Willing to Die for Freedom
A Look Back at Kansas Territory, 1854-1861
What is the Legacy of Kansas Territory?
The territorial period set the stage for both
good and bad in Kansas history.
Kansas' reputation as a land of freedom has attracted a diverse group of
people, but not everyone has enjoyed the same benefits. The past 150 years of Kansas history are full of contradictions. There
are examples of both tolerance and racism:
- A "free" state that allowed racial segregation
- A land of opportunity that denied voting rights to Blacks, Indians, and women
- A place where the promise of cheap land for everyone else came about at the expense of the Indians
The Legacy of Freedom
How well do you know the
legacy of Kansas Territory?
Take this True/False quiz to find out. |
Native Americans in Kansas
Territory lost most of their lands to White settlers.
True or
False?
|
In 1925 Kansas became the
first state in the nation to oust the Ku Klux Klan.
True or
False?
|
Like Southern states, Kansas
had many segregation laws (known as "Jim Crow")
in the years after the Civil War.
True or
False?
|
After the Civil War, thousands
of Black settlers left Kansas seeking opportunities in the South. They were known
as "Exodusters." True or
False?
|
The Supreme Court's landmark ruling, Brown v Topeka Board of Education,
allowed states to operate "separate but equal" schools.
True or
False?
|
Kansas women got the right
to vote in school board elections in 1861, but they couldn't
vote in state and national elections until 1912.
True or
False?
|
This concludes the Kansas
Museum of History's online exhibit Willing to Die for Freedom.
|
