Some people think that St. Louis is in theSouth. It's not, it's in the Midwest, but Missouri was a slave state. The legacies ofslavery and de juresegregation 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 inCongress to admit Missouri as a state to the Union. This territory lay inside the bounds of theLouisiana 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 draftconstitution 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 acompromise which was to hold until the middle of thecentury. Missouri was admitted as a slave-holding state, and slavery was prohibited north of latitude 36° 30' within the existing territories of theUnion which did not yet enjoy statehood. As part of the compromiseMaine, which had just severed itself fromMassachusetts, 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, theirguns, their dreams, and their 630-foot-tall stainless-steel arches. Visitors may ride to the top of the arch, high above theMissouri 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 ofSamuel 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
