Kansas

Kansas entered the Union on January 29, 1861, becoming the nation’s thirty-fourth state. Known as the Sunflower State, it has Topeka as its capital and Wichita as its largest city. Located near the geographic center of the continental United States, Kansas is characterized by broad plains, productive farmland, and the rolling grasslands of the Flint Hills.

During the 1850s, Kansas became the center of a violent national struggle over whether slavery would be permitted in new western territories. The conflict known as “Bleeding Kansas” foreshadowed the Civil War, and Kansas ultimately entered the Union as a free state. Railroads, cattle drives, wheat farming, and later aviation helped shape its growth and its lasting identity as part of the American heartland.