Product Description
Date of publication not stated, estimated to be between 1950-1970. Booklet provides a brief history of Missouri, from Hernando DeSoto through Order No. 11 to the establishment of superhighways. Illustrates how the history is incorporated into the artwork at the library by Daniel MacMorris, which is described in detail. Also brief history of Daniel himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Toto we're not in...
Kansas isn't just where Dorothy and Toto lived, you guys! A lot of important history went down here, and this book will tell your students about it.

The "Portrait of America" series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This "Kansas" installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like "History", "Culture", "Economy" etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. The "History" section is especially good and is very inclusive. A good amount of discussion is devoted to the debate that raged around Kansas' status as a free or slave state just before the Civil War

This book, as well as the entire "Portrait of America" series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Sobering Reminder
This is a good solid historical account.Well documented and relentless in the telling of the story.It was another reminder for me of the intensity of the oppression of the American southern blacks before and after the Civil War.Once Reconstruction was effectively ended in 1876, the black people of the South were abandoned by the politicians of the North and left to the tender mercies of the southern planters and their hired help.

The Exoduster movement involved the movement of approximately 6,000 southern blacks from the South to Kansas starting around 1876 and peaking in 1879.It was a reaction to the terrorism used by the planter class and the white authorities of that time to keep the blacks in their place politically andeconomically.The fact that blacks outnumbered the white planter class and their minions in parts of the South meant that "appropriate methods" needed to be used by these same people to prevent the black populace from voting.

A story worth telling and well told by the author.It is a well documented and footnoted book.The book pays homage to the courageous spirit of the Exodusters, but also provides a reality check against those that would have us conveniently forget terrible injustices in our history.

Something to remember as we go forward in our grand national adventures in this year of our Lord, 2007.

