Arkansas and Missouri Or as many say “Missour UH” and wait a
second, why is Arkansas pronounced like that?
Well, that’s another video, buddy.
Check it out.
Anyway, Missouri and Arkansas The Show-Me State and The Natural State
Two bordering states where the South kind of meets the West and Midwest in THESE United
States
And, I know I have talked some trash about Missouri throughout my life being a Kansas
boy, but I gotta admit it’s one of my favorite places to visit, and I only don’t visit
Arkansas as much since it’s a bit further of a drive for me.
There’s a relatively new rivalry between the sports teams of the two major universities
in each state.
(Missouri Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks).
The football rivalry is known as The Battle Line Rivalry.
But let’s first look at what these two wonderful states have in common.
First, both are named after major rivers that go through each state.
Both states have a low cost of living, although it’s generally cheaper to live in Arkansas
than Missouri.
Residents of both tend to be more religious than most other Americans.
The biggest religion in both is Christianity, of course.
Specifically, Evangelical Protestant.
Both are in the Bible Belt, a region of the country where Protestant fundamentalism is
widely practiced.
Residents of both generally lean to the right politically.
Although Arkansas residents are generally even more conservative than Missouri residents.
The median age is about the same in both.
(A- 38.8, M- 38.9)
Both have mountains, although they’re small ones.
Most of the Ozarks, a region of forested small mountain ranges and plateaus
that make up an area of almost 47,000 square miles (120,000 km2), are in both states.
While the Ozarks bring lots of tourism to both states for outdoorsy folks obviously,
Missouri also has little gems like Branson, which would draw tourists even if it WASN’T
in the Ozarks.
It is known for its shows and attractions, and while it’s home to less than 12,000
people it gets more than 9 MILLION VISITORS each year.
By the way, it’s only about a 15 minute drive from the Arkansas border.
Both have a lot of agriculture goin’ on.
Here is where most of that happens in both states as this land is generally more flat.
The biggest crop in Arkansas is rice and the biggest crop in Missouri is soybeans.
Arkansas produces around half of the entire country’s rice.
Woahness.
Both have a humid subtropical climate, although northern Missouri is classified as having
a humid continental climate.
Both also have similar natural disasters, and occasionally have to deal with flooding,
thunderstorms, and tornadoes.
Arkansas has more storms that are actually remnants from tropical storms since it is
closer to where hurricanes make landfall.
Both have to worry about earthquakes, but in particular northeastern Arkansas and southeastern
Missouri have to worry a bit…uh…more.
That’s where the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes took place, named after the town where its
epicenter was: New Madrid, Missouri.
They were the worst earthquakes, east of the Rocky Mountains anyway, in American history,
so bad that they caused church bells to ring in Boston and literally changed the course
of the Mississippi River.
The Mississippi River, I say?
Why yes.
The mighty Mississippi River marks the eastern border of both states.
The Red River also marks a little bit of the Arkansas border while the Missouri River marks
some of Missouri’s border.
But what about this little tail thingy in the southeastern corner of Missouri.
Now that’s interesting, isn’t it?
Well apparently folks actually refer to that area as the Missouri Bootheel.
Now, originally all of Missouri’s southern border with Arkansas was supposed to be located
at 36° 30’.
Ya know, simply an extension west of the Virginia-North Carolina and Kentucky-Tennessee border.
Well nope, and it’s all because of one well powerful dude: John Hardeman Walker.
He owned a great chunk of land in the area, and wanted his land to be part of Missouri,
not Arkansas, since Missouri supposedly had more natural resources.
In particular, access to the two longest rivers in the country, the Missouri River and Mississippi
River.
Due to his connections, he was able to convince Congress to create the Bootheel so his land
could be in Missouri.
Both states spend a similar amount each year per student on education.
(A- $10,139, M- $10,810 (2021))
The biggest three industries in both states are healthcare, retail, and manufacturing.
Both have rich music histories, with Missouri being the birthplace of ragtime, Kansas City
jazz, and St. Louis blues, and Arkansas known for its deep blues, gospel, country, and bluegrass
roots.
Both have one national park.
And in case you're wondering, yes…the Gateway Arch National Park is actually a national
park, and at just over 90 acres, it’s the smallest one in the country.
That said, that magnificent arch is the country’s tallest monument.
So what about their differences?
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Ok, so I was saying about differences?
Why yes I was.
First of all, Missouri is bigger, but probably not as much bigger as you would think.
Just about 1.3 times the size of Arkansas.
Missouri borders eight different states.
