Kansas and Nebraska
Two bordering states that I am VERY familiar with in these United States.
Both can trace their beginnings to the Kansas–Nebraska Act. I guess you can call this whole video
the Kansas Nebraska Act amirite? Ha ha!
Anyway, speaking of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, it was one of the worst laws ever passed
by Congress in American history, and ultimately led to the Civil War. Civil War, I say?
Why yes, I do say. This video just so happens to be sponsored by the Civil War. Game.
There's a game called War and Peace about the American Civil War. I usually turn video game sponsors but
I took this one on because I like the game. It's fun and educational. You learn both strategy
and history. The goal is to win the war by building up your base. You can side with Abraham
Lincoln and the Union or Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy you dang traitor. It features
authentic Civil War-era military weapons and multiple commanders based on famous Civil
War personalities. To download the game, check out the link in the description. Thanks to
War and Peace: Civil War for sponsoring this video.
Ok, so before I get into the Kansas-Nebraska Act, let’s briefly go into the entire histories
of both states. And...frankly, Kansas’s history is a bit more exciting. Both have
been settled by humans for thousands of years. Some were nomadic, others were sedentary.
By the time Europeans got to the area in the 1500s and 1600s, prominent American Indian
nations in modern-day Kansas included the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kansa, Kiowa,
Osage, Pawnee, and Wichita. Wait, the Kansa? Yeah, Kansas is named after the Kansa Indians,
for real. Prominent American Indian tribes in modern-day Nebraska included also the Cheyenne
and Pawnee, but additionally the Lakota, Omaha, Otoe, and Ponca. Nebraska is named after the
Otoe Indian word Nebrathka, which means “flat water,” in reference to the Platte River,
which runs through the state. As you probably already guessed by now, the biggest cities
in both states today, Wichita and Omaha, are both named after the Indian tribes.
Anyway, yeah so, in 1541, a Spanish conquistador named Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his expedition
were the first Europeans to reach modern-day Kansas. Modern-day Nebraska wasn’t really
checked out by Europeans much until the 1700s. The French claimed it. In 1714, Etienne de
Bourgmont and his crew checked it out for the first time.
Both the French and Spanish did not settle modern-day Kansas, but the French did do some
trading along the Missouri River, which led to a trading post in modern-day Nebraska.
The future states both completely were part of the Louisiana Purchase. Yep, the United
States bought them in 1803. The next year, Lewis and Clark checked both out on their
famous expedition. In 1806, Zebulon Pike’s expedition passed through Kansas and assumed
the area was too dry for farming. Thanks to him and particularly a dude named Stephen
Long, who checked out both modern-day Kansas and modern-day Nebraska in 1820, the western
part of the Great Plains mistakenly got called the Great American Desert. Later on, when
the American government was forcing American Indians off their lands back east and needed
a place to relocate them, they were like, let’s send them off to the crappy land we
can’t farm out in the Great American Desert? Eh? Of course, once they realized that land
was actually good for farming, they kicked them off most of that land again later on.
But I’m ahead of myself.
In 1812, both were part of Missouri Territory. Americans actually settled in modern-day Nebraska
first. The United States built Fort Atkinson along the Missouri River in 1819. Eight years
later, it built Fort Leavenworth in modern-day Kansas, which is still active today.
For many decades, Americans traveled through future Kansas and Nebraska, but rarely stopped
there. As more pioneers moved west, the two biggest trails to form were the Oregon Trail
and the Santa Fe Trail.
Jump ahead to the Kansas–Nebraska Act which I mentioned at the beginning of this video.
Remember how I mentioned it ended up being a major cause of the Civil War?
Well, the law created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened them for settlement,
and allowed the new settlers to determine whether they would be admitted to the Union
as a free state or slave state. This predictably caused a mad rush of proslavery and antislavery
advocates to Kansas, and violence would often occur between the two groups. That’s where
the territory earned the nickname “Bleeding Kansas.” Some argue the Civil War REALLY
began in Kansas. I’ve got a whole video about that. Oh, I’ve also got a video about
all of Kansas History. Check those out later or something. Anyway, the free staters would
ultimately win. Shortly before the Civil War broke out, on January 29, 1861, the United
States admitted Kansas as a free state. Nebraska didn’t become a state until two years after
the Civil War ended, on March 1, 1867.
The Homestead Act, which promised 160 acres of free land to any settler as long as they
lived on and improved that land for at least five years brought tens of thousands of Americans
and immigrants to both states, and the population of both skyrocketed for the rest of the 1800s.
