Missouri
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State flag
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MISSOURI,
one of the West North Central states, bounded on the N by
Iowa; on the E by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; on the S by
Arkansas; and on the W by Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. The Mississippi
R. forms most of the E boundary, and the Missouri R. forms the NW
boundary.
Missouri entered the Union on Aug. 10, 1821, as the 24th state.
Although it was a slaveholding state, Missouri remained part of
the Union during the American Civil War. Traditionally dependent
on agriculture, Missouri’s economy in the 1990s was dominated
by service industries and manufacturing, especially of aircraft and road motor vehicles. President Harry S. Truman was born here.
The name of the state is taken from the Missouri R. and is an Algonquian
name for a group that lived near the mouth of the river. Missouri
is called the Show Me State.
| MISSOURI STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
August 10, 1821; 24th state |
| CAPITAL: |
Jefferson City |
| MOTTO: |
Salus populi supreme lex esto (The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law) |
| NICKNAME: |
Show Me State |
| STATE SONG: |
“Missouri Waltz” (words by J. R. Shannon; music by John V. Eppel) |
| STATE TREE: |
Flowering dogwood |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Hawthorn |
| STATE BIRD: |
Bluebird |
| POPULATION (2000 census): |
5,595,211; 17th among the states |
| AREA: |
180,546 sq km (69,709 sq mi); 21st largest state; includes 2100 sq km (811 sq mi) of inland water |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Taum Sauk Mt., 540 m (1772 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
70 m (230 ft), along the Saint Francis River in the southeast |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
11 |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 9 representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Bob Holden (Dem.) Took office January 2001 |
Missouri, with an area of 180,546 sq km (69,709 sq mi), is
the 21st largest state in the U.S.; 4.6% of the land area
is owned by the federal government. The state is roughly rectangular
in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 460 km (about 285
mi) from N to S and about 490 km (about 305 mi) from E to W. Elevations
range from 70 m (230 ft) along the Saint Francis R. in the SE to
540 m (1772 ft) atop Taum Sauk Mt. less than 160 km (less than 100
mi) to the N. The approximate mean elevation is 244 m (800 ft).
The land surface of Missouri is more diverse than that of
any other midwestern state. The largest physical region is the Ozark
Plateau (sometimes called the Ozark Mts., or Ozarks), which occupies
most of the S part of the state. It is formed of limestone and other
sedimentary rocks that have been deeply dissected (eroded) by streams,
particularly on the S and SE, where the rivers occupy deep gorges.
Although the terrain appears hilly, the uplands between the river
valleys are generally flat. The most rugged area of the Ozarks,
the Saint Francois Mts. in the SE, are granitic formations that
have been exposed on the surface as the less resistant surrounding
rocks were eroded. The limestone bedrock of the Ozark Plateau dissolves
easily, and many extensive caverns have been formed. From these
underground caverns flow thousands of springs—Missouri
ranks second to Idaho in the U.S. in its number of large springs. The
soils of the Ozark Plateau are generally thin and stony. Along the
W border of the state is the Osage Plains, a gently sloping region.
Its soils are moderately fertile with a high humus content, having
developed under grasslands.
North of the Missouri R. is the Dissected Till Plains
region.
The Ice Age glaciers deposited a deep layer of rich drift (silt and
sand) hundreds of thousands of years ago. The surface was gradually
eroded by streams to form a hilly terrain. The state’s
extreme SE portion is a part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain;
it consists of low, flat, poorly drained land, the surface of which
consists of sand and gravel and silt. This region, once swampland,
has been largely drained.