The only other state that borders that many is Tennessee.
Arkansas borders six.
The population of Missouri is more than twice that of Arkansas.
(A- 3 million, M- 6.2 million)
A big reason why are Missouri’s two major metropolitan areas- Kansas City and St. Louis,
both wonderful cities that I am very, very familiar with.
Both metros have more than 2 million people.
2 out of 3 Missourians live in either Kansas City or St. Louis.
Arkansas’s biggest metropolitan area, Little Rock, doesn’t even crack 750,000 people.
I will say, though, that its second biggest metro, commonly referred to as simply Northwest
Arkansas, is currently one of the fastest growing metros in the country and, personally,
one of my favorite parts of the country I might add.
Much of its growth has been driven by three HUGE companies located there: Walmart, Tyson
Foods, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services.
While Walmart started in Arkansas, I oughta say that the first Walmart Supercenter to
ever open opened in Missouri.
Anyway, due to that bigger population, Missouri has more electoral votes.
(A- 6, M- 10)
Missouri became a state almost 15 years earlier.
Oh yeah, let’s get into some history, shall we?
Humans have lived in the area for thousands of years.
At the time of European arrival, the dominant tribes in modern-day Arkansas were the Caddo,
Osage, and Quapaw and the dominant tribes in modern-day Missouri were also the Osage
and Quapaw, but additionally the Illini, Chickasaw, and of course the Otoe-Missouria tribe.
Hundreds of years BEFORE European arrival, both modern-day Arkansas and Missouri were
dominated by the Mississippian culture, famously known for the mounds they built.
Many of these mounds still exist.
The French were the first Europeans to stumble upon modern-day Missouri, while the Spanish
were the first to stumble upon modern-day Arkansas.
In 1541, an expedition led by Hernando de Soto came through present day central Arkansas
but honestly he wasn’t that impressed by it much so they left.
It wasn’t until 132 years later that the French Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette, along
with the French trader Louis Jolliet, first came to present day Missouri.
They also came to present-day Arkansas, which was settled by Europeans first.
Missionaries and traders led the way.
Henri de Tonti was the first European dude to establish a settlement there in 1686, called
the Arkansas Post.
It became a thriving trading post where both the French and Spanish regularly did business
with the Quapaw.
It wasn’t until 1735 that the French first settled in present-day Missouri, establishing
Ste.
Genevieve.
Oof, my French is so bad.
For the next 27 years, more and more French settlers moved to the region, which by this
time was part of an area the French called Louisiana.
But then there was the French and Indian War, a major war between Britain and France, and
after France lost it, future Arkansas and Missouri were now secretly under Spanish control.
However, the Spanish weren’t that interested in settling the area, but more and more French
were.
Flash forward to 1803, and now France has control of Louisiana Territory once again
under Napoleon, but he wants to sell it.
So who does he sell it to?
Uh, I think you know.
The United States.
After this, MANY Americans began to move west to live in the area, promptly pushing the
American Indians who already lived there off their land and further west.
After Louisiana became a state, future Arkansas became part of Missouri Territory which WOW,
look at how big Missouri is woah, with St. Louis as the capital.
But seven years later, the United States Congress created Arkansas territory which, yeah I see
you Arkansaw Territory, not bad, going all the way to modern day New Mexico.
Missouri wanting to become a state that same year caused a bit of an uproar I’d say.
You see, it wanted to be a slave state, where slavery was legal, but this meant that there
would be more slave states than free states in the country.
Congress settled the matter with the Missouri Compromise, which, among other things, created
Maine as a free state and let Missouri be a slave state.
Missouri’s constitution not only protected slavery, but also banned free blacks from
entering the state.
Geez Missouri.
Freaking geez.
Meanwhile, slavery was a bit more controversial of an issue in Arkansas Territory.
Many in Arkansas actually didn’t want slavery.
Regardless, on June 15, 1836, Arkansas was admitted to the Union as a slave state, and
by that time its economy greatly depended on slave labor.
Meanwhile, new settlers were heading to both in HUGE numbers.
Between 1830 and 1840, Missouri’s population more than doubled and Arkansas’s population
more than tripled.
However, while Arkansas remained a mostly agricultural state, Missouri became a much
more industrial state.
And while slave labor was big in Missouri, the Underground Railroard, the secret network
of routes and safe houses used to aid runaway slaves, was also big there.
By the 1840s, Missouri had become the “Gateway to the West.”
You could say it all started after Lewis and Clark left Missouri on THEIR epic journey
40 years prior, but Missouri also became the starting point for the Santa Fe Trail, the
Oregon Trail, and the Pony Express.