Where are the voices of the 'Dusters?
The migration of the Exodusters, blacks who moved to Kansas searching for a place in whichto be truly free, is a massive and massively overlooked part of history.Nell Painter, in her book Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction, does a credible job of restoring this overlooked part of frontier history to the realm of academic discussion.It is a good book, yet, disturbingly, the voice of the Exodusters is missing. Painter claims that the exact number of Exodusters is unknown, but estimates from 6,000 to 20,000 have been made (184).Constrained by the prices gouged out of their harvests by tenant bosses, they dreamed of a land of milk and honey.This dream, in turn, with a small amount of exaggeration, helped to send them looking in Kansas for what they wanted.Yet, most of this book is about the conditions that led to the movement of the Exodusters and not what they found there, or how they adapted to life in a strange land.There are no reminiscences, no narratives, or stories from descendents.Painter points out the Southern credit system crushed them economically (55), that their schools were inferior (50) because of the practice of hiring deficient white teachers over exemplary black instructors, but there is no mention of whether or not change was achieved in Kansas.
Stylistically, Painter has the odd habit of taking end paragraphs to both sum up the previous chapter and introduce the next chapter.It breaks the flow of the book and makes it difficult to read.Also at times, Painter seems to be saying too much too fast.Some of her ideas, the study of black schools and the racial politics that controlled them, and the lineage of the black spiritual/political leaders for example, are books in themselves.
Early on, Painter posits that class was just as important as race in the history of the Exodusters (vii).Respectable African-Americans, that is those who agreed with the Anglos, who had been to white schools and spoke like the whites, came out against the Exoduster movement, and for the political party of the planter.Interestingly enough, in the discussion of class issues, Painter doesn't touch much on the poor whites and how they felt about the black movement to Kansas.For example, whether it became easier for them to find work and buy land.Painter is silent on this issue, other than mentioning that poor whites had at one point united with poor blacks in political clubs (39).
Painter argues that it was the enactment of certain rules that led to the Southern black's desire to leave the South.These rules forced black membership in "clubs" that obligated them to vote a Democratic party line, required passes to move around freely, and attempted to stop them for owning property.The well-known poll tax (37) is an example of these rules that were an attempt to control and curtail the political power of the African American.These rules led to stress and that stress bred a desire to move whether it be to Africa, to Kansas, or to Oklahoma to establish that territory as a black state (259).
Painter does a good job of portraying the changing of the Exoduster leadership from the un-educated but intelligent Henry Adams and the spiritual leader Pap Singleton, who saw the move to Kansas as one of Biblical import and spiritually motivated, to the classically Anglo-educated leaders who emerged in the beginning of the twentieth century.
In the first section of the book, Painter brings out the fact that for the first time since the Civil War, whites felt challenged by blacks.Many former slaves could read, they had bolstered their self-esteem through Army service in the war, they were older, wiser, able to buy property and the white planters, their former owners, were running scared (5).Painter spends a lot of time discussing the political machinations of the blacks and how the whites used political separation to help divide and conquer.The many different ways the wealthy whites attempted to stop the blacks from gaining power are detailed: "bulldozing", the terroristic activities by the KKK and groups like them, by disarming them, or out arming them by theft from government armories, and by stopping their attempts at cooperative ventures.
Although Painter does say that some whites "helped" the Blacks by warning them of bulldozing attacks, she claims that this was merely an attempt on the part of the whites to bolster their own opinion, making them feel better about themselves, and to disenfranchise the blacks by proving that they could not take care of themselves without the outside paternalistic influence of the Anglos (18).
Part Two of Exodusters involves the big figures of the movement, Henry Adams and Pap Singleton, a man who saw himself as the sole reason for Kansas immigration and that immigration as a holy obligation.These men helped lead the movement that casted around for a new black homeland.Cyprus, Liberia, and Kansas were all under consideration.All the factors that Painter had enumerated in the first part led to the desire and madness for moving that eventually landed tens of thousands of migrants in Kansas with no means of support and no free land as they had thought.
Painter details the different groups of Exodusters.The first came from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and then later waves from the Gulf States.He discusses the political upheaval which this massive migration caused in both the states from which they were leaving and to the territory in which they would soon arrive. Rents suddenly dipped in the regions they had left, leading planters to promise safe-conduct and better treatment.This was a promise that many of the Exodusters treated warily and refused to accept (211).Finally, when reaction from the exodus had begun to set in, the South began to realize that it must change.Leading newspapers, for the first time, advocated the sale of property to blacks (240).Still though, many Exodusters didn't return.Painter's figure is that, "in early 1880 roughly fifteen thousand migrants still remained in Kansas" (256).
Painter points out that while the Kansas Fever Exodus was mad and rushed, with no central leadership and little thought given to actually making a living once arriving in Kansas, in contrast, later moves would be well-thought out and carefully planned.Yet all that careful planning did not keep the Exodusters and their saga alive in the minds of most Americans.It is especially tragic that because of the fact that the Exodusters were second class citizens, little if any of their accounts were recorded.It is America's loss as we attempt to come to terms with our national Western myth that we do not have more accounts like the Exodusters with which to work.

exellent
A very comprehensive look at the events precedeing and including Black migration from the South after the Civil War. A must read for anyone interested in Black history or the Civil War. ... Read more

Book Description
A step-by-step guide on how to set up your own library ofstate related books and other materials.Includes tips on using the DeweyDecimal System, creating card catalogs, budgeting and acquiring materials+ gives resources for books, art, music, rare books, technology,autographs, etc.Excellent classroom activity.Free teacher's guide givesspecific suggestions and instructions on how to get max educational valuefrom this book.Hey, if it's your library, you won't have to pay any latereturn fees! ... Read more

Book Description
An exceptional account of the struggle between Free-State and Slave-State parties, recounted here by one of the most conspicuous and influential leaders of the Free-State party,Charles Robinson, who was the first Governor of the State of Kansas.