Missouri is drained by streams flowing generally E into
the Mississippi
R., either directly or through the Missouri R. The Missouri R. crosses
the state from W to E and enters the Mississippi R. The principal
tributaries of the Missouri R. are the Grand and Chariton rivers
from the N and the Osage and Gasconade from the Ozark Plateau to
the S. The Meramec R. flows NE across the Ozarks directly into the
Mississippi R. The S and E Ozarks are drained by the Current, Black,
and St. Francis rivers, which flow S to join the Mississippi R.
in Arkansas. No large natural lakes are found in Missouri. The Lake
of the Ozarks, impounded on the Osage R., is the largest of several
reservoirs. Other artificial bodies of water include Table Rock and
Bull Shoals lakes and Lake Wappapello. Hundreds of miles of
straightened stream channels and canals have been created in the
Mississippi Alluvial Plain as part of a land reclamation project.
Missouri has a generally humid and moderate continental
climate.
Winters are cold and summers hot, but mild spells occur almost every
winter, and periods of dry, cool weather break up stretches of heat and
humidity in the peak of summer. The average annual temperature
ranges from 12.2° C (54° F) in the N to 15.6° C
(60° F) in the SE. The recorded temperature in the state
has ranged from –40° C (–40° F)
in 1905 to 47.8° C (118° F) in 1954. The average
annual precipitation decreases with a general uniformity from a
high of 1219 mm (48 in) in the SE to a low of 813 mm (32 in) on
the N border. Rainfall is heaviest in the spring and summer. Tornadoes
may strike anywhere in the state, especially in the spring months,
but are less common than in states to the W. Annual snowfall ranges
from 203 mm (8 in) in the SE to 508 mm (20 in) in the N, but snow
rarely remains on the ground for more than a week.
| MISSOURI AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
Saint Louis |
Springfield |
| Average January temperature range |
–5° to 4.4° C |
23° to 40° F |
–5° to 6.1° C |
23° to 43° F |
| Average July temperature range |
20.6° to 31.1° C |
69° to 88° F |
19.4° to 31.7° C |
67° to 89° F |
| Average annual temperature |
13.3° C |
56° F |
13.3° C |
56° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
914 mm |
36 in |
1016 mm |
40 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
457 mm |
18 in |
381 mm |
15 in |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
109 |
106 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
72% |
70% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
105 |
117 |
About two-thirds of Missouri was once forested; the NW
and W parts of the state were covered by prairie grasses. Today about
28% of the land area is forestland. Most of this is located
in the Ozark Plateau and in the river valleys of the state. Oak and
hickory trees predominate in a mixture of walnut, elm, and other
hardwoods. Pine trees are found in the more rugged areas of the
Ozarks and the St. Francois Mts. Cedar is a common invader on abandoned
farmlands. In the wetter areas of the SE, oak, tupelo, elm, and
cypress are the most prevalent trees. Wild flowers are found throughout
the state and are especially abundant in the Ozarks. Wildlife includes
white-tailed deer, coyote, fox, opossum, muskrat, raccoon, and beaver.
Birdlife found in Missouri includes robin, thrush, oriole, and various
owls and hawks. Bass, carp, crappie, perch, trout, and sunfish populate
the state’s streams.
Missouri contains significant reserves of coal in the N and
W, although it is of relatively low quality. Lead and zinc are the
most important metallic minerals, large deposits of which are found
in the SE Ozark Plateau region. Iron-ore deposits are mined in the
St. Francois Mts. region. Limestone is found throughout the state;
other quarry products include marble and granite. Clay, sand and gravel, and silver are also important.
According to the 2000 census, Missouri had 5,595,211 inhabitants,
an increase of 9.3% over 1990. The average population density
was 81.2 people per sq mi of land area in 2000. The population density
was lightest in the rugged central portion of the Ozark Plateau and in the rolling farmlands of the N. Whites made up 84.9% of
the population and blacks 11.2%; additional population
groups included 25,076 American Indians, 61,595 Asians, and 3178
Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders. (These figures do not include
the 1.5 % of the population who reported more than one
race.) A total of 118,592 persons, or about 2.1% of the population,
reported being of Hispanic background (nearly double the number
in the 1990 census). The largest cities were Kansas City, Saint
Louis, Springfield, Independence, and Columbia. Jefferson City
is the capital.
