Flag of Missouri
Missouri
is a
state
in the
Midwestern
region of the
United States
. Ranking
21st in land area
, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with
Tennessee
):
Iowa
to the north,
Illinois
,
Kentucky
and Tennessee to the east,
Arkansas
to the south and
Oklahoma
,
Kansas
and
Nebraska
to the west. In the south are the
Ozarks
, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The
Missouri River
, after which the state is named, flows through the center into the
Mississippi River
, which makes up the eastern border. With more than six million residents, it is the
19th-most populous
state of the country. The largest urban areas are
St. Louis
,
Kansas City
,
Springfield
and
Columbia
; the
capital
is
Jefferson City
.
Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the
Gateway Arch
. The
Pony Express
,
Oregon Trail
,
Santa Fe Trail
and
California Trail
all began in Missouri. As a
border state
,
Missouri's role
in the
American Civil War
was complex, and it was subject to rival governments, raids, and guerilla warfare. After the war, both
Greater St. Louis
and the
Kansas City metropolitan area
became centers of
industrialization
and
business
. Today the state is divided into
114 counties
and the
independent city
of St. Louis.
- Some people think that St. Louis is in the
South
. It's not, it's in the Midwest, but Missouri was a slave state. The legacies of
slavery
and de jure
segregation
affect every aspect of society here.
- Cori Bush
The Forerunner: A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America (2022)
- The issue of slavery was soon to trouble the relations of the North and South. In 1819 a Bill was tabled in
Congress
to admit Missouri as a state to the Union. This territory lay inside the bounds of the
Louisiana Purchase
, where the future of slavery had not so far been decided by Federal law. As the people of Missouri proposed to allow slavery in their draft
constitution
the Northerners looked upon this Bill as an aggressive move to increase the voting power of the South. A wild campaign of mutual recrimination followed. But with the increasing problem of the West facing them both, North and South could not afford to quarrel, and the angry sectional strife stirred up by this Bill ended in a
compromise
which was to hold until the middle of the
century
. Missouri was admitted as a slave-holding state, and slavery was prohibited north of latitude 36° 30' within the existing territories of the
Union
which did not yet enjoy statehood. As part of the compromise
Maine
, which had just severed itself from
Massachusetts
, was admitted as a free state, making the division between slave and free equal, being twelve each. Far-seeing men realised the impending tragedy of this division.
John Quincy Adams
noted in his diary, “I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. I take it for granted that the present question is a mere preamble ? a title-page to a great, tragic volume.”
- Winston Churchill
,
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Volume IV: The Great Democracies
(1958), pp. 105-106
- Missouri is called "The Show-Me State," because that was the winner of the Dumbest State Nickname Contest, narrowly edging out "The Nanny Nanny Boo Boo State." The largest city is St. Louis, which features a 630-foot-tall stainless-steel arch, a monument to the early pioneers who came west with nothing but their wagons, their
guns
, their dreams, and their 630-foot-tall stainless-steel arches. Visitors may ride to the top of the arch, high above the
Missouri River
, where they will experience the thrill of wanting really badly to get back down on the ground. At least that was how we felt. You'll also want to go to visit Hannibal, the boyhood home of
Samuel Clemens
, who grew up, adopted a pen name, and became one of Missouri's, and America's, most beloved characters:
Harry Truman
. Missouri is also dynamic.
- Dave Barry
,
Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need
(1991), New York: Fawcett Columbine, p. 85
Wikipedia