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Few people would have expected bloodshed in Kansas Territory. After all, it had few slaves and showed few signs that slavery would even flourish. But civil war tore this territory apart in the 1850s and 60s, and "Bleeding Kansas" became a forbidding symbol for the nationwide clash over slavery that followed. |
| August 21, 1863 Lawrence
/ Lawrence Massacre October 6, 1863 Baxter Springs October 25, 1864 Mine Creek / Battle of the Osage October 25, 1864 Marais des Cygnes / Battle of Trading Post |
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The Kansas flag consists of a dark blue field with the state seal in the center. A sunflower on a bar of twisted gold lies above the seal, and below the seal is the word “Kansas”. The seal contains a landscape that includes a rising sun, representing the east; and a river and steamboat, representing commerce. In the foreground, a settler's cabin and a man plowing a field represent agriculture. A wagon train heads west and buffalo are seen fleeing from two Indians. Around the top of the seal is a cluster of 34 stars. The state motto “Ad astra per aspera” appears above the stars. Translated - “To the stars through difficulties” |
Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.