According to the 1990 census, Baptists (24.9%) formed
the single largest religious group, followed by Roman Catholics
(20.3%), Methodists (7.1%), and Lutherans (5.9%).
In 1990 about 69% of Missouri’s residents lived
in areas defined as urban, and the rest lived in rural areas.
| POPULATION OF MISSOURI SINCE 1810 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1810 |
20,000 |
0% |
| 1840 |
384,000 |
4% |
| 1860 |
1,182,000 |
17% |
| 1880 |
2,168,000 |
25% |
| 1900 |
3,107,000 |
36% |
| 1920 |
3,404,000 |
47% |
| 1940 |
3,785,000 |
52% |
| 1960 |
4,320,000 |
67% |
| 1980 |
4,916,686 |
68% |
| 1990 |
5,117,073 |
69% |
| 2000 |
5,595,211 |
69% |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST CITIES IN MISSOURI |
| |
2000 Census |
1990 Census |
| Kansas City |
441,545 |
435,146 |
| Saint Louis |
348,189 |
396,685 |
| Springfield |
151,580 |
140,494 |
| Independence |
113,288 |
112,301 |
| Columbia |
84,531 |
69,101 |
| Saint Joseph |
73,990 |
71,852 |
| Lee’s Summit |
70,700 |
46,418 |
| Saint Charles |
60,321 |
54,555 |
| Saint Peters |
51,381 |
45,779 |
| Florissant |
50,497 |
51,206 |
Missouri has a cultural life of unusual diversity. In its
two major cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, are cultural institutions
of national prominence, and in rural areas, notably the Ozarks,
folkcraft traditions remain strong.
The first schools in the area that is now Missouri were opened
by French settlers at St. Louis in the latter part of the 18th century.
The constitution of 1820 provided for a statewide public school
system.
In the late 1980s public education facilities in Missouri
included 2151 public elementary and secondary schools with a total
annual enrollment of about 576,200 elementary students and 231,700
secondary students. Private schools also had a substantial enrollment
of some 107,500 students. In the same period Missouri had 89 institutions
of higher education, with a combined yearly enrollment of about
278,500 students. These institutions included the University of
Missouri, with its main campus in Columbia and branches in Kansas
City, St. Louis, and Rolla; Washington University, at St. Louis;
St. Louis University (1818); Central Missouri State University (1871),
at Warrensburg; and Southeast Missouri State University (1873),
at Cape Girardeau.
Missouri’s museums, libraries, and theaters are concentrated in
four cities: St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Columbia.
The St. Louis Art Museum in St. Louis has an extensive and diverse
collection, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has
an important collection of Oriental art. The Missouri Botanical
Garden in St. Louis is one of the finest in the country. The State
Historical Society of Missouri, in Columbia, is noted for its collection
of paintings by Missouri artists. Other important museums include
the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri-Columbia;
the Missouri State Museum, at Jefferson City; the Harry S. Truman
Library and Museum, at Independence; the Albrecht Art Museum and
the St. Joseph Museum, at St. Joseph; and the St. Louis Science Center.
The state’s largest public libraries are at St. Louis and
Kansas City. Both St. Louis and Kansas City have symphony orchestras
(the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second oldest in the U.S.),
opera companies, and repertory theaters, and Kansas City also has
a ballet company.
Historical sites commemorate early exploration and settlement
as well as famous Missourians. Among the most interesting are the
Mark Twain Home and Museum, at Hannibal, and the birthplaces of
John J. Pershing, at Laclede, and of George Washington Carver (a
national monument), at Diamond. Arrow Rock State Historic Site contains
several historic landmarks on a section of the Santa Fe Trail. Jefferson
National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site, at St. Louis,
includes a number of early buildings and the great Gateway Arch.
Missouri has an extensive system of parks, of which the largest
is the Lake of the Ozarks State Park. Hunting, fishing, camping, and boating are popular.
