Studies in American History 
403 
In 1860 there was another extensive drouth.^^ As the nation 
stood on the threshold of a great civil war, Kansas was as 
yet a remote, frontier province with only a modest population, 
without prosperity, and without statehood. 
The federal census of 1860 revealed a total population for 
Kansas Territory of 107,204.^- This was not a great show- 
ing, but considering the remoteness of the Territory and the 
attractiveness, to pioneers and adventurers, of vast, fertile, 
competing areas that were easier of access, it is easily ex- 
plained. The Territory was very young at the opening of the 
War, but its history had been filled with stirring events, and 
the problems connected with its origin and development had 
profoundly influenced the history of the entire country. The 
passions aroused by the conflict that raged within and over 
the Territory helped to make war a possibility. The issues 
that arose made and unmade parties, lifted numerous leaders 
from obscurity to fame, helped many already conspicuous to 
greater careers, and dimmed or blighted the fortunes of others. 
In the midst of all the political turmoil, the tide of pioneers 
flowed westward, most of the people included in its mighty 
current being influenced by the simple desire to reach some 
new area where land was cheap and opportunities for economic 
and social improvement present. To a startling degree the 
appeals of neither antislavery nor proslavery agitators were 
heeded. A limited number of those who migrated to Kansas 
went for the express purpose of struggling for or against 
slavery. Many colonists must have avoided the Territory be- 
cause of the strife that prevailed. The great mass of those 
who migrated to the frontier during that period sought other 
areas than Kansas, because, for a variety of reasons, they 
were more attractive. The decision of Kansas concerning 
slavery was finally made as it was, mainly because the con- 
ditions of the period were such that the natural flow of 
Topeka (Kan.) Tribune, July 21, 1860. 
The following figures based on the nativity tables of the census of 1860 (Popular 
tion, 616-618) show the relative numbers from different areas: 
Place of birth 
The New England states. . . . . 
The Middle Atlantic states (N.Y., Pa., N.J.) 
Slaveholding states 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois 
Iowa 
Foreign countries 
Kansas Territory 
Living in Kansas in 1860 
4,208 
13,293 
27,440 
30,429 
4,008 
12,691 
10,997 
