and subject to flooding, remained heavily forested, underdeveloped, and underpopulated. Beginning in the 1880s, railroads opened up the Bootheel to logging. In 1905, the Little River Drainage District constructed an elaborate system of ditches, canals, and levees to drain swampland. As a result, population more than tripled from 1880 to 1930, and cotton cultivation flourished. By 1920 it was the chief crop, attracting newcomers to the farms from Arkansas and Tennessee.
The Hall brothers, Joyce, Rollie, and William, emerged from poverty in Nebraska in the 1900s by opening a bookstore. When the European craze for sending postcards reached America, the brothers quickly began merchandizing them and became the postcard jobber for the Great Plains. As business boomed they relocated to Kansas City in 1910 and eventually founded the Hallmark Cards
gift card company, which soon came to dominate a national market. Allen Percival "Percy" Green operated the A. P. Green Company in Mexico, Missouri. Green bought a struggling brickworks in 1910 and found a national market by transforming it into a leading manufacturer of "fire bricks," bricks designed to withstand high temperatures for use in steel plants and lining the boilers of ships. In 1913, in the town of Clinton, Royal Booth, then a high school junior, began a business breeding purebred chickens. After serving in the Army in World War I, Booth returned to his booming enterprise. The growth of his Booth Farms and Hatchery had encouraged other area entrepreneurs to enter the poultry breeding business. Booth rebuilt his operation after a 1924 fire, and concentrated on breeding hens that laid eggs all year long. By 1930, Clinton's hatcheries had an annual capacity of over three million eggs, making Clinton the "Baby Chick Capital of the World" and benefiting thousands of farmers throughout the region; however, the industry declined and the hatchery closed in 1967.
The large German American
population, most immigrants and their descendants from the 1840s, specialized in brewing beer, and established numerous beer gardens in St. Louis and other cities. Eberhard Anheuser
created the E. Anheuser & Company Bavarian Brewery in St. Louis, in 1860 and in 1869 made a full partner of Adolphus Busch, who later utilized pasteurization and refrigeration to keep beer fresh, and marketed Anheuser-Busch
products nationally. Busch introduced Budweiser to America, eventually making it the world's most popular brand through extensive advertising, including television commercials. The Busch family maintained control until it sold out to European interests in 2008 for $52 billion.
Edward Leavy, head of Pierce Petroleum company, identified the potential of the Ozark region as a tourist attraction in the 1920s. Pierce Petroleum opened roadside taverns and expanded to include gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and a variety of services for automobile travelers. The Great Depression
forced Pierce Petroleum to sell out to Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation, but by then many other entrepreneurs saw the opportunity for tours expansion in the Ozarks.
Only dairy farming survived the pressure of livestock production. By the 1970s, however, agriculture in the Ozarks had come full circle. Many modern farmers survived only by becoming part-time farmers. Much of the population commutes to paid employment for most of their income, in much the same way as the pioneers had been forced to diversify their efforts.
women was to be good, diligent, submissive, and silent housewives. The historical records show more variety, with many being cantankerous, complaining, and unwilling to subordinate themselves. Some were dirty and lazy, and completely unlike the hausfrau stereotype. These nonconformists exerted a greater influence on the community scene than they could by strict conformity to generally accepted behavior.
Throughout the century, most rural families lived traditional lifestyles, based on male dominance. Efforts to modernize rural life, and upgrade the status of women, were reflected in numerous movements, including women's church activities, temperance reform, and the campaign for woman suffrage. Reformers sought to modernize the rural home by transforming its women from producers to consumers. The Missouri Women Farmers' Club (MWFC) and its management was especially active.
The great majority of women were full-time homemakers, whose labor created materials and clothing, food, agriculture and basics of life for their families. After the Civil War some women became wage earners in industrializing cities. It was common for widows to operate boardinghouses or small shops; younger women worked in tobacco, shoe, and clothing factories. Some women helped their husbands publish local newspapers, which flourished in every county seat and small city. In 1876, women began to attend the Missouri Press Association's meetings; by 1896 the women formed their own press association, and at the end of the century, women were editing or publishing 25 newspapers in Missouri. They were especially active in developing features to entertain their women readers, and to help women with their housework and child-rearing.
In highly traditional, remote parts of the Ozark Mountains, there was little demand for modern medicine. Childbirth, aches, pains and broken bones were handled by local practitioners of folk medicine, most of whom were women. Their herbs, salves and other remedies often healed sick people, but their methods relied especially on recognizing and ministering to their patients' psychological, spiritual, and physical needs.
Before the war, the police and municipal judges used their powers to regulate rather than eliminate the sex trades. In antebellum
St. Louis, prostitutes working in orderly, discreet brothels were seldom arrested or harassed - unless they were unusually boisterous, engaged in sexual activities outside of their established district, or violated other rules of appropriate conduct. In 1861, St. Louis passed a vagrancy ordinance, criminalizing any woman who walked on the streets after sunset. In 1871, the city passed a law forbidding women from working in bars and saloons, even if the women were owners. These laws were meant to keep prostitution at a minimum but adversely affected women who were legitimately employed.
Middle-class women demanded entry into higher education, and the state colleges reluctantly admitted them. Culver-Stockton College opened in the 1850s as a coeducational school, the first west of the Mississippi. Women were first admitted to the normal school of Missouri State University at Columbia in 1868, but they had second-class status. They were shunted into a few narrow academic programs, restricted in their use of the library, separated from the men, and forced to wear uniforms. They were not allowed to live on campus. President Samuel Spahr Laws was the most restrictive administrator, enforcing numerous rules and the wearing of drab uniforms. Still, the number of women students at the school grew despite the difficulties. When the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy opened at Rolla in 1871, its first class had 21 male and six female students. Well into the 20th century, the women who attended the school were given an arts and music program that was little better than a high school education.
Josephine Silone Yates (1859–1912) was as African-American activist who devoted her career to combating discrimination and uplifting her race. She taught at the Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, and served as the first president of the Women's League of Kansas City; she was later president of the National Association of Colored Women
. Yates tried to prepare women for roles as wage earners in Northern cities. She also encouraged black ownership of land for those who remained in the South. Since whites judged blacks by the behavior of the lower class, she argued that advancement of the race ultimately depended on working-class adherence to a strict moral code.
reform movement which involved prominent educators and social workers and a coalition of citizens' groups. The first commission began in 1915 to develop proposals to protect children from harsh working conditions and deal with delinquency, neglect, and child welfare welfare. Its proposals were rejected by the conservative legislature. Appointed in 1917, the second commission revised the earlier proposals and actively engaged in an educational promotional campaign, gaining the support of various organizations such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union, The Red Cross, women's clubs, suffrage groups, and others. The Missouri Children's Code was finally passed in 1919.
In 1919, Missouri became the 11th state to ratify the 19th amendment
, which granted women the right to vote.
During the Progressive Era
in the early twentieth century, there were three competing visions of appropriate control and use of water resources of the Missouri River; they were expressed by three organizations: the Kansas City Commercial Club (KCCC), the Missouri River Sanitary Conference (MRSC), and the Missouri Valley Public Health Association (MVPHA). The KCCC's vision of commercial development envisioned the "Economic River." MRSC's vision of a shared water supply requiring protection through community cooperation emphasized the "Healthy River." MVPHA's vision of commercial development coupled with individual efforts to prevent pollution was a compromise blending of the first two. The "Economic River" represents the Progressive approach focused on professional elites and federal solutions, whereas the "Healthy River" represents the approach focused on community leadership and solutions, as well as an early example of holistic, locally oriented conservation.
Sarvis (2000, 2002) traces the controversy over the creation of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways
(ONSR) in southeastern Missouri. Boasting clear rivers and spectacular landscape, the area saw a political contest for control of river recreational development between two federal agencies, the National Park Service
(NPS) and the Forest Service
. Local residents opposed NPS plans that included eminent domain acquisition of private property. Both agencies presented rival bills in Congress, and in 1964 the NPS plan was selected by Congress. In the long run the NPS has successfully accommodated and supervised OSNR recreation for two million visitors a year. By contrast, the Forest Service's nearby recreational activities have handled no more than 16,000 visitors yearly.
, began promoting voluntary guidelines for increased farm production and reduced consumer use of items in short supply, Missouri met, and in many cases exceeded, the national standards.
affected nearly every aspect of Missouri's economy, particularly mining, railroading, and retailing. In 1933, the Missouri Pacific railroad declared bankruptcy; retail sales declined statewide by 50 percent, and more than 300 Missouri banks failed in the early 1930s. St. Louis manufacturing declined in value from more than $600 million in 1929 to $339 million in 1935; despite industrial diversification in the city, output fell more and unemployment was greater than the rest of country by the mid-1930s. The brick and tile industry of St. Louis virtually collapsed, dramatically altering the economic conditions of neighborhoods such as The Hill
. In response to rising discontent with the economy, the St. Louis police surveilled and harassed unemployed leftist workers, and in July 1932, a protest by the unemployed was violently broken up by police. The Depression also threatened Missouri cultural institutions such as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, which nearly folded in 1933. Kansas City suffered from the Depression as well, although not as severely as St. Louis. Manufacturing fell in value from $220 million in 1929 to $122 million in 1935; charities were feeding 10 percent of the population by late 1932. Unlike St. Louis, Kansas City was able to supply work to many of its unemployed citizens via a $50 million bond issue that allowed for several large public works projects.
Rural Missouri suffered under the economic effects of both the Depression of natural forces. In 1930, a statewide drought struck the Ozarks and the Bootheel regions particularly hard, followed by equally deleterious droughts in 1934 and 1936. In addition, grasshoppers attacked Missouri cropland in 1936, destroying nearly a million acres of corn and other crops. Farm prices declined, and banks and insurance companies took ownership of foreclosed farmland in the Ozarks. Despite these hardships, the farm population of Missouri increased during the early years of the Depression, and unemployed urban workers sought subsistence farms throughout the state and particularly in the Ozarks.
Banks in the Ozarks frequently arranged rentals to tenant farmers, who in turn hired their sharecroppers for labor. The tenant-sharecropper system began before the Great Depression, but by 1938, there was increasing mechanization on farms. This shift allowed a single farmer to work more land, putting the sharecroppers out of work. Left-wing elements from the local Socialist movement, and from St. Louis, moved in to organize the sharecroppers into the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union. They had a highly visible, violent confrontation with state authorities in 1939.
By the late 1930s, some of the industries of the state had recovered, although not to their pre-1929 levels. Both Anheuser-Busch and the St. Louis Car Company had resumed profitable operations, and clothing and electrical product manufacturing were expanding. By 1938, the St. Louis airport handled nearly double the passengers it had in 1932, while the Kraft Cheese Company established a milk processing plant in Springfield in 1939, indicating the status of recovery in the state. However, in 1939, manufacturing as a whole remained 25 percent below its 1929 level, wholesaling was 32 percent below the 1929 level, and retail sales were 22 percent lower than they were in 1929. In early 1940, the Missouri unemployment rate remained higher than 8 percent, while urban areas had a rate at higher than 10 percent. Both St. Louis and Kansas City lost ground as industrial producers in the country.
, and roughly two-thirds were conscripted. More than 8,000 Missourians died in the conflict, the first of whom was George Whitman, killed during the Attack on Pearl Harbor
, while hospitals such as O'Reilly General in Springfield were used as military hospitals. Several Missouri soldiers became prominent during the war, such as Mildred H. McAfee
, commander of the WAVES
, Dorothy C. Stratton
, commander of the SPARS
, Walter Krueger
, commander of the Sixth United States Army, Jimmy Doolittle
, leader of the Doolittle Raid
, and Maxwell D. Taylor
, commander of the 101st Airborne Division
. The most well-known of the 89 generals and admirals from Missouri was Omar Bradley
, who led combat forces in Europe and led the single largest field command in U.S. history.
At home, Missouri residents organized air raid drills and participated in rationing and scrap drives. Missourians also purchased more than $3 billion in war bonds during the eight drives conducted for the war. Local groups and well-known figures supported the war effort as well. Missouri painter Thomas Hart Benton
created a mural series known as the The Year of Peril, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra performed at concerts sponsored by the United Service Organizations
(USO).