The state has many professional sports teams, including the
St. Louis Cardinals (major league baseball), St. Louis Rams (football),
St. Louis Blues (ice hockey), Kansas City Royals (major league baseball), and Kansas City Chiefs (football).
In the early 1990s Missouri had 119 AM radio stations, 162
FM radio stations, and 34 television stations. The state’s
first radio station, WEW, at St. Louis University, began broadcasting
in 1921. Missouri’s first newspaper, the Missouri
Gazette, was first published in St. Louis in 1808. In the
early 1990s the state was served by 44 daily newspapers, which had
a combined daily circulation of about 1.1 million. Among the leading
dailies are the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Kansas
City Star, The Examiner (Independence),
the Joplin Globe, and the Daily Capital
News and Post-Tribune (Jefferson City).
Missouri is governed under a constitution adopted in 1945,
as amended. Three earlier state constitutions had been adopted in
1820, 1865, and 1875. A state constitutional amendment may be proposed
by the state legislature or a constitutional convention or by an
initiative petition. To become effective it must be approved by
a majority of the persons voting on the issue in a general election.
Missouri’s chief executive is a governor, who is
popularly elected to a 4-year term and may not serve for more than
two terms. Other elected officials include the lieutenant governor, who
succeeds the governor on the latter’s death, removal from
office, or incapacity to serve; the secretary of state; the attorney
general; the treasurer; and the auditor.
The bicameral Missouri legislature is known as the General
Assembly. It consists of a house of representatives made up of 163
members popularly elected to 2-year terms, and a senate of 34 members
popularly elected to 4-year terms.
The highest judicial body in Missouri is the supreme court,
consisting of a chief justice and six associate justices. The intermediate
court is the court of appeals, with 32 judges. The governor appoints
supreme court justices and appellate judges, who must be confirmed
in office by voters after one year. Thereafter, they must be reconfirmed
by voters every 12 years. The principal trial courts are the circuit
courts. The state’s 133 circuit court judges serve 6-year
terms; most are popularly elected, but those of St. Louis and Jackson
counties are selected in the manner of supreme court justices.
Missouri is divided into 114 counties; the city of St.
Louis
is independent of surrounding St. Louis Co. Counties are typically
administered by a county court (or commission) of three elected
commissioners. St. Louis and Jackson counties have home-rule charters
and are administered under the county executive plan. Most cities
in the state have the mayor-council form of government; some also
employ city managers.
Missouri is represented in the U.S. Congress by two senators and nine representatives. The state casts 11 electoral votes in
presidential elections.
In national, state, and local politics, Missouri is closely
balanced between Democrats and Republicans, and elections are frequently
close; in presidential voting, the state generally follows the national
trend. The outstanding political figure to emerge from Missouri
was Harry S. Truman, a Democrat elected as a U.S. senator in 1934.
Truman won election to the vice-presidency in 1944, became president
at the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, and was reelected
president in 1948. Elected to Congress in 1976 and regularly reelected thereafter, Richard A. Gephardt (1941– ), has served
as majority leader (1989–94) and minority leader (1995-2002)
of the House of Representatives; he contended unsuccessfully for
the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2004.
From the early 19th century until World War II, Missouri had
an overwhelmingly agricultural economy. Since World War II, manufacturing
in the state has grown dramatically. Today Missouri ranks as one
of the major manufacturing and commercial states of the Midwest.