Most came to farm, but in Kansas many came for the cattle industry, setting up cow towns
like Wichita and Dodge City.
The railroads had a dramatic impact on the development of both states. Railroad grants
were free land given to the railroad companies so they could build railroads and sell off
the land where settlers came to settle. However, many people didn’t like these deals because
they thought the railroad industry was ripping off settlers. In the late 1880s and early
1890s, Kansas and Nebraska farmers faced difficult times when droughts caused crop failures,
and many of them lost their farms due to not being able to pay off debts.
This, combined with reaction to railroad company monopolies, helped lead to the Populist Movement,
which was particularly big in both states. In fact, Omaha was the home of the convention
that created the Populist Party in 1892.
By the early 1900s, prosperity returned to both states, and both continued to grow. However,
that trend reversed during the Great Depression, which devastated both. During the Depression,
the Dust Bowl happened due to little rain, hot days, and high soil erosion. There was
nothing holding the soil down, so the wind swept it up and it created horrifying dust
storms, turning the skies black. While it affected both states, it hit Kansas farmers
particularly hard. Many fled to California after losing their farms.
The farmers who stayed adapted to harsh conditions through more efficient irrigation, contour
farming, and planting millions of trees to hold the soil in the ground to keep it from
eroding and blowing away.
Today, agriculture still is extremely important in both states.
So what else do they have in common? A freaking lot.
First of all, both are in the middle of the country. Some insensitive people might call
them two states right in the middle of “flyover country,” an often derogatory term that
explains the part of the country that the majority of Americans fly over and literally
look down on when traveling to and from large urban areas along the coasts. Ugh.
But let me tell you, if those planes actually landed in Kansas and Nebraska, they’d find
two of the most friendly and beautiful places in the entire world.
Both are about the same size. Kansas is slightly bigger.
Most would classify both states as Midwestern states.
The majority of the population lives in the eastern portion of both states. Both are dominated
by cities located along their eastern borders. Kansas is heavily influenced by Kansas City.
This is evident by looking at sports fans across the state. Since there’s no MLB or
NFL team in Wichita, for example, you’ll see lots of Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas
City Royals fans there. That said, I should stress I’m talking about the Kansas City
METROPOLITAN area. Half of the Kansas City metro is actually in Missouri, as well as
the bigger, more famous Kansas City. Oh, I also have a video about that in case you never
caught it. Nebraska is heavily influenced by Omaha. However, once you do get far enough
west in both states, they have their attention more directed to the Rocky Mountains to the west.
Heck, they’re even in the Mountain Time Zone out there.
Most of both states are in the Great Plains. Both have reputations for having kind of boring
landscapes with lots of farms and uh...cows. However, both do have hills and varying landscapes.
Oh, both DO have lots of cows, more than any other state other than Texas. Nebraska has
slightly more, though.
Nebraska has more hills and is a bit more rugged. I mean, that’s in Nebraska. So is that.
It also has the beautiful Sand Hills region, which makes up 1/4 of the entire state.
Although Kansas apparently IS flatter than a pancake, six other states are more flat.
Goose: But what about Mount Sunflower in Kansas, Mr. Beat?
That’s not a mountain. That’s just the highest point in Kansas.
Goose: Oh
But yeah, Kansas has hills, too. Like the Flint Hills. Woah, look at those! And then
you have random places like this. The further west you go in both, the higher the elevation.
The western two thirds of both states are known for not having many trees. In fact,
the further west you go in both states, the drier it gets, and thus the less trees there
are and more (wide open spaces) due to the rain shadow created by those Rocky Mountains.
Oh, except for the Nebraska National Forest in northeast Nebraska? Wait, huh? Well that’s
actually the country’s largest human-created forest. Located in the Sand Hills, this is
what it would have looked like before those trees were planted. But the legendary botanist
Charles Bessey had the crazy idea to plant thousands of trees. Today, the forests look
like they’ve been there forever, and it’s federally-protected land. I’ve driven through
it, and it’s so weird to drive through wide-open grasslands with no trees in sight to all of
a sudden...boom! You’re in the forest, baby!
The entire state of Nebraska actually has a proud tree-planting history. After all,
Julius Sterling Morton started Arbor Day there back in 1872, motivating Nebraskans to plant
more than one million trees on that day.
Both have mostly a continental climate, with four distinct seasons, and a semiarid climate
in the far western portions. Being further south, Kansas does get a bit hotter in the
summer and less cold in the winter. Thanks to the constant battle between winds from
the north and south, the weather can quickly dramatically change. One day it could be 30
degrees fahrenheit out, the next day 70 degrees. Or you might be walking in the sunshine one
moment and the next you’re in a giant hailstorm.