The economy of Missouri was dramatically affected by the war: unemployment virtually disappeared during the early years of the war, and both St. Louis and Kansas City took steps to ensure workers were involved in essential industries. Rural areas lost population as underemployed workers, especially Southern African Americans, moved to cities to find jobs. Both teenagers and women also entered the labor force in greater numbers; in Jackson County, Missouri, roughly half of the workers at an ordnance factory and an aircraft plant were women. As a result of the departure of soldiers and higher employment rates among adults, juvenile delinquency
increased, leading many Missouri communities to establish curfews and build recreational facilities for youth.Kirkendall (2004), 257.
The war brought a surge of prosperity to Missouri agriculture, and farming became a major war industry in the state. Farmers were encouraged to increase food production and to conserve other materials as much as possible, and rationing of machinery, tires, and other equipment. Despite these difficulties, many farmers modernized and learned new techniques due to the efforts of federal programs such as the Cooperative Extension Service
, the Soil Conservation Service, and the Rural Electrification Administration. The Farm Security Administration
provided loans and information to low-income farmers, and it also recruited and trained farm laborers in Missouri. As in World War I, most of the young men on the farms were deferred from the draft. Despite the significance of the agricultural industry, the population of Missouri working on farms declined 59 percent from 1939 to 1945, and the overall rural population declined 24 percent, a continuation of the trend toward urbanization in the state. The greatest declines in farm population were in agriculturally poor regions of the state, and in more suitable areas, remaining farm populations increased their mechanization of agriculture.
Manufacturing in Missouri also benefited from the war; both St. Louis and Kansas City were home to major war industries, particularly aviation in St. Louis. Kansas City also was a hub of aircraft manufacturing and development, although the city also produced a variety of military equipment as well. Railroading experienced a revival statewide with an increase in passenger and freight traffic; more than 300 freight trains and 200 passenger or troop trains transited Kansas City daily by the beginning of 1945.
The state also became home to a large military installation, Fort Leonard Wood, construction of which began in 1940 near the town of Waynesville
. Construction of the base displaced rural families, but it ultimately brought thousands of workers and economic stimulus to the area. After its construction, Fort Leonard Wood operated as a training facility for combat engineers and as a base of operations for several infantry and artillery units.
were weakened by the Depression, while black churches often provided little assistance to the needy. The black press and the National Urban League
continued to pressure local governments for equal treatment and an end to discrimination. The popularity of black nationalism also rose as a result of the Depression.
During World War II, racial tension increased in both rural and urban Missouri; in early 1942 in Sikeston
, a white mob lynched a black man in public by a white mob. Because of the potential for the incident to be used as propaganda against the United States, the the United States Department of Justice
investigated the lynching, the first time since Reconstruction that the federal government had tried to prosecute such a case. Despite the investigation, the government did not file indictments, as witnesses refused to cooperate. The following summer in Kansas City, a race riot nearly broke out after a white city police officer killed a black man.
of Kansas City and Ladue
and Creve Coeur
of St. Louis continued to exert influence beyond their size during the late 20th century. Many suburban communities began to accumulate traits of traditional, comprehensive cities by luring business and annexing area. Although the two cities of St. Louis and Kansas City continued to be the urban anchors of the state, five of the six other largest cities grew in population from 1960 to 2000.
Another area of economic change during the late 20th century was the decline of lumbering and milling. During the 1920s, as a result of overcutting, the Long-Bell Lumber Company
moved most of its Missouri operations to other states, and much of Missouri's woodlands were depleted by the 1950s. By the late 20th century, shortleaf pine forests had been largely replaced by smaller woods of hardwood trees. Despite its decline from importance, in 2001, lumbering was a $3 billion industry.
During the 1960s, lead mining again became a significant industry in Missouri as a result of the 1948 discovery of the Viburnum Trend in the New Lead Belt region of the Southeast Missouri lead district. The Old Lead Belt (also part of the Southeast Missouri lead district) suffered a slow decline, however, and the last of the mines in that region closed by 1972. Both iron and coal mining also expanded during the late 1960s; however, employment in mining declined overall during the late 20th century.
Among the fastest growing segments of the economy was the accommodation and food services industry, but it was paired with a steep decline in manufacturing. Among the greatest declines was that of stockyards and meatpacking; in 1944, Kansas City was the second-largest meatpacking city in the United States, but by the 1990s, the city had neither packing plants nor stockyards. In addition, garment manufacturing, which had previously employed thousands of workers in Kansas City prior to the 1950s, fell out of existence by the late 1990s. Statewide, another industry that declined dramatically was shoemaking, which employed fewer than 3,000 Missourians in 2001.
Despite its decline, manufacturing continued to play a role in the state's economy. Kansas City maintained a manufacturing base in its eastern Leeds industrial district, including automotive plants and an atomic weapon components plant. St. Louis maintained an industrial base with Anheuser-Busch, Monsanto, Ralston Purina, and several automotive plants. In the other four urban areas of the state (Springfield, St. Joseph, Joplin, and Columbia), the largest economic sector was manufacturing, with a combined output of more than $10 billion.
A relatively new sector of the Missouri economy developed in 1994 with the legalization of riverboat gambling in the state. The United States Army Corps of Engineers
denied riverboat gambling cruises, which in practice led to permanently moored barges with extensive superstructures. Missouri gambling also included a lottery, which had been in place for several years prior to the legalization of casino gaming.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
claiming the territory and selling it to the U.S. in 1803. Statehood came following a compromise in 1820. Missouri grew rapidly until the Civil War, which saw numerous small battles and control by the Union. Its economy has become diverse and complex, and the state ranks in the middle of many economic and social indicators.
Explorations and indigenous peoples
In May 1673, Jesuit priest Jacques MarquetteJacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
and French trader Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
sailed down the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in canoes along the area that would later become the state of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The earliest recorded use of "Missouri" is found on a map drawn by Marquette after his 1673 journey, naming both a group of Native Americans
Missouri tribe
The Missouria or Missouri are a Native American tribe that originated in the Great Lakes region of United States before European contact. The tribe belongs to the Chiwere division of the Siouan language family, together with the Iowa and Otoe...
and a nearby river
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. However, the French rarely used the word to refer to the land in the region, instead calling it part of the Illinois Country
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
. In 1682, after his successful journey from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Gulf of Mexico, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico...
claimed the Louisiana Territory
Louisiana Territory
The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805 until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed to Missouri Territory...
for France. During the journey, La Salle built several trading posts in the Illinois Country in an effort to create a trading empire; however, before La Salle could fully implement his plans, he died on a second journey to the region during a mutiny in 1685.
During the late 1680s and 1690s, the French pursued colonization of central North America not only to promote trade, but also to thwart the efforts of England on the continent. In that vein, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...
and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienvillepronounce] was a colonizer, born in Montreal, Quebec and an early, repeated governor of French Louisiana, appointed 4 separate times during 1701-1743. He was a younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville...
established Biloxi
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
in 1699 and Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
in 1701 along the Gulf coast, while Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac was a French explorer and adventurer in New France, now an area of North America stretching from Eastern Canada in the north to Louisiana in the south. Rising from a modest beginning in Acadia in 1683 as an explorer, trapper, and a trader of alcohol...
established Detroit in 1701 along the Great Lakes. From these outposts departed a variety of fur traders and Jesuit missionaries that enabled France to build strong relationships with indigenous tribes and retain control of the continental interior.
Although both Marquette and La Salle had passed Missouri on their journeys, neither had established bases of operations in what would become the state. Encouraged by the building of Mobile and Biloxi, the first to do so was Pierre Gabriel Marest, a Jesuit priest who in late 1700 established a mission on the west bank of the Mississippi at the mouth of the River Des Peres
River des Peres
The River des Peres is a metropolitan river in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the backbone of sanitary and stormwater systems in the city of St. Louis and portions of St. Louis County...
. Marest established his mission station with a handful of French settlers and a large band of the Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...
people, who fled from the eastern Illinois Country to the station in the hope of receiving French protection from the Iroquois. Marest became involved in learning their language and constructed several cabins, a chapel, and a basic fort at the station. However, bands of Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
were angry at the encroachment of the Kaskaskia onto Sioux lands at Des Peres; these Sioux forced Marest to move the station south and east in 1703 to a new location in Illinois known as Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia, Illinois
Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. In the 2010 census the population was 14, making it the second-smallest incorporated community in the State of Illinois in terms of population. A major French colonial town of the Illinois Country, its peak population was about...
.
From this time up until the building of the first railways in the Mississippi Basin in the mid-19th century, the Mississippi-Missouri river system waterways were the main means of communication and transportation in the region. The earliest traffic up the Missouri likely occurred in the 1680s by unlicensed fur traders; the first known ascent occurred in 1693, and within a decade, more than a hundred traders were moving along the Mississippi and Missouri. These early traders met two tribes within what would become Missouri: the Missouri and the Osage
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
.
The Missouri were a semisedentary people with a major village along the Missouri River in northern Saline County, Missouri; they lived at the village primarily during the spring planting and fall harvesting seasons, while pursued game at other time. The Missouri became an ally of the French, eventually even traveling to Detroit to assist in the defense of the town against a Fox tribe attack. The Osage for their part became a more significant player in the development of Missouri history; they lived along the Osage River
Osage River
The Osage River is a tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The Osage River is one of the larger rivers in Missouri. The river drains a mostly rural area of . The watershed includes an area of east-central Kansas and a large portion of west-central and central...
in Vernon County, Missouri and near the Missouri village in Saline County. Like the Missouri, the Osage lived in semi-permanent villages, and they also both had acquired horses.
The exposure to French activities brought significant changes to the indigenous peoples of Missouri. Although interactions were generally positive between them, the introduction of diseases, alcohol, and firearms proved detrimental to traditional lifestyles and cultures. The increased dependence on European goods altered cultural patterns of craft production, and an increased emphasis on hunting due to commercialism changed Osage marriage patterns. Younger Osage hunters who had achieved wealth from trade sought to increase their power in Osage society, and they at various times challenged the established political order of tribal elders. Although both the Osage and the Missouri were exposed to European diseases such as smallpox and typhus, the Osage suffered only slightly compared to the Missouri, who were drastically reduced in population.
Founding of European settlements
During the 1710s, the French government again began to pursue a course of increased development of Louisiana. In August 1717, King Louis XV accepted the offer of Scottish financier John LawJohn Law (economist)
John Law was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade...
to create a joint stock company
Joint stock company
A joint-stock company is a type of corporation or partnership involving two or more individuals that own shares of stock in the company...
to manage colonial growth. Law's Mississippi Company
Mississippi Company
The "Mississippi Company" became the "Company of the West" and expanded as the "Company of the Indies" .-The Banque Royale:...
(renamed the Company of the West in 1717 upon receiving its charter) was given a monopoly on all trade, ownership of all mines, and use of all military posts in Louisiana in return for a ten-year requirement to settle 6,000 white settlers and 3,000 black slaves in the territory. The Illinois Country (which included Missouri) was also to be part of the charter. Investment in the company began in earnest, and in 1719, Law merged the Company of the West with several other joint stock companies to form the Company of the Indies. Appointed as provincial governor of Louisiana by the company, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville founded the city of New Orleans in 1718, and the company appointed Pierre Dugué de Boisbriand
Pierre Dugué de Boisbriand
Pierre Dugué de Boisbriand was a Canadien who commanded several areas in North America colonized by France in the early 18th Century, rising to become the fourth governor of the French colony of Louisiana....
as commander of the Illinois Country.
After Boisbriand's arrival in the Illinois Country, he ordered the construction of Fort de Chartres
Fort de Chartres
Fort de Chartres was a French fortification first built in 1720 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. The Fort de Chartres name was also applied to the two successive fortifications built nearby during the 18th century in the era of French colonial control over...
about eighteen miles north of Kaskaskia as the base of operations and headquarters for the company in the area. After the construction of Fort de Chartres, the company directed a series of prospecting expeditions to an area 30 miles west of the Mississippi River in present-day Madison
Madison County, Missouri
Madison County is a county located in the Lead Belt region in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 11,800. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 12,276. Its county seat and largest city is Fredericktown...