Agricultural growth during the same years was also substantial,
although the role of agriculture in the overall economy has undergone
a relative decline. Many farms on the poorer soils of the Ozark
Plateau have been abandoned, but the region is now a major tourist attraction.
| MISSOURI STATE ECONOMY (early 1990s) |
| STATE BUDGET |
| General revenue |
$8.0 billion |
| General expenditure |
$7.7 billion |
| Accumulated debt |
$5.3 billion |
| STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, PER CAPITA |
$1551 |
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$12,989 |
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
13.3% |
| ASSETS, INSURED COMMERCIAL BANKS (551) |
$58.1 billion |
 |
| LABOR FORCE (CIVILIAN NONFARM) |
2,308,000 |
| Employed in wholesale and retail trade |
25% |
| Employed in services |
24% |
| Employed in manufacturing |
19% |
| Employed in government |
16% |
|
| MAJOR INDUSTRIES |
% CONTRIBUTED TO GSP* |
| Commercial, financial, and professional services |
50% |
| Manufacturing and construction |
27% |
| Transportation, communications, and public utilities |
11% |
| Government |
10% |
| Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries |
2% |
| Mining |
less than 1% |
* Gross State Product = total value of goods and services produced in a year.
Sources: U.S. government publications |
| PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF MISSOURI (early 1990s) |
| |
Quantity Produced |
Value |
| FARM PRODUCTS |
|
$4.4 billion |
|
| CROPS |
|
$2.1 billion |
| Soybeans |
3.4 million metric tons |
$722 million |
| Corn |
5.2 million metric tons |
$473 million |
| Hay |
6.2 million metric tons |
$429 million |
| Wheat |
2.1 million metric tons |
$205 million |
| Sorghum |
1.1 million metric tons |
$91 million |
|
| LIVESTOCK AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS |
|
$2.3 billion |
| Cattle |
532,000 metric tons |
$935 million |
| Hogs |
472,000 metric tons |
$563 million |
| Milk |
1.4 million metric tons |
$413 million |
| Turkeys |
163,000 metric tons |
$148 million |
| Eggs |
1.6 billion |
$73 million |
|
| MINERALS |
|
$1.0 billion* |
| Lead |
367,000 metric tons |
$318 million |
| Cement |
4.5 million metric tons |
$182 million |
| Stone |
47.0 million metric tons |
$172 million |
| Zinc |
50,800 metric tons |
$92 million |
| Coal |
3.1 million metric tons |
N / A |
|
| |
|
Annual Payroll |
| MANUFACTURING |
|
$11.7 billion |
| Transportation equipment |
|
$2.5 billion |
| Fabricated metal products |
|
$1.0 billion |
| Printing and publishing |
|
$1.0 billion |
| Food and kindred products |
|
$837 million |
| Industrial machinery and equipment |
|
$757 million |
| Electronic equipment |
|
$721 million |
| Chemicals and allied products |
|
$695 million |
| Primary metals |
|
$347 million |
| Paper and allied products |
|
$332 million |
| Rubber and plastics products |
|
$331 million |
| Instruments and related products |
|
$324 million |
|
| OTHER |
|
$37.3 billion |
| Services |
|
$10.5 billion |
| Government |
|
$8.7 billion |
| Retail trade |
|
$4.5 billion |
| Transportation, communications, and public utilities |
|
$3.8 billion |
| Wholesale trade |
|
$3.5 billion |
| Finance, insurance, and real estate |
|
$3.2 billion |
| Construction |
|
$2.5 billion |
*Excluding coal
Sources: U.S. government publications |
Farming accounts for about 2% of the annual gross
state product in Missouri. The state has some 107,000 farms (only
Texas has more), which average 115 ha (284 acres) in size. Sales
of livestock and livestock products make up about 52% of
Missouri’s yearly farm income. Missouri is a leading state
in the raising of dairy cows and beef cattle. Dairy farming is most
important in the SW. Sheep production is concentrated in the NE.
The raising of hogs and poultry is widespread in Missouri. Crops account
for about 48% of the state’s annual agricultural
income. Soybeans are the leading crop and are grown in the fertile
N part of the state and in the SE lowlands. Corn and hay, the next
most important crops, are grown throughout the state. Wheat is also
widely produced. Cotton, rice, and vegetables are grown in the SE lowlands.
Forestry is most significant in the Ozark Plateau region.