The Missouri River makes at least part of the eastern border of both states. If it weren’t
for that river, Kansas would be a perfect rectangle. Same with Nebraska, other than
Colorado getting all up in Nebraska’s business out west.
The biggest natural disaster in both? Tornadoes. (Wizard of Oz: "It's a twister! It's a twister!") Yep, both states find themselves in Tornado
Alley. One example of a devastating tornado is the one that hit Greensburg, Kansas on
May 4, 2007. It took out nearly the entire town. Since, Greensburg has rebuilt as one
of the most environmentally-friendly in the world, powered by wind turbines and with buildings
built to not use much energy. GREENSburg, indeed.
A lot of people in both trace their ancestry to Europe. Overall, Kansas is more ethnically diverse.
The median age in both is about the same. (K-37.1, N- 36.7)
The poverty rate in both is similar. (K-12.8%, N-12%) Although, the median household income
is a bit higher in Nebraska. (K- $58,218, N-$59,566)
Both states lean to the right, politically.
Since both are two of the smallest states in terms of population, eh they don’t get
many electoral votes. Nebraska is one of only two states, however, that splits up its electoral
votes, which I think is pretty cool. It’s called the congressional district method since
it awards two electoral votes to the state popular vote winner and divides up the rest
to the popular vote winner in each of its three Congressional districts. This led to
a split electoral vote there in 2008. Obama won Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District...which-no
surprise- is basically Omaha and its suburbs. The biggest religion in both is Christianity.
Specifically, Evangelical Protestant.
The rural and small town population of most towns in both states has been quickly declining.
The Ogallala Aquifer, the largest in the Americas, is underground in both states, but most of
it is in Nebraska.
How about some differences?
First of all, Kansas has more people. (K- 2.9 million, N - 1.9 million) However, Nebraska
is growing at a faster rate. (K- 2.1%, N- 5.9%)
More Kansans have college degrees (K-33%, N-31%). I have degrees from colleges in both
states, by the way. However, Nebraska spends more money per student on education.
Nebraska residents pay more in taxes. Also, the cost of living is higher there. That said,
housing is much cheaper in both compared to most of the rest of the country.
Nebraska has a higher minimum wage. (K-$7.25 per hour, N-$9 per hour)
Kansas has more crime. However, Nebraska has more pollution.
According to Forbes magazine, Nebraska is a much better state for business. Other than
agriculture, major industries in Kansas include manufacturing, professional services, and
energy. Other major industries in Nebraska include financial services, transportation,
insurance, and finance.
Nebraska borders six states. Kansas just four. Sure, both states are landlocked and far from
the ocean, but Nebraska is the only triple landlocked state in the country, meaning Nebraskans
must travel through three states to get to an ocean.
Nebraska is the only state in the country with a unicameral state legislature, meaning
instead of having a house and a senate like the United States Congress, it has just one
governing body in its legislative branch.
Kansas is the home of Freddy’s. Nebraska is the home of Runza, home of the famous runza
sandwich, and ain’t nothing more Nebraskan than the runza sandwich. But the first Pizza
Hut and White Castle also were in Kansas.
Kansas often leads the country in wheat production, while Nebraska is often in the top three states
in the country producing corn. Oh, so THAT explains those mascots. Oh, and Cornhusker
football is basically a religion in Nebraska.
Kansas has a huge natural gas field under it. Nebraska has more miles of rivers than
any other state in the country.
Let’s see. How should I wrap this video up? I know, I’ll go outside for a change.
I’m here at the border of Kansas and Nebraska. That's Nebraska over here. Kansas over here. This video, I gotta say, was the easiest for
me to ever research for my Compared series. Why? Because
Kansas and Nebraska are the only two states I have ever actually lived
in. That's right, I’m a flyover country native. In Nebraska, for four years I lived in Omaha, and for the rest of my life I lived in
Kansas all over the state actually. Specifically, I was born in Topeka, uh lived in Hutchinson, grew up mostly in Augusta, which is just outside of Wichita, I lived in Chanute
Lawrence, Manhattan, Basehor, Overland Park, Lawrence again. Yeah.
So, this video was fairly easy for me to make. Which state should I live in next? I mean, which states should I cover next
for this series? Let me know in the comments below. As always, thank you watching. That's right. You, who's watching this right now.
Music: "When Kansas Met Nebraska" by Electric Needle Room