, St. Francois, and Washington
Washington County, Missouri
Washington County is a county located in East Central Missouri in the United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county's population was 25,195. The largest city and county seat is Potosi...
counties. These mining operations generally focused on discovering either lead or silver ore; the company appointed Philip Francois Renault
Philip Francois Renault
Philip Francois Renault , a French explorer and favorite courtier of King Louis XV, left his native Picardy in 1719 for the Illinois Country. He was to lead efforts to develop mining in the Illinois Country. He was more successful with his concession of land fronting the Mississippi River on which...
as commander of the mines, and in 1723 Boisbriand ceded land to Renault in Washington County (in an area now known as the Old Mines) and in the Mine La Motte
Mine La Motte, Missouri
Mine La Motte is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Missouri, United States. It is located about six miles north of Fredericktown. Europeans discovered lead here, and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac brought several hundred workers, including slaves from Santo Domingo, to develop mines in...
area. Because of the unappealing nature of mine work, white laborers demanded high wages; in response, Renault brought five black slaves to work in the mines, the first black slaves in Missouri. Despite these efforts, weather and hostility among indigenous tribes slowed production, and Renault sold his lands in 1742 having made little profit.
Despite severe financial losses in late 1720, in January 1722 the company's directors sent Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont
Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont
Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont was a French explorer who documented his travels on the Missouri and Platte rivers in North America and made the first European maps of these areas. He wrote two accounts of his travels, which included descriptions of the Native American tribes he encountered...
to Missouri to protect the company's trade networks on the Missouri River from Spanish influence. Bourgmont arrived in New Orleans in September 1722, and he departed from the city for Missouri in February 1723 with a poorly equipped force. In November 1723, Bourgmont and the party arrived in present-day Carroll County in northern Missouri, where they constructed Fort Orleans
Fort Orleans
Fort Orleans was a French fort in colonial North America, the first fort built by any European forces on the Missouri River. It was built near the mouth of the Grand River near present-day Brunswick. Intended to be the linchpin in the vast New France empire stretching from Montreal to New Mexico,...
. Within a year, Bourgmont negotiated alliances with indigenous tribes along the Missouri River, and in 1725, he brought a party of them to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to visit the French royal court. Bourgmont remained in France when the party returned to North America, and Fort Orleans was abandoned by the company in 1728. The quick abandonment of the fort after its construction was necessitated by the general retreat on the part of the company after the financial losses of 1720, and in 1731, the company returned its charter and control of Louisiana to royal authority.
During the 1730s and 1740s, French control over Missouri remained weak, and no permanent settlements existed on the western bank of the Mississippi River. Despite this lack of permanence, French fur traders continued to ascend the Missouri River and interact with indigenous peoples; one such duo, Paul and Pierre Mallet, journeyed from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
in 1739, although future expeditions to New Spain were stopped by Spanish officials. In 1744, the French commander of Fort de Chartres gave five years of fur trading rights along the Missouri River to Joseph Deruisseau, who built a small fort (Fort de Cavagnal
Fort de Cavagnal
Fort de Cavagnal was a French fort on the Missouri River somewhere between Kansas City, Missouri and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from 1744 until about 1760....
) on the Missouri River near present-day Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. However, the trading post never grew into a full-fledged settlement, and it disappeared by 1764.
French settlers remained on the east bank of the Mississippi at Kaskaskia and Fort de Chartres until 1750, when the new settlement of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve is a city in and the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. The population was 11,654 at the 2000 census...
was constructed. During its early years, Ste. Genevieve grew slowly due to its location on a muddy, flat, floodplain, and in 1752, the town had only 23 full-time residents. Despite its proximity to lead mines and salt springs, the majority of its population came as farmers during the 1750s and 1760s, and they primarily grew wheat, corn and tobacco.
French and Indian War and the transfer to Spain
Shortly after the foundation of Ste. Genevieve, disputes between France and England over control of the Ohio Valley resulted in the outbreak of the French and Indian WarFrench and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
in 1754 (known as the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
in Europe).Foley (1989), 25. The successful English attack on Quebec in 1759
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War...
and on Montreal in 1760
Battle of the Thousand Islands
The Battle of the Thousand Islands was fought 16–24 August 1760, in the upper St. Lawrence River, amongst the Thousand Islands, along the present day Canada–United States border, by British and French forces during the closing phases of the Seven Years' War, as it is called in Canada and Europe, or...
virtually guaranteed the loss of French Canada, although France remained in control of Missouri and the rest of the Illinois Country. In January 1762, Spain joined with France against England, but the war quickly turned against them for England. To persuade Spain to sign a peace settlement with England and to compensate for Spanish losses in the war, France secretly offered Spain control of Louisiana in November 1762 in the Treaty of Fontainebleau
Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)
The Treaty of Fontainebleau was a secret agreement in which France ceded Louisiana to Spain. The treaty followed the last battle in the French and Indian War, the Battle of Signal Hill in September 1762, which confirmed British control of Canada. However, the associated Seven Years War continued...
. In addition to the loss of Louisiana in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the final settlement with England, known as the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, transferred Canada from French to English control.
However, due to slow transit times, word of the Treaty of Fontainebleau did not arrive in Louisiana until 1765; in that period, the French governor of Louisiana granted a trade monopoly over Missouri to New Orleans merchant Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent
Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent
Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent was a merchant and military officer who played a major role in development of the Louisiana Territory during its era as New France and New Spain....
and his partner, Pierre Laclède
Pierre Laclède
Pierre Laclède or Pierre Laclède Liguest was a French fur trader who, with his young assistant and "stepson" Auguste Chouteau, founded St...
. In August 1763, Laclede and his stepson Auguste Chouteau departed New Orleans for Missouri, where in February 1764 they established St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
on high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi.
Although Laclede had brought the news in December 1763 of the transfer of the eastern Illinois Country to the United Kingdom, the French commander Pierre Joseph Neyon de Villiers only received his orders to begin evacuations in April 1764. Villiers departed for New Orleans in June 1764 with 80 families, and he transferred temporary control to his subordinate, Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, who was given responsibility to monitor the remaining settlers in Illinois. Concern about living under British rule led many French settlers to decamp for Missouri, especially with encouragement from Laclede; upon the arrival of the British at Fort de Chartres in October 1765, St. Ange himself departed for St. Louis, where he took temporary command until Spanish representatives could take official control. From that point through the arrival of the Spanish in St. Louis in September 1767, St. Ange was the interim commander of the entire upper Louisiana region.
The first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Antonio de Ulloa
Antonio de Ulloa
Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Girault was a Spanish general, explorer, author, astronomer, colonial administrator and the first Spanish governor of Louisiana.Rebellion of 1768]]....
, arrived in New Orleans in March 1766, and in early 1767 he dispatched his subordinate, Francisco Riu, to replace St. Ange as commander of a soon-to-be-built fort at the mouth of the Missouri River. St. Ange, however, remained the administrative authority in the town and south of the Missouri River. The fort that Ulloa had ordered built, known as Fort Don Carlos, ultimately was constructed on the southern bank of the Missouri; however, disputes during the construction led to the dismissal of Riu and his replacement by Pedro Piernas in August 1768.
Weather and ice delayed Piernas's ascent to Fort Don Carlos through April 1769; between his arrival and his departure, the Louisiana Rebellion of 1768 broke out in New Orleans against Spanish rule, and Ulloa was forced to flee. Only 13 days after his arrival to Fort Don Carlos, Piernas received orders to evacuate the fort and return control to St. Ange. When Piernas and his garrison left Louisiana in July 1769, they were the last Spanish forces to leave the territory. Spanish officials acted quickly to crush the rebellion, however, and in August 1769, resistance collapsed. Although the rebellion led to the execution of five rebel leaders in New Orleans, no reprisals were necessary or occurred in Missouri.
Political changes and growth under Spanish rule
| Settlement | Founding |
|---|---|
| Ste. Genevieve | 1750 |
| St. Louis | 1764 |
| Carondelet | 1767 |
| St. Charles | 1769 |
| New Madrid | 1789 |
| Cape Girardeau | 1792 |
Upon the reestablishment of Spanish control of Louisiana, both of Missouri's permanent settlements, Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis, were growing as a result of French immigration from British-held Illinois. Ste. Genevieve continued to suffer from periodic flooding, although during the 1770s its population of 600 made it slightly larger than St. Louis. While the residents of Ste. Genevieve took a balanced approach between fur trading and farming, St. Louisans had a particular focus on fur trading, which led to periodic food shortages and the city's nickname of 'Paincourt', meaning short of bread. South of St. Louis a satellite city known as Carondelet was established in 1767, although it never thrived. A third major settlement was established in 1769, when Louis Blanchette
Louis Blanchette
Louis Blanchette was a French Canadian explorer who travelled to North America in the 18th century. After exploring parts of Missouri, he is remembered for founding the city of St...
, a Canadian trader, set up a trading post on the northwest bank of the Missouri River, which eventually grew into the town of St. Charles.
In 1770, Piernas fully replaced St. Ange as administrator of the colony, although he retained the veteran Frenchman as an adviser. Local administrators of Ste. Genevieve also were Spanish-appointed, but frequently were forced to acquiesce to local customs. Throughout the 1770s, Spanish officials were forced to contend not only with the wishes of their predominantly French populations, but also with repeated incursions from British traders and hostile indigenous tribes.
To reduce the influence of British traders, Spain renewed efforts to encourage French settlers to decamp from Illinois to Missouri, and in 1778, the Spanish granted land and basic supplies to Catholic immigrants to Missouri; however, few settlers actually took up the offers to move to the region. A second effort by the Spanish against the British found greater success: starting in the late 1770s, the Spanish officials began openly supporting American rebels fighting against British rule in the American War of Independence. Spanish officials in both St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve were instrumental in supplying George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
during his Illinois campaign of 1779.
However, Spanish aid to the rebels came at a price: in June 1779, Spain declared war on England, and word reached Missouri of the war in February 1780. By March 1780, St. Louis was warned of an impending British attack, and the Spanish government began preparations for a fort at the town, known as Fort San Carlos. In late May, a British war party attacked the town of St. Louis; although the town was saved, 21 were killed, 7 were wounded, and 25 were taken prisoner.
After the American victory in its war of independence, the European countries involved negotiated a set of treaties known as the Peace of Paris
Peace of Paris (1783)
The Peace of Paris was the set of treaties which ended the American Revolutionary War. On 3 September 1783, representatives of King George III of Great Britain signed a treaty in Paris with representatives of the United States of America—commonly known as the Treaty of Paris —and two treaties at...
. The Spanish, who retained Louisiana, were forced to contend with large numbers of American immigrants crossing into Missouri from the east. Rather than attempt to stifle the immigration of American Protestants, however, Spanish diplomats began encouraging it in an effort to create an economically successful province.
As part of this effort, in 1789 Spanish diplomats in Philadelphia encouraged George Morgan
George Morgan (merchant)
George Morgan was a merchant, land speculator, and United States Indian agent during the American Revolutionary War, when he was given the rank of colonel. He negotiated with Lenape and other Native American tribes in western Pennsylvania to gain their support for the Americans during the war...
, an American military officer, to set up a semi-autonomous colony in southern Missouri across from the mouth of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. Named New Madrid
New Madrid, Missouri
New Madrid is a city in New Madrid County, Missouri, 42 miles south by west of Cairo, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. New Madrid was founded in 1788 by American frontiersmen. In 1900, 1,489 people lived in New Madrid, Missouri; in 1910, the population was 1,882. The population was 3,334 at...
, the colony began auspiciously but was discouraged by Louisiana's governor, Esteban Rodríguez Miró
Esteban Rodríguez Miró
Esteban Rodriguez Miró y Sabater , also known as Esteban Miro and Estevan Miro, was a Spanish army officer and governor of the Spanish American provinces of Louisiana and Florida....
, who considered Morgan's infant colony as flawed due to its lack of provisos for ensuring the settlement's loyalty to Spain. New Madrid's early American settlers departed, as did Morgan, and New Madrid became primarily a hunting and trading outpost rather than a full-fledged agricultural city.
Despite Spanish diplomats' efforts, during the early 1790s both Governor Miró and his successor, Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet
Francisco Luis Hector de Carondelet
Francisco Luis Hector, barón de Carondelet was an administrator of Burgundian descent in the employ of the Spanish Empire. He was a Knight of Malta....