The cut is primarily hardwood, mainly oak, hickory, walnut, and
red cedar. Pine is also sawed, principally for lumber.
The mining industry accounts for less than 1% of
the annual gross state product in Missouri. The most important mineral
is lead, of which Missouri is the principal national supplier. Other
major mineral products are cement, stone (including limestone, marble,
and granite), zinc, coal, sand and gravel, and barite. Lead, zinc, and
barite are all mined in the vicinity of the St. Francois Mts.
Bituminous coal deposits, largely exploited by strip-mining, are
widespread; the largest deposits are worked in the W central and
N central parts of the state. Smaller amounts of copper, silver, and
petroleum are also produced.
Enterprises engaged in manufacturing account for some
23% of
the annual gross state product in Missouri and employ about 439,000
workers. The state’s leading manufactures include transport equipment,
fabricated metals, printed materials, and processed foods.
Missouri is a major producer of automobiles and aerospace equipment,
with production concentrated in the St. Louis area. Important food
products include dairy items, flour, and beer. Among the chemical
products manufactured in Missouri are fertilizers, insecticides, and
pharmaceuticals. Other goods include farm machinery, electronic
equipment,
steel, clothing, glass, and paper products. St. Louis and Kansas
City have, by far, the greatest concentrations of industry in the
state. Springfield and St. Joseph are other significant manufacturing
centers, and many of Missouri’s smaller cities and towns
also have manufacturing plants.
Each year more than 40 million visitors produce over $6
billion for the Missouri economy. The tourist industry in the state
employs an estimated 137,000 workers. Principal attractions include
the two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis; Branson, with
its many country-music theaters; and the Ozark region, with its
many scenic gorges, caverns, and large artificial lakes, which furnish ample
opportunities for recreational activities. Missouri also maintains
79 state parks and historic sites. Among the most popular of these
is Mark Twain State Park in Monroe Co., containing the village of
Florida, the birthplace of the author Mark Twain.
Missouri’s central location in the U.S., at the
junction
of the nation’s two largest river systems, has made it
an important focus of transportation routes. St. Louis and Kansas
City are the major transportation hubs. The state is served by a
dense network of some 193,970 km (some 120,525 mi) of federal, state,
and local roads; the figure includes 1856 km (1153 mi) of interstate
highways, which link the state’s major cities and occupy
a pivotal position within the national highway system. The state
is also served by about 8095 km (about 5030 mi) of operated Class
I railroad track. Both St. Louis and Kansas City are major rail
centers.
Barge traffic is important on both the Missouri and Mississippi
rivers. The leading ports are St. Louis, Kansas City, Cape Girardeau,
Caruthersville, New Madrid, and Hannibal.
Missouri has 354 airports and 80 heliports. The busiest air
terminals are Lambert–St. Louis and Kansas City international
airports.
Electricity generating plants in Missouri have a total capacity
of about 15.2 million kw and produce about 59 billion kwh of electricity
each year. About 82% of the state’s electric energy is
generated by the burning of coal. Although Missouri has large coal
reserves, much of the coal consumed by thermal power plants is shipped
from neighboring states. Nuclear installations generate nearly 14% of Missouri’s
electric power. The largest hydroelectric projects are the Taum
Sauk Project near Lesterville and the Bagnell Dam, which impounds
the Lake of the Ozarks.
Because Missouri is located between the great petroleum-producing
fields of the midcontinent and Gulf of Mexico regions, it is crossed
by major pipelines. More than 10,620 km (more than 6600 mi) of pipeline transport
petroleum and natural gas across the state.
The founding of Sainte Genevieve in 1735 by the French marked
the first European settlement in the Missouri region, which was
then a part of the French territory of Louisiana. At this time,
Indians living in Missouri were mainly of the Algonquian and Siouan
language groups. The second European settlement in the state was
St. Louis, established as a trading post in 1764, a year after the
cession of Louisiana to Spain by the French. The colonization of
the region was greatly accelerated by the Ordinance of 1787, which
excluded slavery from the Northwest Territory of the U.S. The Spanish
also encouraged immigration by offering liberal bounties to settlers.