When hundreds of thousands of Americans traveled westward over the next couple decades, often
Missouri was their starting point.
During an era during the 1850s known as Bleeding Kansas, Missouri got caught up in some violence
after Missourians crossed the western border to attempt to make Kansas a slave state.
I have an entire video about that if you want to watch it later and stuff, eh?
Anyway, Bleeding Kansas ended up being a preview of the American Civil War.
During it, Arkansas had broken away from the United States, joining the newly formed Confederate
States of America.
Missouri stayed with the Union, but remained a slave state throughout the war.
Slave states that didn’t leave the Union were called Border States, by the way.
After Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state, violence continued to happen
along the Kansas-Missouri border throughout most of the war.
Still, the war was arguably more devastating to Arkansans than Missourians.
Arkansas struggled to grow its economy during the Reconstruction era.
And who became scapegoats?
African Americans, of course.
The Jim Crow laws, which treated African Americans as second class citizens, were pretty horrible
in both states, actually for the rest of the 1800s and first half of the 1900s.
Thousands of racially motivated lynchings also took place in both states.
In the 1950s, Arkansas became infamous for resisting school desegregation and the federal
government had to step in to protect African American students in Little Rock, these students
known later as the “Little Rock Nine.”
From the end of the Civil War until the end of the 1800s, Missouri, believe it or not,
was the fifth most populous state in the country.
It also became one of the wealthiest states in the country.
Meanwhile, Arkansas consistently tried to play catch up, usually lagging behind with
industry.
However,it did develop a thriving tourism economy, especially with places like Eureka
Springs and Hot Springs.
In the 20th century, both states became much more urban with much diverse economies.
That all said, today Arkansas remains one of the most rural states in the country.
Did you know that?
Well I don’t know if you knew that because I can’t hear you.
Anyway, according to Forbes magazine, today Missouri is a much better state for business.
Probably a big reason why is that Missouri residents generally pay less taxes than Arkansas
residents.
The poverty rate is also higher in Arkansas.
(A- 17%, M- 13.7%) As you might assume, the median household income is higher in Missouri.
(A- $48,952, M- $57,409) Arkansas has some of the worst poverty in the entire country.
More Missouri residents have college degrees (A- 30.8%, M- 38.2%)
The violent crime rate is higher in Arkansas.
Dang, Arkansas, I’m sorry for all that negative stuff all in a row like that.
Um, how about this…Arkansas can brag that it has slightly bigger mountains.
Eh?
The highest point in Arkansas is about 300 meters higher than Missouri’s highest point.
(A- Mount Magazine, 2,753 ft, or 839 m, M- Taum Sauk Mountain, 1,772 ft, or 540 m)
Arkansas gets more precipitation overall and is a bit more humid.
Being further north, Missouri gets colder in the winter and Arkansas gets slightly hotter
in the summer.
The differences aren’t that big, though, and there’s probably bigger differences
in temperatures between the higher elevations of the Ozarks and lower elevations of both
states.
Arkansas has a more ethnically diverse population overall.
More famous people seem to have come from Missouri.
Sure, Arkansas can claim Bill Clinton, Johnny Cash, and Billy Bob Thornton, but Missouri
can claim Harry Truman, Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Chuck Berry, Brad Pitt, Sheryl Crow, and many
more for real.
Missouri is home to the longest rail trail, the Katy Trail, which I’ve been on multiple
times and it’s awesome.
Arkansas is the only state with an active diamond mine.
In fact, at Arkansas’s Crater of DIamonds State Park, any diamonds you find there are
yours to keep.
In conclusion, Missouri is a Midwestern state, but much of Southern Missouri kind of makes
it seem like a Southern state.
Arkansas is definitely a Southern state, but parts of it, like Northwest Arkansas in particular,
somehow feel Midwestern.
So if you like the South and Midwest, these two states are for you.
A shout out to Emperortigerstar, who is from Missouri, for reading over my script.
And I guess I’m a typical politician, pronouncing Missouri two different ways throughout this
video.
So which state is better?
What did I forget to mention?
As always, I especially enjoy hearing from folks who are actually from these two states.
All I have left to compare is Oklahoma, Iowa, and Michigan, and I have decided to start
doing repeats at this point, so with that in mind, in 2022 which states would you like
me to compare Oklahoma, Iowa, and Michigan to?
I also might just do an Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula compared video instead because
why freaking not?
Hey, if you are watching right now and you hear this, you are the person I admire the
most.
Sorry that was cheesy.