, were cool toward the idea of American immigration to Missouri. However, with the onset of the Anglo-Spanish War in 1796, Spain again needed an influx of settlement to defend the region. To that end, Spain began advertising free land and no taxes in Spanish territory throughout American cities, and Americans responded in a wave of immigration. Among these American pioneer
American pioneer
American pioneers are any of the people in American history who migrated west to join in settling and developing new areas. The term especially refers to those who were going to settle any territory which had previously not been settled or developed by European or American society, although the...
s was Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
, who settled with his family after encouragement from the territorial governor.
To better govern the region of Missouri, the Spanish split the province into five administrative districts in the mid-1790s: St. Louis, St. Charles, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau is a city located in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is located approximately southeast of St. Louis and north of Memphis. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 37,941. A college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri...
and New Madrid.Foley (1989), 84. Of the five administrative districts, the newest was Cape Girardeau, founded in 1792 by trader Louis Lorimier as a trading post and settlement for newly arriving Americans. The largest district, St. Louis, was the provincial capital and center of trade; by 1800, its district population stood at nearly 2,500. Aside from Carondelet, other settlements in the St. Louis district included Florissant
Florissant, Missouri
Florissant is a second-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in northern St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The city has a total population of 52,158 in 2010 census.-History:...
, located 15 miles northwest of St. Louis and settled in 1785, and Bridgeton
Bridgeton, Missouri
Bridgeton is a city in northwestern St. Louis County, Missouri, serving as a suburb and transport hub within Greater St. Louis. The population at the 2010 census was 11,550. Portions of Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport are within Bridgeton.-Location:...
, located 5 miles southwest of Florissant and settled in 1794. All three settlements were popular with immigrants from the United States.
However, these American settlers fundamentally changed the makeup of Missouri; by the mid-1790s, Spanish officials realized the American Protestant immigrants were not interested in converting to Catholicism or in serious loyalty to Spain. Despite a brief attempt to restrict immigration to Catholics only, the heavy immigration from the United States changed the lifestyle and even the primary language of Missouri
Missouri French
Missouri French is a nearly extinct variety of the French language formerly spoken in the upper Mississippi River Valley in the Midwestern United States, particularly in eastern Missouri. Once spoken widely across the region known as the Illinois Country or Upper Louisiana, the dialect is now...
; by 1804, more than three-fifths of the population were American. With little return on their investment of time and money in the colony, the Spanish negotiated the return of Louisiana, including Missouri, to France in 1800, which was codified in the Treaty of Ildefonso
Third Treaty of San Ildefonso
The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secretly negotiated treaty between France and Spain in which Spain returned the colonial territory of...
.
Economy and culture of colonial Missouri
Religion in colonial Missouri was a strong element of cultural life, and the Catholic Church had been a significant part of life among the colonists since the earliest settlements.Foley (1989), 102. Although the Jesuits were the primary religious authority in the region, the French expelled the order in 1763 due to its growing wealth and power. Combined with the expulsion of the Jesuits, the transfer of the colony to Spain also caused a shortage of priests, as French priests under Canadian jurisdiction were prohibited from conducting services. Through 1773, Missouri parishes lacked resident priests, and residents were served by traveling priests from the east side of the Mississippi. During the 1770s and 1780s, both Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis gained resident priests, although not without difficulty; during the 1790s, St. Charles and Florissant were forced to share a resident priest, despite both having built parish churches. Throughout the period, both the French and the Spanish provided monetarily for the sustenance of the church; as part of their support, both governments forbade Protestant services in the colony.Foley (1989), 104. However, itinerant Protestant ministers frequently visited the settlements in private, and restrictions on Protestant residency were rarely enforced. According to Missouri historian William E. Foley, colonial Missouri lived under a "de facto form of religious toleration
Religious toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
," with few residents demanding rigid orthodoxy.
Social class was particularly fluid during the colonial period, although there were some distinctions.Foley (1989), 105. The highest class was based upon wealth and constituted of a mixed group of colonial-born merchants linked by familial ties. Below this class were the artisans and craftsmen of the society, followed by laborers of all types, including boatmen, hunters, and soldiers. Near the bottom of the social system were free blacks, servants, and coureur des bois
Coureur des bois
A coureur des bois or coureur de bois was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They travelled in the woods to trade various things for fur....
, with black and Indian slaves forming the bottom class.
Crime and social indiscretions also were a part of life in colonial Missouri; however, government officials quickly dealt with those who broke social norms. In 1770, when a trader mocked Spanish regulations outside the church in St. Louis, he was banished from the colony for ten years; the same year, a laborer was banished for stealing and illicit relations with slave women. During the late 1770s, a series of robberies was ended by the institution of nightly patrols in St. Louis. Spanish soldiers often were responsible for the major crimes; in 1775, a soldier killed a Ste. Genevieve resident in a drunken knife fight, while soldiers in St. Louis frequently were accused of fighting, drunkenness, and stealing.
Women in the region were responsible for a variety of domestic tasks, including food preparation and clothing making. French colonial women were well-known for their cooking, which incorporated both French staples such as soups and fricasses and African and Creole foods such as gumbo. The colonists also ate local meats, including squirrel, rabbits, and bear, although they preferred beef, pork and fowl. Most foods were local, although sugar and liquor were imported until the late colonial period.
Women also were responsible for child-rearing and basic schooling, and for nursing the sick. Diseases such as malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, whooping cough, and scarlet fever
Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...
were frequent maladies throughout the period, with malaria particularly affecting low-lying settlements such as Ste. Genevieve. Smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
only affected the settlements late in the 1700s. Schools were private and classes were tutor-based; small schools operated intermittently during the 1780s and 1790s in both St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve, and a private English-language school opened in New Madrid during the late 1790s. The wealthiest families sometimes sent children to other regions to obtain education: François Vallé
François Vallé
François Vallé was a French Canadian who immigrated to Upper Louisiana of New France sometime in the early 1740s. Beginning as a laborer of no means, he engaged in agriculture, lead mining, and trade with Indians and became the richest man in Upper Louisiana.- References :...
of Ste. Genevieve sent his son to New York City in 1796, while Auguste Chouteau sent his eldest son to Canada in 1802.
The black population of Missouri and the region was not insignificant. In 1772, nearly 38 percent of residents were of African descent, and although suffering a decline, in 1800 it remained nearly 20 percent of the total. The first blacks in Missouri were the handful of slaves of Philippe Renault, but they were followed by groups imported by Spain to work in agriculture. These slaves made significant contributions to regional development through their labor in mines, fields, and in transportation. Both the French and the Spanish used black codes to regulate the use of enslaved Africans in the territory. It had certain protections for what was considered an economic investment, such as prohibitions on imprisonment, mutilation, and death. The Spanish regime continued most of the Code Noir in 1769, but also permitted enslaved blacks to own property, appear as parties to lawsuits, work on their own account, and purchase their freedom.
Louisiana Territory
Although Napoleon and France took de jure control of colonial Missouri in 1800, the transfer remained secret; Spanish officials remained in control of Missouri and all of Louisiana throughout the period of French ownership. In February 1802, the French sent a military force to reconquer St. Domingue as a stepping stone to enforce control of New France, but throughout the year, disease and the continuing Haitian RevolutionHaitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...
ended the French expedition. In October 1802, these officials suspended foreign trade at the port of New Orleans, which led the United States to negotiate with France to purchase New Orleans in March 1803. However, the French defeat in Haiti and the desire for money to fight Britain led Napoleon to sell all of Louisiana, including Missouri, to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
.
Official news of the transfer had reached the region in August 1803 in a letter from the governor of the Indiana Territory
Indiana Territory
The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana....
, William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
. Although the transfer of all of Louisiana was formalized in a ceremony in New Orleans in December 1803, a separate ceremony took place in St. Louis in March 1804 to commemorate the transfer of Upper Louisiana.
Even before the purchase President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
was planning to explore the region; he sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
and the Pike expedition
Pike expedition
The Pike Expedition was a military effort authorized by the United States government to explore the south and west of the recent Louisiana Purchase. Roughly contemporaneous with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, it was led by United States Army Captain Zebulon Pike, Jr...
to map the region. In 1805 Congress organized the Louisiana Territory
Louisiana Territory
The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805 until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed to Missouri Territory...
was with the government seat in St. Louis. The U.S. Army soon built trading and military forts to establish control over the territory, Fort Bellefontaine
Fort Bellefontaine
Fort Bellefontaine was the first United States military installation in the Louisiana Territory.Located on the south bank of the Missouri River, in Missouri, Fort Bellefontaine was first a Spanish military post. Later, by a treaty made between the United States Government, signed by William H...
was made an Army post near St. Louis in 1804, and Fort Osage
Fort Osage
Fort Osage was part of the United States factory trading post system for the Osage Nation in the early 19th century near Sibley, Missouri....
was built along the Missouri River in 1808.
The Mississippi-Ohio river systems were navigated by steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
starting in 1811 with the New Orleans steamboat travelling from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, to New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. On December 16, 1811, the New Madrid earthquakes smashed the lightly populated region.
Missouri Territory
After LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
became a state in 1812, the remaining Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory
Missouri Territory
The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812 until August 10, 1821, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Missouri.-History:...
. That year, the first general assembly of the Missouri Territory was created, with the five original counties being Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, Saint Charles, Saint Louis, and Ste. Genevieve.
Southerners poured into Missouri Territory during 1804-21. The rapid population growth was facilitated by treaties that extinguished Indian land titles, with settlers attracted by the abundance of high quality inexpensive land, and the easy access provided by the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. By 1810 European Americans dominated the population, demographically, and financially. They overwhelmed the small French-speaking element and sent Native Americans to lands further west. Land in the public domain was quickly surveyed and sold to yeoman farmers
Plain Folk of the Old South
The Plain Folk of the Old South refers to the middling class of white farmers in the Southern United States before the Civil War, located between the rich planters and the poor whites. At the time they were often called "yeomen". They owned land and had no slaves or only a few. Most of them were...
, whose hard work was rapidly rewarded. Ranchers raised cattle; the Missouri woodland had ample grass for natural grazing. European Americans in early Missouri laid the groundwork for the new state, and their stamp remains strong in the landscape into the 21st century.
Missouri was at the western frontier during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, and the main regional headquarters of the U.S. Army was based at Fort Bellefontaine
Fort Bellefontaine
Fort Bellefontaine was the first United States military installation in the Louisiana Territory.Located on the south bank of the Missouri River, in Missouri, Fort Bellefontaine was first a Spanish military post. Later, by a treaty made between the United States Government, signed by William H...
near St. Louis. Other forts included Fort Cap au Gris
Fort Cap au Gris
Fort Cap au Gris, also called Capo Gray, was a temporary fort built in September 1814 near Troy, Missouri during the War of 1812 by Missouri Rangers under the direction of Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone. After the defeat of Fort Johnson, U.S...
; Fort Osage
Fort Osage
Fort Osage was part of the United States factory trading post system for the Osage Nation in the early 19th century near Sibley, Missouri....
was abandoned at the start of the war. Several skirmishes were fought in Missouri, including the Battle of the Sink Hole
Battle of the Sink Hole
The Battle of the Sink Hole was fought on May 24, 1815, after the official end of the War of 1812, between Missouri Rangers and Sauk Indians led by Black Hawk. The Sauk were unaware, or did not care, that their British patrons had signed the Treaty of Ghent with the U.S...
, one of the last battles of the war, on May 24, 1815.
In 1817, the first steamboat reached Saint Louis. That year, the commerce from New Orleans to the Falls of the Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
at Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
was carried in barges and keel-boats having a capacity of 60 to 80 tons each, with 3 to 4 months required to make a single trip. In 1820 steamboats were making the same trip in 15 to 20 days, by 1838 in 6 days or less. By 1834 there were 230 steamboats, having an aggregate tonnage of 39,000 tons, engaged in trade on the Mississippi. Large numbers of flat boats, especially from the Ohio and its tributaries, continued to carry produce
Produce
Produce is a generalized term for a group of farm-produced goods and, not limited to fruits and vegetables . More specifically, the term "produce" often implies that the products are fresh and generally in the same state as where they were harvested. In supermarkets the term is also used to refer...
downstream. In 1842 Ohio completed an extensive canal system that connected the Mississippi with the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. These were in turn connected in 1825 by the Erie Canal with the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
and the Port of New York on the Atlantic Ocean. There was expansive growth of resource commodity, and agricultural products trade throughout the rivers and Great Lakes network.