Louisiana was returned to France in 1800 and sold to the U.S. three
years later. In 1812 the region became the territory of Missouri.
After 1815, immigration increased rapidly. In 1816 the
first steamboat
reached St. Louis. In 1818 the territorial legislature applied to
the U.S. Congress for permission to prepare a state constitution.
Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state on Aug. 10,
1821, under the terms of the Missouri Compromise. The period after
1820 was one of rapid, if not entirely sound, development. It was
an era of wild speculation in land, accompanied by an inflation
in currency (the Bank of St. Louis had been established in 1816) and
the inception of an elaborate system of internal improvements.
By the mid-1850s the state, which had pledged its credit for $28
million to various railroad companies, found itself burdened with
a debt exceeding $20 million.
In the early years of the 19th century, Missouri, although
a slave state, was not an ardent defender of slavery, and many of
its citizens were interested in movements for gradual emancipation.
With the rise of the abolitionists, however, Missouri became decidedly
proslavery and favored the annexation of Texas as a slave state
in 1845. In 1849 the state legislature adopted the Jackson resolutions,
in which the right of Congress to regulate slavery in the territories was
denied and the principle of squatter sovereignty asserted. In the
presidential election of 1860 the vote in the state for Stephen
A. Douglas and that for John Bell, of the Constitutional Union party,
were large and nearly equal; the vote for Abraham Lincoln was small.
When Lincoln won the election, the legislature issued a call for
a convention to consider the relation of the state to the Union.
In the elections for the convention the secessionist delegates were
defeated, and when the convention met from February to April 1861,
it declared that it could find no cause for secession. After the
outbreak of the Civil War, the state government, however, led by
Gov. Claiborne Fox Jackson (1806–62), favored secession;
when Lincoln issued a call for troops, Jackson instead summoned
the state militia to arms. The governor and the majority of the
legislature fled to the southern part of Missouri after the militia
was defeated by federal troops at St. Louis. A provisional government
was installed, and as Confederate power declined, the regular state
government was reorganized in 1864.
During the next four decades Missouri underwent many significant
changes. The fur trade declined, trade with Mexico along the Santa
Fe Trail ended, and Kansas City and St. Louis became major transportation
centers. In the early 1900s several progressive reforms regulated
social and industrial conditions, including child labor. Although
Missouri remained agriculturally important, the demand for military
supplies during World War II also expanded the state’s
industrial productivity. By the mid-1950s it was active in the manufacture
of aerospace and electronic equipment and uranium processing. Discovery
of iron ore in the 1960s boosted industry.
Missouri faces the challenge of improving its social
services,
expanding its highways, and reversing the population shift to the
suburbs. Fiscal problems exacerbated by inflation in the late 1970s and
recession in the early 1990s, however, have made such goals
somewhat elusive. The state was dealt another serious blow by the
flooding of the Mississippi, Missouri, and other rivers of the Midwest
in 1993.
Politically, Missouri has been a bellwether state,
voting for the winner in every presidential election since 1960. In
October 2000, Gov. Mel Carnahan (b. 1934), a Democrat, died in a plane
crash while contesting the U.S. Senate seat held by a Republican, John
Ashcroft (1942– ), who had preceded Carnahan in the statehouse.
Carnahan’s name remained on the ballot, and when he won posthumously,
his widow, Jean (1933– ), was appointed to fill the Senate seat. In another close election, Bob Holden (1949– ), also a Democrat, won the state governorship, defeating his Republican opponent, Jim Talent
(1956– ). After contentious hearings, the conservative Ashcroft won confirmation as U.S. attorney general in February 2001. Carnahan lost a
tight race to Talent in a special senatorial election in November 2002.