Timeline of significant Historical events:
1803 the US purchases the Louisiana Territory from France
1804 Lewis and Clark expedition reaches Kansas as it travels along the Missouri River
1820 The Missouri Compromise prohibits slavery in the place that became Kansas territory
1822 Kansas is described as a Great Desert
1825 Indian tribes from East begin relocation to Kansas
1827 Fort Leavenworth is established. When Kansas territory was opened for settlement it served as the capital
1850 Thu Fugitive Slave Act is passed
1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act creates two new US territories and allows settlers to choose whether to allow slavery or not
1856 a year of violence includes an attack on Lawrence and the Pottawatomie Massacre
1857 The Dread Scott decision – slaves are not citizens of the US
1858 Gold is discovered in western Kansas and The Leavenworth Constitutional Convention is held. The Wyandotte Constitutional convention is held and produces an anti-slavery constitution which serves as the basis for our state government. John brown is hanged for treason
1859 The first railroad begins construction in Kansas
January 29th 1861 KANSAS becomes a state, Topeka becomes the capital. Civil War begins.
1861 Kansas women are given the right to vote in school district elections
1862 James Lane recruits African American soldiers for the 1st Kansas colored infantry
1862 The Homestead Act provides the opportunity for many settlers to get land in Kansas
1865 Civil War ends – An amendment fails to give voting rights to women and African Americans
1870’s The depression begins. African American MEN are given the right to vote
1873 George Grant establishes the community of Victoria. The Mennonites send an official committee to study settlement in Kansas. African Americans establish the first of a series of colonies in Kansas
1876 The National Prohibition Party is founded
1877 African Americans establish the community of Nicodemus
1879 Exoduster come to Kansas
1887 Kansas women are given the right to vote in city elections
1896 The US Post Office establishes rural free delivery
1898 US Declares war on Spain (Spanish-American War
1905 Kansas adopts a comprehensive child labor law
1909 Kansa outlaws the use of a common drinking cup to control the spread of TB
1912 Kansas becomes the 7th state to give equal voting rights to women
1914-1918 WWI (1917 US enters WWI)
1920 19th Amendment gives women the rights to vote in all elections
1919 The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits alcohol
1922 Workers across the country go on strike against the railroads
1929 Stock Market crashes – leading to the Great Depression
1931 Kansas and the Great Plains experience severe drought and dust storms
1932 Amelia Earhart – 1st woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
1939-1945 WWII (1941 Pearl Harbor is attacked)
1948 Kansas votes to repeal prohibition
1950-1953 Korean War
1951 Kansas experiences the worst flooding in history
1954 Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education US Supreme Court strikes down segregation in public schools
1965 The first US troops are sent into the Vietnam War
1969 US puts the first man on the moon
1973 End of the Vietnam war ends