In 1818, Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
was founded, a Catholic Jesuit Seminary that was the first college west of the Mississippi River. It expanded its programs to include secular instruction.
Statehood, growth, and the Civil War: 1820–1865
| Population Growth during the 1800s | |
|---|---|
| 1810 | 20,845 |
| 1820 | 66,586 |
| 1830 | 140,455 |
| 1840 | 383,702 |
| 1850 | 682,044 |
| 1860 | 1,182,012 |
| 1870 | 1,721,295 |
| 1880 | 2,168,380 |
| 1890 | 2,679,184 |
Missouri Compromise
Also in 1818, Missouri requested admittance to the Union as a slave state. This became a national controversy due to the delicate balance between free and slave states. In 1820, the Missouri CompromiseMissouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30'...
cleared the way for Missouri's entry to the union as a slave state, along with Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, a free state, to preserve the balance. Additionally, the Missouri Compromise stated that the remaining portion of the Louisiana Territory above the 36°30′ line was to be free from slavery. This same year, the first Missouri constitution was adopted. The following year, 1821, Missouri was admitted as the 24th state, with the state capital temporarily located in Saint Charles until a permanent capital could be built. Missouri was the first state entirely west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
to be admitted to the Union. The state capital moved to Jefferson City in 1826.
Rapid growth of service area
The population of the Mississippi River region served by St Louis increased rapidly to about 4 million people in 1860. With railroads just beginning to be important in the late 1850s, the riverboat traffic dominated the transportation and trade worlds, and St. Louis flourished at the center, with connections east along the Ohio, Illinois, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, west along the Missouri River, and north and south along the Mississippi.Slavery
Rich planters from KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
moved into the bottomland of "Little Dixie
Little Dixie (Missouri)
Little Dixie is a 13- to 17-county region of Missouri found along the Missouri River, settled primarily by migrants from the hemp and tobacco districts of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. Today, the region identifies with the Midwest, but because of Southerners settling there first, the...
" region in the central part of the state. They bought up large tracts of fertile land, and brought in slaves to do the work of growing hemp (for rope making) and tobacco, traditional crops of the Upper South. Slaves were expensive, with the average price of $700 in 1860, the equivalent of three or four years' pay for a free worker. In most of the state, slavery was unprofitable, and in 7/8 of the counties, farmers had no slaves.
In 1824, the Missouri State Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Missouri
The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820, and is located in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction- the sole legal power to hear -...
ruled that free blacks could not be re-enslaved, a principle known as "once free, always free." In 1846, the Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford, , also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S...
case began. Dred and Harriet Scott
Dred Scott
Dred Scott , was an African-American slave in the United States who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v...
, who were slaves, sued for freedom in state courts. This was on the premise that they had previously lived in a free state. This case continued until 1857, culminating in a landmark United States Supreme Court decision rejecting Scott's arguments and sustaining slavery. In 1860, 3600 free blacks lived in Missouri.
The proportion of slaves in the state population peaked at 18 percent in 1830; by 1860 the proportion was 9.8 percent in 1860, following heavy Irish and German immigration from the 1840s, as well as continued migration from the eastern United States. In St. Louis, nine percent of the 14,000 residents in 1840 were slaves, and only one percent of the 57,000 residents in 1860, Although few Missouri families owned slaves, many whites of southern origin thought that slavery was basically a good idea, and that freeing the slaves would be a calamity for the white population. The state officially abolished slavery in January 1865 when the governor signed the Ordinance of Emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
.
Platte Purchase
At the time of its admission, the western border of Missouri was a straight line from Iowa to Arkansas based on the confluence of the Kaw River with the Missouri RiverMissouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
in the Kansas City West Bottoms
West Bottoms
The West Bottoms is an industrial area immediately to the west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Kansas River. The area is one of the oldest areas of the city....
. Land in what is now northwest Missouri was deeded to the Iowa (tribe) and the combined Sac (tribe)
Sac (tribe)
The Sacs or Sauks are a group of Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands culture group. Their autonym is The Sacs or Sauks are a group of Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands culture group. Their autonym is The Sacs or Sauks are a group of Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands culture...
and Fox (tribe). Following encroachments on the land by white settlers—most notably Joseph Robidoux
Joseph Robidoux
Joseph Robidoux III established the Blacksnake Hills Trading Post that eventually became St. Joseph, Missouri.-Biography:...
-- William Clark persuaded the tribes to agree give up their land in exchange for $7,500 in the 1836 Platte Purchase
Platte Purchase
The Platte Purchase was a land acquisition in 1836 by the United States government from Native American tribes all of which was east bank lands along the Missouri River that added to the northwest corner of the state of Missouri. The area acquired is almost as large as the states of Delaware and...
. The land was ratified by Congress in 1837. The purchase received widespread support from Southern Congressmen since it would mean adding territory to the only slave state north of Missouri's southern border. An area only somewhat smaller than the combined area of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
and Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
was added to Missouri. It consisted of the Andrew
Andrew County, Missouri
-External links:* from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books...
, Atchison
Atchison County, Missouri
Atchison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 5,685. Its county seat is Rock Port. The county was organized in 1845 and named for David Rice Atchison, U.S...
, Buchanan
Buchanan County, Missouri
Buchanan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 89,201. Its county seat is Saint Joseph. When originally formed in 1838, the county was named Roberts County, after settler Hiram Roberts; it was renamed in 1839 for James Buchanan, then a U.S....
, Holt
Holt County, Missouri
Holt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The county is in the northwest part of the state. As of 2010, the population was 4,912. Its county seat is Oregon. The county was organized in 1841 and is named after the Missouri state legislator Dr...
, Nodaway
Nodaway County, Missouri
Nodaway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The county was organized in 1845 and named for the Nodaway River.As of 2010, the population was 23,370...
and Platte
Platte County, Missouri
As of the census of 2000, there were 73,781 people, 29,278 households, and 20,231 families residing in the county. The population density was 176 people per square mile . There were 30,902 housing units at an average density of 74 per square mile...
counties.
Gateway to the West
In 1845 St. Louis was connected by telegraph to the east coast. The same year, the first banks and colleges west of the Mississippi were established. The business leadership of St. Louis consisted primarily of Yankees from East, along with some Southerners. Much of the working class, especially the craftsman, were German immigrants. The politicians were Southerners and Irish Catholic immigrants.After the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
began in 1848, Saint Louis, Independence
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, Westport
Westport, Kansas City
Westport is a historic neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Originally its own town, it was annexed by Kansas City in 1897. Today, it is one of Kansas City's main entertainment districts.-Background:...
and especially Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph is the second largest city in northwest Missouri, only second to Kansas City in size, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The St...
became departure points for those joining wagon trains to the West. They bought supplies and outfits in these cities to make the six-month overland trek to California, earning Missouri the nickname "Gateway to the West". This is memorialized by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
In 1848, Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
was incorporated on the banks of the Missouri River. In 1860, the Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
began its short-lived run carrying mail from Saint Joseph to Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
.
Farming
In the 1820s, northeastern Missouri saw a large influx of farmers, especially from the Bluegrass region of KentuckyBluegrass region
The Bluegrass Region is a geographic region in the state of Kentucky, United States. It occupies the northern part of the state and since European settlement has contained a majority of the state's population and its largest cities....
. They introduced the upper South agricultural-economic pattern, with its mix of hog and corn production practiced by small-scale farmers and cattle and tobacco production practiced by large-scale farmers. Families typically moved to the region not as solitary units but as elements of large kin-based networks that maintained geographic integrity by purchasing clustered tracts of land.
Missouri was nationally famous for the quality and quantity of its mules. The state produced a superior breed from Mexican and Eastern stock. Some were used on the western trails, and a larger number were used on southern plantations. The industry provided a full-time livelihood for a few traders, feeders and breeders, but it supplemented the income for a far larger number of farmers. Horses, which are larger and more expensive to maintain, but which can do more work, remained the favorite animal on Missouri farms.
Mormons and the 'Mormon War'
Joseph Smith, Jr., the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, claimed to have received revelationRevelation (Latter Day Saints)
Latter Day Saints teach that the Latter Day Saint movement began with a Revelation from God . They also teach that revelation is the foundation of the church established by Jesus Christ and that it remains an essential element of His true church today...
that western Missouri, specifically the area around Independence
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, and other areas of western Missouri, were to become Zion
Zion (Mormonism)
Within the Latter Day Saint movement, Zion is often used to connote a utopian association of the righteous. This association would practice a form of communitarian economics called the United Order meant to ensure that all members maintained an acceptable quality of life, class distinctions were...
and a place of gathering. By the early 1830s, Mormons came into the area, at first to Independence and its nearby environs. The neighbors refused to tolerate the newcomers because the Mormons would vote in blocks and congregate in concentrated areas, and would typically trade only amongst themselves, and they would not hold slaves. Open claims by the Mormons that the area was given to them by God only worsened the situation. By the mid 1830s, Mormons had effectively been driven from the Independence area, but they relocated to counties north and a little east. By 1838, open hostility was peaking again. Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs
Lilburn Boggs
Lilburn Williams Boggs was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known by Mormons as the "Extermination Order", issued in response to the ongoing conflict...
issued Missouri Executive Order 44, which encouraged Missourians to expel Mormons by all means possible or exterminate them if they would not leave. Skirmishes and small battles occurred and a number of people were killed, mostly Mormons. Joseph Smith, Jr., was jailed, along with other LDS leaders and held in several jails for more than five months, with no hope of a trial or court hearing. Smith was allowed to escape and he and his church moved to Illinois to form the city of Nauvoo
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
in 1839. Missouri still holds many important sites still considered significant by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
. In 1976 Missouri officially revoked the extermination order.
Politics
In the 1860 presidential election, the state voted for Northern Democrat Stephen A. DouglasStephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
. When war broke out in April 1861 sympathies ran for both sides, the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
and the Union, and it was in Saint Louis where the first blood was spilled in the "Camp Jackson Affair". Union military forces quickly seized control of all strategic points and drove the Confederate government into exile.
The majority of St. Louis business leaders supported the Union and rejected efforts by Confederate sympathizers to take control of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce in January 1862. Federal authorities intervened in this struggle but the conflict splintered the Chamber of Commerce into two organizations. The pro-Unionists finally gained the ascendancy and St. Louis became a major supply base for the Union forces in the entire Mississippi Valley.
In 1861, Union General John C. Fremont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
issued a proclamation that freed slaves who had been owned by those that had taken up arms against the Union. Lincoln immediately reversed this unauthorized action. Secessionists tried to form their own state government, joining the Confederacy and establishing a Confederate government in exile
Confederate government of Missouri
The Confederate government of Missouri was a shadow government established for the state of Missouri by Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson and other Southern sympathizers during the American Civil War....
first in Neosho
Neosho, Missouri
Neosho is the most populous city in and the county seat of Newton County, Missouri, United States. Neosho is an integral part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, Missouri and later in Texas (at Marshall, Texas
Marshall, Texas
Marshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523...
). By the end of the war, Missouri had supplied 110,000 troops for the Union Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and 40,000 troops for the Confederate Army.
Battles
Because of the state's strategic location linking Northern and Southern states, many important Civil War battles occurred in Missouri. Missouri was the location of the third largest number of engagements of any state, after Virginia and Tennessee. The pro-Southern state force known as the Missouri State GuardMissouri State Guard
The Missouri State Guard was a state militia organized in the state of Missouri during the early days of the American Civil War. While not initially a formal part of the Confederate States Army, the State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at times, under regular Confederate...
commanded by Sterling Price
Sterling Price
Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...
initiated a long retreat from Boonville
Battle of Boonville
The First Battle of Boonville was a minor skirmish of the American Civil War, occurring on June 17, 1861, near Boonville in Cooper County, Missouri. Although casualties were extremely light, the battle's strategic impact was far greater than one might assume from its limited nature...
to the Southwestern portion of the state in 1861. In Carthage
Battle of Carthage (1861)
-References:* Lee, Guy Carlton, and Francis Newtun Thorpe, editors. The History of North America. Philadelphia: George Barrie and Sons, 1905.* Monhegan, Jay. Civil War on the Western Border: 1854-1865. Boston: Little, Brown, 1956.*...
