Today is Kansas Day, marking 163 years of statehood; the admission of Kansas into the United States of America became effective January 29, 1861, on the cusp of the Civil War.
The Kansas Territory was created in 1854, and the largest issue by far in territorial Kansas was whether slavery was to be permitted or prohibited.
There was resistance in the United States Senate to Kansas being admitted to the Union as a free state. However, as 11 slave states seceded from the Union, their Senators left their seats and on January 21, 1861, the U.S. Senate passed the Kansas bill, and it was signed into law by President James Buchanan in the waning weeks of his term.
The Kansas Constitution at the time rejected slavery and affirmed separate property rights for married women and their right to participate in school elections, but it also denied universal suffrage for women, Black persons, and Native-Americans.
The Kansas constitution also dramatically reduced the size of the state, so its western border did not extend as far as the Rocky Mountains which was part of Kansas Territory. The land that was given up became part of Colorado Territory.