This book includes the following topics: Slavery and Anti-Slavery, Colonization Society, American Anti-Slavery Society, Liberty and Free-Soil Parties, Weapons and Machinery, Characteristics of Contestants, Eastern and Western Settlers, The Overland Route to California in 1849, The Sacramento Riot, Situation in the East, Eli Thayer and his Associates, Settlement of Lawrence, Claim Controversies, Settlements, Elections, The First Kansas Celebration of the Fourth of July, The Territorial Legislature, The Topeka Constitution, The Murder of Dow, The Wakarusa War, Murder and Burial of Barber, A Congressional Investigation, The Marshal's Invasion of Lawrence, May 21, 1856, Shooting of Jones, An Official Riot, Arrest of Robinson, Protest to the President, Reeder's Escape, The Potawatomie Massacre, Dispersion of the State Legislature, The Parts Played by and Brown Lane, Free-State and Pro-Slavery Forces, Arrival of Governor Geary, End of the War, The Presidential Election, Governor Geary's Failure, State and Territorial Elections in 1857, Lecompton Constitution, Leavenworth Constitution, Ultra Radicals, Montgomery and Brown, Marais des Cygnes Massacre, Brown's Parallels, Arts of Peace, The Killing of Jenkins, Admission of Kansas to the Union, Secession, The Governor's First Message, Troops Called, Lane's Brigade and Jay-Hawking, Lane's Influence at Washington. A full name index and an appendix section, detailing correspondence about John Brown, complete this work.

Robinson is an important man in Kansas history -- the first governor, a doctor, pioneer explorer, gun toter at times, wounded in a skirmish in California and given up for dead; restauranteur in Sacramento, and more than once in jail for various causes including murder! ... Read more

Book Description
In 1854, the U.S. Congress created Kansas Territory.Whether it would become a slave state, or free, was up to its citizens - so abolitionist Northerners and proslavery Southerners plied their influence on the settlers.Others took the direct route: they rushed into the territory to claim it for their own political side.

So began a conflict which would be called "Bleeding Kansas" for the shocking violence that left over 200 dead as the two sides sparred for control.The cast of characters ranged from Stephen Douglas, the architect of the Kansas-Nebraska Act whose presidential ambitions were veiled; to Missouri "border ruffians," who ducked in and out of the area to pack elections and terrorize Free Staters; to fanatical John Brown, whose strategy in the Pottawatomie Creek massacre called for "making examples" of the proslavery corpses he left behind; to Sheriff Jones, who enjoyed federal backing in the sack of Free-State Lawrence.All manner of politicians promoted or ducked the issues while Kansas bled.The confusion suffered in this sad and violent time by ordinary people is brought home in their diaries and letters, which are woven throughout this book.

What Karen Zeinert makes clear is how significant the undeclared war in Kansas was for this country.The conflict spread far beyond the territory, deepening the division over slavery in America, tearing apart one political party and giving rise to another.The endless struggle of "Bleeding Kansas" was a bell tolling, a dire warning and a foreshadowing of the catastrophe to come when America went to battle against itself in the Civil War.

A Linnet Book.Grades 6-up, xiv, 106 p., illus., timeline, cast of characters, bibliog.Library binding, 0-208-02446-8, $25.00. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good for a research paper
In her latest book Zeinert offers a historical account of the violence of Bleeding Kansas, the unofficial battle over slavery in the territory of Kansas during the 1850's.It begins with the actions of abolitionist John Brown and his May 24 & 25, 1856 attack on pro-slavery settlers as a form of retaliation for the pro-slavery activists raid on Lawrence, KS, which had occurred a mere three days earlier.Thereby ensuing the territorial "reign of terror" for the next two years, pitting neighbor against neighbor.The Jayhawkers (anti-slavery guerrillas) versus pro-slavery supporters.The narrative then backtracks to the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, a bill introduced by Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, which stated both states would be admitted to the Union as free states and settlers could decide amongst themselves if they would allow slavery.The bill along with the electioneering that occurred between the two groups tells the tale of Bleeding Kansas and eventually leads to the start of the Civil War in 1861. Unfortunately Zeinert's narrative is only useful as a resource for a research paper.By lacking a more detailed timeline and additional information on the cast of characters students who usually enjoy reading the subject matter, will doubtfully find it entertaining.Moreover, some students may not know what a Jayhawker or Free Stater is, a glossary would have been helpful when reading. Nevertheless, the oral histories highlighted throughout the text offer an insider's view of the survivor's thoughts, opinions and feelings during this period history. ... Read more