, the Guard defeated a heavy detachment of Federal regulars commanded by Col. Franz Sigel
Franz Sigel
Franz Sigel was a German military officer, revolutionist and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union major general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...
. Shortly afterward, the 12,000-man force of the combined elements of the Missouri State Guard, Arkansas State Guard, and Confederate regulars soundly defeated the Federal army of Nathaniel Lyon
Nathaniel Lyon
Nathaniel Lyon was the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War and is noted for his actions in the state of Missouri at the beginning of the conflict....
at Wilson's Creek
Battle of Wilson's Creek
The Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri, between Union forces and the Missouri State Guard, early in the American Civil War. It was the first major battle of the war west of the Mississippi River and is sometimes...
or "Oak Hills".
Following the success at Wilson's Creek, southern forces pushed northward and captured the 3500-strong garrison at the first Battle of Lexington
Battle of Lexington I
The First Battle of Lexington also known as the Battle of the Hemp Bales, was an engagement of the American Civil War, occurring from September 13 to September 20, 1861, between the Union Army and the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, in Lexington, the county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri...
. Federal forces contrived to campaign to retake Missouri, causing the Southern forces to retreat from the state and head for Arkansas and later Mississippi.
In Arkansas, the Missourians fought at the battle of Pea Ridge, meeting defeat. In Mississippi, elements of the Missouri State Guard participated in the struggles at Corinth
Second Battle of Corinth
The Second Battle of Corinth was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. For the second time in the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, Union Maj. Gen. William S...
and Iuka
Battle of Iuka
The Battle of Iuka was fought on September 19, 1862, in Iuka, Mississippi, during the American Civil War. In the opening battle of the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans stopped the advance of the army of Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price.Maj. Gen. Ulysses S...
, where they suffered heavy losses.
Price's Raid
Price's Missouri Expedition, also known as Price's Raid, was an 1864 Confederate cavalry raid through the states of Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. While Confederate Major General Sterling Price enjoyed some successes during this campaign, he was decisively beaten at the Battle...
. Striking in the southeastern portion of the state, Price moved north, and attempted to capture Fort Davidson
Battle of Fort Davidson
The Battle of Fort Davidson, also known as the Battle of Pilot Knob, was the opening engagement of Price's Missouri Raid during the American Civil War. This engagement occurred on September 27, 1864, just outside of Pilot Knob in Iron County, Missouri...
but failed. Next, Price sought to attack St. Louis but found it too heavily fortified. He then broke west in a parallel course with the Missouri River. The Federals attempted to retard Price's advance through both minor and substantial skirmishing such as at Glasgow
Battle of Glasgow
The Battle of Glasgow was fought on October 15, 1864, in and near Glasgow, Missouri as part of Price's Missouri Expedition during the American Civil War...
and Lexington
Battle of Lexington II
The Second Battle of Lexington was a minor skirmish during the American Civil War, taking place on October 19, 1864, in Lexington, the county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri. It formed a part of Confederate Maj. Gen...
. Price made his way to the extreme western portion of the state, taking part in a series of bitter battles at the Little Blue
Battle of Little Blue River
The Battle of Little Blue River was a minor battle of the American Civil War, occurring on October 21, 1864 in Jackson County, Missouri during Price's Missouri Expedition of that year. It became the opening round of the Second Battle of Independence, which began on this same day and was...
, Independence, and Byram's Ford. His Missouri campaign culminated in the battle of Westport
Battle of Westport
The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West," was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General...
in which over 30,000 troops fought, leading to the defeat of the Southern army. The Missourians retreated through Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
into Arkansas, where they stayed for the remainder of the war.
In 1865, Missouri abolished slavery, doing so before the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On...
, by an ordinance of immediate emancipation. Missouri adopted a new constitution, one that denied voting rights and had prohibitions against certain occupations for former Confederacy supporters.
Guerrilla warfare
Besides organized military conflict, Missouri was beset by guerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. In such a bitterly divided state, neighbors frequently used the excuse of war to settle personal grudges and took up arms against neighbors. Roving insurgent
Insurgent
Insurgent, insurgents or insurgency can refer to:* The act of insurgency-Specific insurgencies:* Iraqi insurgency, uprising in Iraq* Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, uprising in India* Insurgency in North-East India...
bands such as Quantrill's Raiders
Quantrill's Raiders
Quantrill's Raiders were a loosely organized force of pro-Confederate Partisan rangers, "bushwhackers", who fought in the American Civil War under the leadership of William Clarke Quantrill...
and the men of Bloody Bill Anderson terrorized the countryside, striking both military installations and civilian settlements. Because of the widespread guerrilla conflict, and support by citizens in border counties, Federal leaders issued General Order No. 11 in 1863, and evacuated areas of Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties. They forced the residents out to reduce support for the guerrillas. Union cavalry could sweep through and track down Confederate guerrillas, who no longer had places to hide and people and infrastructure to support them. On short notice, the army forced almost 20,000 people, mostly women, children, and the elderly, to leave their homes. Many never returned, and the affected counties were economically devastated for years after the end of the war. Families passed stories of their bitter experiences down through several generations.
Western Missouri was the scene of brutal guerrilla warfare during the Civil War, and some marauding units became organized criminal gangs after the war. In 1882, the bank robber and ex-Confederate guerrilla Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
was killed in Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph is the second largest city in northwest Missouri, only second to Kansas City in size, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The St...
. Vigilante groups appeared in remote areas where law enforcement was weak, to deal with the lawlessness left over from the guerrilla warfare phase. For example, the Bald Knobbers
Bald Knobbers
The Bald Knobbers was a group of non-racially motivated vigilantes in the southern part of the state of Missouri, who were active during the period 1883-1889...
were the term for several law-and-order vigilante groups in the Ozarks. In some cases, they too turned to illegal gang activity.
Relief work
The Western Sanitary CommissionWestern Sanitary Commission
The Western Sanitary Commission was a private agency based in St. Louis that was a rival of the larger U.S. Sanitary Commission. It operated in the west during the American Civil War to help the U.S. Army deal with sick and wounded soldiers. It was led by abolitionists and focused more on the needs...
was a private agency based in St. Louis that was a rival of the larger U.S. Sanitary Commission. It operated during the war to help the U.S. Army deal with sick and wounded soldiers. It was led by abolitionists and especially after the war focused more on the needs of Freedmen. It was founded in August 1861, under the leadership of Reverend William Greenleaf Eliot
William Greenleaf Eliot
William Greenleaf Eliot was an American educator, Unitarian minister, and civic leader in Missouri. He is most notable for founding Washington University in St. Louis, but also contributed to the founding of numerous other civic institutions, such as the St...
(1811-87), a Yankee, to care for the wounded soldiers after the opening battles. It was supported by private fundraising in the city of St. Louis, as well as from donors in California and New England. Parrish explains it selected nurses, provided hospital supplies, set up several hospitals, and outfitted several hospital ships. It also provided clothing and places to stay for freedmen and refugees, and set up schools for black children. It continued to finance various philanthropic projects until 1886.
Radicalism and Reconstruction
In November 1864, national and statewide elections gave the Radical Republicans strong majorities. In the General Assembly, most newly elected representatives were relatively young farmers; 56 percent of Radicals were under 45, and 36 percent worked in agriculture. In congressional elections, all but one of the victors was a Republican, and voters passed a proposal for a state convention to rewrite the state constitution.The state convention began deliberating on January 7, 1865 in the Mercantile Exchange Library Building in St. Louis; the group was, like the General Assembly, dominated by relatively young Radical Republicans. Among the first measures taken by the convention was the passage of an emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
ordinance on January 11 that took effect immediately. With the passage of the ordinance, spontaneous celebrations broke out in major cities, and Governor Thomas Clement Fletcher
Thomas Clement Fletcher
Thomas Clement Fletcher was the 18th Governor of Missouri during the latter stages of the American Civil War and the early part of Reconstruction. He was the first Missouri governor to be born in the state....
issued an official proclamation in honor of the event. St. Louis held an official celebration on January 14, which included a reading of the proclamation, interracial social events, and a fireworks display.
Political conservatism
In August 1874, the Democratic Party nominated Charles Henry HardinCharles Henry Hardin
Charles Henry Hardin was one of the eight founders of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Born in 1820 in Trimble County, Kentucky, he graduated from Miami University in 1840 and received his LL.D. from William Jewell College in 1890. He later became the 22nd Governor of Missouri between 1875 and 1877 and...
as a compromise candidate for governor of Missouri. During the Civil War, Hardin had supported the Union cause, and from the 1850s to the early 1870s, he had served three terms in the Missouri House and two terms in the Missouri Senate. The Democrats nominated agriculturalist Norman Jay Colman
Norman Jay Colman
Norman Jay Colman was a politician, newspaper publisher, and the first United States Secretary of Agriculture....
as candidate for lieutenant governor, who drew support from rural areas due to his endorsement of Free Silver
Free Silver
Free Silver was an important United States political policy issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary Gold Standard; its supporters were called...
and his desire to repeal the National Bank Act. With Colman's popularity, Hardin was elected in November 1874 with support from 81 of 114 Missouri counties.
In May 1875, delegates from Missouri met in Jefferson City to consider a new state constitution to replace the state's Reconstruction era constitution. The majority of the delegates were conservative, well-educated, and generally had ties to the American South. 35 of the 68 delegates either served with the Confederacy or were allied to its cause; the presiding officer, Waldo P. Johnson
Waldo P. Johnson
Waldo Porter Johnson was a United States Senator from Missouri, and later a member of the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War....
, had been expelled from the U.S. Senate in 1862 after he joined the Confederacy. The document produced by the convention was a reaction to the radicalism of the 1860s and 1870s, and it encouraged local control and a reduction in the powers of the state. The document removed the ability of the state to suspend the writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
, increased the standards required to prove the crime of treason, limited the ability of the state and local governments to tax, and reduced the restrictions on churches being able to own property. It also required a two-third vote by citizens to authorize the issuance of bonds, and it restricted the ability of state legislators to craft legislation that would benefit their localities. The proposal was submitted for popular vote on August 2, 1875, and the constitution passed overwhelmingly.
Commercial revival and expansion
During the Civil War, the Federal government closed the MississippiMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
to commerce. When the war was over, the prosperity of the South was temporarily ruined. Hundreds of steamboats had been destroyed, and levees had been damaged by warfare and flooding. Much of the commerce of the West had been turned from New Orleans, via the Mississippi, to the Atlantic seaboard
Atlantic Seaboard
The Atlantic seaboard watershed is a watershed of North America along both*the Atlantic Canada coast south of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence Watershed &*the East Coast of the United States north of the watershed of the Okeechobee Waterway....
, via the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
and by the rapidly multiplying new lines of railways connecting through Chicago. Some revival of commerce on the Mississippi took place following the war, but this was checked by a sandbar at the mouth of the Southwest Pass in its delta on the Gulf of Mexico. Ead's jetties created a new shipping passage at the mouth of the South Pass in 1879, but the facilities for the transfer of freight in New Orleans were far inferior to those employed by the railways, and the steamboat companies did not prosper.
Up to the 1880s, the six southeastern counties of Missouri's Bootheel
Bootheel
The Missouri Bootheel is the southeasternmost part of the state of Missouri, extending south of 36°30’ north latitude, so called because its shape in relation to the rest of the state resembles the heel of a boot. Strictly speaking, it is composed of the counties of Dunklin, New Madrid, and Pemiscot...
, swampy and subject to flooding, remained heavily forested, underdeveloped, and underpopulated. Beginning in the 1880s, railroads opened up the Bootheel to logging. In 1905, the Little River Drainage District constructed an elaborate system of ditches, canals, and levees to drain swampland. As a result, population more than tripled from 1880 to 1930, and cotton cultivation flourished. By 1920 it was the chief crop, attracting newcomers to the farms from Arkansas and Tennessee.
The Hall brothers, Joyce, Rollie, and William, emerged from poverty in Nebraska in the 1900s by opening a bookstore. When the European craze for sending postcards reached America, the brothers quickly began merchandizing them and became the postcard jobber for the Great Plains. As business boomed they relocated to Kansas City in 1910 and eventually founded the Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
gift card company, which soon came to dominate a national market. Allen Percival "Percy" Green operated the A. P. Green Company in Mexico, Missouri. Green bought a struggling brickworks in 1910 and found a national market by transforming it into a leading manufacturer of "fire bricks," bricks designed to withstand high temperatures for use in steel plants and lining the boilers of ships. In 1913, in the town of Clinton, Royal Booth, then a high school junior, began a business breeding purebred chickens. After serving in the Army in World War I, Booth returned to his booming enterprise. The growth of his Booth Farms and Hatchery had encouraged other area entrepreneurs to enter the poultry breeding business. Booth rebuilt his operation after a 1924 fire, and concentrated on breeding hens that laid eggs all year long. By 1930, Clinton's hatcheries had an annual capacity of over three million eggs, making Clinton the "Baby Chick Capital of the World" and benefiting thousands of farmers throughout the region; however, the industry declined and the hatchery closed in 1967.
The large German American
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
population, most immigrants and their descendants from the 1840s, specialized in brewing beer, and established numerous beer gardens in St. Louis and other cities. Eberhard Anheuser
Eberhard Anheuser
Eberhard Anheuser was a German-born soap and candle maker as well as the father-in-law of Adolphus Busch, the founder of the Anheuser-Busch Company. He and two of his brothers moved to America in 1842. He was a major creditor of the Bavarian Brewery Company, a struggling brewery founded in 1853...
created the E. Anheuser & Company Bavarian Brewery in St. Louis, in 1860 and in 1869 made a full partner of Adolphus Busch, who later utilized pasteurization and refrigeration to keep beer fresh, and marketed Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
products nationally. Busch introduced Budweiser to America, eventually making it the world's most popular brand through extensive advertising, including television commercials. The Busch family maintained control until it sold out to European interests in 2008 for $52 billion.
Edward Leavy, head of Pierce Petroleum company, identified the potential of the Ozark region as a tourist attraction in the 1920s. Pierce Petroleum opened roadside taverns and expanded to include gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and a variety of services for automobile travelers. The Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
forced Pierce Petroleum to sell out to Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation, but by then many other entrepreneurs saw the opportunity for tours expansion in the Ozarks.
Agricultural changes
Before 1870 the original Ozark settlers in the southwest part of the state were part-time farmers, herders and hunters. During 1870-1900 the region became one of general full-time small farm operations, with diverse crops and livestock. Hunting and fishing became leisure activities, rather than a necessity for subsistence. After 1900 commercial agriculture increased and livestock production surpassed cultivation. The general farm of yore vanished.Only dairy farming survived the pressure of livestock production. By the 1970s, however, agriculture in the Ozarks had come full circle. Many modern farmers survived only by becoming part-time farmers. Much of the population commutes to paid employment for most of their income, in much the same way as the pioneers had been forced to diversify their efforts.
Gender roles and occupations
In the early nineteenth century, Missouri had two divergent family styles - the French and the American. The French placed the mother at the head of the house; the Americans treated the mother as little more than a fellow-worker who often took second place to the men in the family. Most of the immigration to Missouri in the nineteenth century was of families, and women left diaries, letters, and memoirs documenting preparations for the journey, the nerve-wracking Atlantic crossing, and the long train rides from New York City to St. Louis and their final destinations. Most came from Germany, as well as Ireland, Bohemia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Jewish settlements in Eastern Europe. The largest groups were Catholic, Lutheran, and German. Once arrived, the women—mostly in their twenties—coped with the problems of daily life in an unfamiliar and occasionally hostile environment, with a limited network of kinfolk available to help. The normative standard for German AmericanGerman American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
women was to be good, diligent, submissive, and silent housewives. The historical records show more variety, with many being cantankerous, complaining, and unwilling to subordinate themselves. Some were dirty and lazy, and completely unlike the hausfrau stereotype. These nonconformists exerted a greater influence on the community scene than they could by strict conformity to generally accepted behavior.
Throughout the century, most rural families lived traditional lifestyles, based on male dominance. Efforts to modernize rural life, and upgrade the status of women, were reflected in numerous movements, including women's church activities, temperance reform, and the campaign for woman suffrage. Reformers sought to modernize the rural home by transforming its women from producers to consumers. The Missouri Women Farmers' Club (MWFC) and its management was especially active.
The great majority of women were full-time homemakers, whose labor created materials and clothing, food, agriculture and basics of life for their families. After the Civil War some women became wage earners in industrializing cities. It was common for widows to operate boardinghouses or small shops; younger women worked in tobacco, shoe, and clothing factories. Some women helped their husbands publish local newspapers, which flourished in every county seat and small city. In 1876, women began to attend the Missouri Press Association's meetings; by 1896 the women formed their own press association, and at the end of the century, women were editing or publishing 25 newspapers in Missouri. They were especially active in developing features to entertain their women readers, and to help women with their housework and child-rearing.
In highly traditional, remote parts of the Ozark Mountains, there was little demand for modern medicine. Childbirth, aches, pains and broken bones were handled by local practitioners of folk medicine, most of whom were women. Their herbs, salves and other remedies often healed sick people, but their methods relied especially on recognizing and ministering to their patients' psychological, spiritual, and physical needs.
Before the war, the police and municipal judges used their powers to regulate rather than eliminate the sex trades. In antebellum
History of the United States (1789–1849)
With the election of George Washington as the first president in 1789, the new government acted quickly to rebuild the nation's financial structure. Enacting the program of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, the government assumed the Revolutionary war debts of the state and the national...
St. Louis, prostitutes working in orderly, discreet brothels were seldom arrested or harassed - unless they were unusually boisterous, engaged in sexual activities outside of their established district, or violated other rules of appropriate conduct. In 1861, St. Louis passed a vagrancy ordinance, criminalizing any woman who walked on the streets after sunset. In 1871, the city passed a law forbidding women from working in bars and saloons, even if the women were owners. These laws were meant to keep prostitution at a minimum but adversely affected women who were legitimately employed.
Middle-class women demanded entry into higher education, and the state colleges reluctantly admitted them. Culver-Stockton College opened in the 1850s as a coeducational school, the first west of the Mississippi. Women were first admitted to the normal school of Missouri State University at Columbia in 1868, but they had second-class status. They were shunted into a few narrow academic programs, restricted in their use of the library, separated from the men, and forced to wear uniforms. They were not allowed to live on campus. President Samuel Spahr Laws was the most restrictive administrator, enforcing numerous rules and the wearing of drab uniforms. Still, the number of women students at the school grew despite the difficulties. When the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy opened at Rolla in 1871, its first class had 21 male and six female students. Well into the 20th century, the women who attended the school were given an arts and music program that was little better than a high school education.
Josephine Silone Yates (1859–1912) was as African-American activist who devoted her career to combating discrimination and uplifting her race. She taught at the Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, and served as the first president of the Women's League of Kansas City; she was later president of the National Association of Colored Women
National Association of Colored Women
The National Association of Colored Women Clubs was established in Washington, D.C., USA, by the merger in 1896 of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, the Women's Era Club of Boston, and the National League of Colored Women of Washington, DC, as well as smaller organizations that had...
. Yates tried to prepare women for roles as wage earners in Northern cities. She also encouraged black ownership of land for those who remained in the South. Since whites judged blacks by the behavior of the lower class, she argued that advancement of the race ultimately depended on working-class adherence to a strict moral code.
| Population Growth during the 1900s | |
|---|---|
| 1900 | 3,106,665 |
| 1910 | 3,293,335 |
| 1920 | 3,404,055 |
| 1930 | 3,629,367 |
| 1940 | 3,784,664 |
| 1950 | 3,954,653 |
| 1960 | 4,319,813 |
| 1970 | 4,677,623 |
| 1980 | 4,916,766 |
| 1990 | 5,117,073 |
Progressive reform
The Missouri Children's Code Commission was a Progressive EraProgressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
reform movement which involved prominent educators and social workers and a coalition of citizens' groups. The first commission began in 1915 to develop proposals to protect children from harsh working conditions and deal with delinquency, neglect, and child welfare welfare. Its proposals were rejected by the conservative legislature. Appointed in 1917, the second commission revised the earlier proposals and actively engaged in an educational promotional campaign, gaining the support of various organizations such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union, The Red Cross, women's clubs, suffrage groups, and others. The Missouri Children's Code was finally passed in 1919.
In 1919, Missouri became the 11th state to ratify the 19th amendment
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....
, which granted women the right to vote.
During the Progressive Era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
in the early twentieth century, there were three competing visions of appropriate control and use of water resources of the Missouri River; they were expressed by three organizations: the Kansas City Commercial Club (KCCC), the Missouri River Sanitary Conference (MRSC), and the Missouri Valley Public Health Association (MVPHA). The KCCC's vision of commercial development envisioned the "Economic River." MRSC's vision of a shared water supply requiring protection through community cooperation emphasized the "Healthy River." MVPHA's vision of commercial development coupled with individual efforts to prevent pollution was a compromise blending of the first two. The "Economic River" represents the Progressive approach focused on professional elites and federal solutions, whereas the "Healthy River" represents the approach focused on community leadership and solutions, as well as an early example of holistic, locally oriented conservation.
Sarvis (2000, 2002) traces the controversy over the creation of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
The Ozark National Scenic Riverways is a national park in the Ozarks of southern Missouri in the U.S..The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1964 to protect the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, and it was formally dedicated in 1971. The park's are used for many forms of recreation and are...
(ONSR) in southeastern Missouri. Boasting clear rivers and spectacular landscape, the area saw a political contest for control of river recreational development between two federal agencies, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
(NPS) and the Forest Service
Forest Service
Forest Service may refer to:* Canadian Forest Service* Indian Forest Service* New Zealand Forest Service* United States Forest Service* Forestry Commission in the United Kingdom...
. Local residents opposed NPS plans that included eminent domain acquisition of private property. Both agencies presented rival bills in Congress, and in 1964 the NPS plan was selected by Congress. In the long run the NPS has successfully accommodated and supervised OSNR recreation for two million visitors a year. By contrast, the Forest Service's nearby recreational activities have handled no more than 16,000 visitors yearly.
World War I
Most of Missouri residents responded with fervent patriotism to the demands of World War I. Voluntary enlistment in the Army were high, and there was little significant draft resistance. However, German Americans had opposed entry into the war, and they are ethnic strongholds were mostly cool or hostile to the war effort. They were often denounced as unpatriotic. Officials and communities throughout the state mounted their own displays of patriotism and support for the Allies, with special emphasis on mobilizing public opinion and further strengthening agricultural programs and economies that had already been bolstered by prewar market demands. Farmers enjoyed very high prices, and their young men were generally not drafted because they were needed in farm work. While there were some traditionalistic farmers who did not believe America should be in the war, more representative was the case of Harry Truman. He operated a farm near Kansas City (1906–17) that was prosperous and strengthened him physically and emotionally for the future. Overall rural Missouri gave strong support to the war effort. In 1917 when the US Food Administration, headed by Herbert HooverHerbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, began promoting voluntary guidelines for increased farm production and reduced consumer use of items in short supply, Missouri met, and in many cases exceeded, the national standards.
Great Depression
The Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
affected nearly every aspect of Missouri's economy, particularly mining, railroading, and retailing. In 1933, the Missouri Pacific railroad declared bankruptcy; retail sales declined statewide by 50 percent, and more than 300 Missouri banks failed in the early 1930s. St. Louis manufacturing declined in value from more than $600 million in 1929 to $339 million in 1935; despite industrial diversification in the city, output fell more and unemployment was greater than the rest of country by the mid-1930s. The brick and tile industry of St. Louis virtually collapsed, dramatically altering the economic conditions of neighborhoods such as The Hill
The Hill, St. Louis
The Hill is a mostly Italian-American neighborhood within St. Louis, Missouri, located on high ground south of Forest Park. The official boundaries of the area are Manchester Avenue on the north, Columbia and Southwest Avenues on the south, South Kingshighway Boulevard on the east, and Hampton...
. In response to rising discontent with the economy, the St. Louis police surveilled and harassed unemployed leftist workers, and in July 1932, a protest by the unemployed was violently broken up by police. The Depression also threatened Missouri cultural institutions such as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, which nearly folded in 1933. Kansas City suffered from the Depression as well, although not as severely as St. Louis. Manufacturing fell in value from $220 million in 1929 to $122 million in 1935; charities were feeding 10 percent of the population by late 1932. Unlike St. Louis, Kansas City was able to supply work to many of its unemployed citizens via a $50 million bond issue that allowed for several large public works projects.
Rural Missouri suffered under the economic effects of both the Depression of natural forces. In 1930, a statewide drought struck the Ozarks and the Bootheel regions particularly hard, followed by equally deleterious droughts in 1934 and 1936. In addition, grasshoppers attacked Missouri cropland in 1936, destroying nearly a million acres of corn and other crops. Farm prices declined, and banks and insurance companies took ownership of foreclosed farmland in the Ozarks. Despite these hardships, the farm population of Missouri increased during the early years of the Depression, and unemployed urban workers sought subsistence farms throughout the state and particularly in the Ozarks.
Banks in the Ozarks frequently arranged rentals to tenant farmers, who in turn hired their sharecroppers for labor. The tenant-sharecropper system began before the Great Depression, but by 1938, there was increasing mechanization on farms. This shift allowed a single farmer to work more land, putting the sharecroppers out of work. Left-wing elements from the local Socialist movement, and from St. Louis, moved in to organize the sharecroppers into the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union. They had a highly visible, violent confrontation with state authorities in 1939.
By the late 1930s, some of the industries of the state had recovered, although not to their pre-1929 levels. Both Anheuser-Busch and the St. Louis Car Company had resumed profitable operations, and clothing and electrical product manufacturing were expanding. By 1938, the St. Louis airport handled nearly double the passengers it had in 1932, while the Kraft Cheese Company established a milk processing plant in Springfield in 1939, indicating the status of recovery in the state. However, in 1939, manufacturing as a whole remained 25 percent below its 1929 level, wholesaling was 32 percent below the 1929 level, and retail sales were 22 percent lower than they were in 1929. In early 1940, the Missouri unemployment rate remained higher than 8 percent, while urban areas had a rate at higher than 10 percent. Both St. Louis and Kansas City lost ground as industrial producers in the country.
World War II
More than 450,000 Missouri residents served in the military during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and roughly two-thirds were conscripted. More than 8,000 Missourians died in the conflict, the first of whom was George Whitman, killed during the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, while hospitals such as O'Reilly General in Springfield were used as military hospitals. Several Missouri soldiers became prominent during the war, such as Mildred H. McAfee
Mildred H. McAfee
Mildred Helen McAfee Horton was an American academic who served during World War II as first director of the WAVES in the United States Navy.-Early life:...
, commander of the WAVES
WAVES
The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" ; the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and...
, Dorothy C. Stratton
Dorothy C. Stratton
Dorothy Constance Stratton was the director of the SPARS, the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve during World War II. She is the namesake of the Coast Guard's third National Security Cutter, the USCGC Stratton .-Early life and Coast Guard career:Stratton was born in 1899 in Brookfield,...
, commander of the SPARS
SPARS
SPARS was the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, created 23 November 1942 with the signing of Public Law 773 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The name is a contraction of the Coast Guard motto: Semper Paratus and its English translation Always Ready...
, Walter Krueger
Walter Krueger
Walter Krueger was an American soldier of German descent and General in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his command of the Sixth United States Army in the South West Pacific Area during World War II...
, commander of the Sixth United States Army, Jimmy Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle
General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War...
, leader of the Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
, and Maxwell D. Taylor
Maxwell D. Taylor
General Maxwell Davenport "Max" Taylor was an United States Army four star general and diplomat of the mid-20th century, who served as the fifth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after having been appointed by the President of the United States John F...
, commander of the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
. The most well-known of the 89 generals and admirals from Missouri was Omar Bradley
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley was a senior U.S. Army field commander in North Africa and Europe during World War II, and a General of the Army in the United States Army...
, who led combat forces in Europe and led the single largest field command in U.S. history.
At home, Missouri residents organized air raid drills and participated in rationing and scrap drives. Missourians also purchased more than $3 billion in war bonds during the eight drives conducted for the war. Local groups and well-known figures supported the war effort as well. Missouri painter Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton (painter)
Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States...
created a mural series known as the The Year of Peril, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra performed at concerts sponsored by the United Service Organizations
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
(USO).
Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
increased, leading many Missouri communities to establish curfews and build recreational facilities for youth.Kirkendall (2004), 257.
The war brought a surge of prosperity to Missouri agriculture, and farming became a major war industry in the state. Farmers were encouraged to increase food production and to conserve other materials as much as possible, and rationing of machinery, tires, and other equipment. Despite these difficulties, many farmers modernized and learned new techniques due to the efforts of federal programs such as the Cooperative Extension Service
Cooperative extension service
The Cooperative Extension Service, also known as the Extension Service of the USDA, is a non-formal educational program implemented in the United States designed to help people use research-based knowledge to improve their lives. The service is provided by the state's designated land-grant...
, the Soil Conservation Service, and the Rural Electrification Administration. The Farm Security Administration
Farm Security Administration
Initially created as the Resettlement Administration in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty...
provided loans and information to low-income farmers, and it also recruited and trained farm laborers in Missouri. As in World War I, most of the young men on the farms were deferred from the draft. Despite the significance of the agricultural industry, the population of Missouri working on farms declined 59 percent from 1939 to 1945, and the overall rural population declined 24 percent, a continuation of the trend toward urbanization in the state. The greatest declines in farm population were in agriculturally poor regions of the state, and in more suitable areas, remaining farm populations increased their mechanization of agriculture.
Manufacturing in Missouri also benefited from the war; both St. Louis and Kansas City were home to major war industries, particularly aviation in St. Louis. Kansas City also was a hub of aircraft manufacturing and development, although the city also produced a variety of military equipment as well. Railroading experienced a revival statewide with an increase in passenger and freight traffic; more than 300 freight trains and 200 passenger or troop trains transited Kansas City daily by the beginning of 1945.
The state also became home to a large military installation, Fort Leonard Wood, construction of which began in 1940 near the town of Waynesville
Waynesville, Missouri
-Registered historic places:* Old Stagecoach Stop * Pulaski County Courthouse-Transportation:Waynesville Regional Airport at Forney Field serves the community with air service; even though it's on Fort Leonard Wood, it is jointly run by the cities of Waynesville and St...
. Construction of the base displaced rural families, but it ultimately brought thousands of workers and economic stimulus to the area. After its construction, Fort Leonard Wood operated as a training facility for combat engineers and as a base of operations for several infantry and artillery units.
Race relations
The Great Depression decreased the economic and social opportunities of Missouri blacks. Unskilled black workers often were fired and replaced by whites; in addition, black domestic service workers were frequently laid off by their employers due to the depressed economic conditions. By 1933, roughly 60 percent of the black workers in St. Louis were unemployed, and wage cuts further hurt the economic position of blacks. Black institutions such as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersBrotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was, in 1925, the first labor organization led by blacks to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor . It merged in 1978 with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks , now known as the Transportation Communications International Union.The...
were weakened by the Depression, while black churches often provided little assistance to the needy. The black press and the National Urban League
National Urban League
The National Urban League , formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. It is the oldest and largest...
continued to pressure local governments for equal treatment and an end to discrimination. The popularity of black nationalism also rose as a result of the Depression.
During World War II, racial tension increased in both rural and urban Missouri; in early 1942 in Sikeston
Sikeston, Missouri
Sikeston is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is geographically situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By way of Interstate 55, Sikeston is close to the...
, a white mob lynched a black man in public by a white mob. Because of the potential for the incident to be used as propaganda against the United States, the the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
investigated the lynching, the first time since Reconstruction that the federal government had tried to prosecute such a case. Despite the investigation, the government did not file indictments, as witnesses refused to cooperate. The following summer in Kansas City, a race riot nearly broke out after a white city police officer killed a black man.
Urban changes
During the 1980s and 1990s, inner suburbs of Kansas City and St. Louis began to lose population, while outer suburban areas increased dramatically in size. Wealthy suburban cities such as Mission HillsMission Hills, Kansas
Mission Hills is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,498. The city is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, which is adjacent to the east, across the aptly named State Line Road. Mission Hills was originally developed by noted Kansas...
of Kansas City and Ladue
Ladue, Missouri
Ladue is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in central St. Louis County, Missouri, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 8,521....
and Creve Coeur
Creve Coeur, Missouri
Creve Coeur, derived from French for "heartbreak" , is a second-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The city derives its name from Creve Coeur Lake, which is shaped like a broken heart. The population was 17,833 at the 2010 census...
of St. Louis continued to exert influence beyond their size during the late 20th century. Many suburban communities began to accumulate traits of traditional, comprehensive cities by luring business and annexing area. Although the two cities of St. Louis and Kansas City continued to be the urban anchors of the state, five of the six other largest cities grew in population from 1960 to 2000.
Desegregation
Missouri leaders generally made slow progress toward equal rights for African Americans during the 1950s and 1960s.Economic diversification
From the end of World War II through the 1990s, Missouri agriculture underwent significant changes. In 1945, Missouri had more than 240,000 farms; by 1997, the number of farms decreased by 59 percent to less than 99,000. A variety of technological innovations and advances caused the decline, which allowed fewer Missouri farmers to produce an equivalent amount of food. In tandem, rural Missouri counties lost population, and during the period of 1954 to 1997, the average size of Missouri farms increased from 170 to nearly 300 acres. Despite these structural changes, crop yields were stable during the period, and the state continued to have a relatively diverse agricultural base.Another area of economic change during the late 20th century was the decline of lumbering and milling. During the 1920s, as a result of overcutting, the Long-Bell Lumber Company
Long-Bell Lumber Company
In 1887, Robert A. Long and Victor Bell formed the Long-Bell Lumber Company in Columbus, Kansas. The Long-Bell Lumber Company branched out using balanced vertical integration to control all aspects of lumber from the sawmills to the retail lumber yard...
moved most of its Missouri operations to other states, and much of Missouri's woodlands were depleted by the 1950s. By the late 20th century, shortleaf pine forests had been largely replaced by smaller woods of hardwood trees. Despite its decline from importance, in 2001, lumbering was a $3 billion industry.
During the 1960s, lead mining again became a significant industry in Missouri as a result of the 1948 discovery of the Viburnum Trend in the New Lead Belt region of the Southeast Missouri lead district. The Old Lead Belt (also part of the Southeast Missouri lead district) suffered a slow decline, however, and the last of the mines in that region closed by 1972. Both iron and coal mining also expanded during the late 1960s; however, employment in mining declined overall during the late 20th century.
Among the fastest growing segments of the economy was the accommodation and food services industry, but it was paired with a steep decline in manufacturing. Among the greatest declines was that of stockyards and meatpacking; in 1944, Kansas City was the second-largest meatpacking city in the United States, but by the 1990s, the city had neither packing plants nor stockyards. In addition, garment manufacturing, which had previously employed thousands of workers in Kansas City prior to the 1950s, fell out of existence by the late 1990s. Statewide, another industry that declined dramatically was shoemaking, which employed fewer than 3,000 Missourians in 2001.
Despite its decline, manufacturing continued to play a role in the state's economy. Kansas City maintained a manufacturing base in its eastern Leeds industrial district, including automotive plants and an atomic weapon components plant. St. Louis maintained an industrial base with Anheuser-Busch, Monsanto, Ralston Purina, and several automotive plants. In the other four urban areas of the state (Springfield, St. Joseph, Joplin, and Columbia), the largest economic sector was manufacturing, with a combined output of more than $10 billion.
A relatively new sector of the Missouri economy developed in 1994 with the legalization of riverboat gambling in the state. The United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
denied riverboat gambling cruises, which in practice led to permanently moored barges with extensive superstructures. Missouri gambling also included a lottery, which had been in place for several years prior to the legalization of casino gaming.
See also
- List of commandants of the Illinois Country
- List of Governors of Missouri
- History of the Midwestern United States
Further reading
; 848pp; highly useful guide to most of the state's important people and their activities- WPA; Missouri: A Guide to the "Show Me" State (1941) online edition
External links
- Missouri Digital Heritage - Digital collections of Missouri history and culture
- Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis
- State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia
- Missouri's African American History