The implication concerning whether or not Kansas should become a slave state was a far－reaching one．There was such a delicate balance of opinion that it took four attempts at writing a constitution for ratification（批准）by Congress．The battle raged（风行）on often needing the intervention（干涉）of Federal Troops．In 1859，the people of Kansas approved a constitution prohibiting slavery．The population was 107，206at that time．In April of 1860the Kansas constitution was approved by the House of Representatives，but was refused by the Senate which was under a pro－slavery majority．Because of the Senate’s refusal to admit Kansas as a state，the issue erupted into a national political issue．In order to be admitted，there had to be a substantial shift in power in the Senate and the presidency（任期）．It wasn’t until January 29，1861，that the bill making Kansas the 34th state reached President James Buchanan’s desk and was signed．
If Kansas had a victory entering the United States as a free state，then their contribution to the Civil War effort helped provide a victory to all of America．All told，over 20，000Kansans fought on behalf of freeing the Union two－thirds of the fighting－age male population at that time．Most of these soldiers fought elsewhere；however，one major Civil War（内战）battle in Kansas was the Battle of Mine Creek in 1864．Had this battle been won by the Confederacy，Kansas’infant existence as a free state would have been in jeopardy（危险）．
The Civil War ended，violence ceased（停止），and a rebuilding process began in other states．Unfortunately，for Kansas，violence continued as white settlers moved in and encroached（（逐步或暗中）侵占）upon the territory of Native Americans．Even though forts on the plains continued to provide protection for settlers，many raids and mini－battles were fought，reaching an apex（顶点）in 1867when nearly 130settlers were killed．Native American－Settler skirmishes waned（衰落）in the latter half of the 1860’s．
The postwar advent（（尤指不寻常的人或事）出现，到来）of the railroad into Kansas made the state a popular destination for cattle drives in the cowtown era of the late 1860s and early 1870s—an era that has lasted far longer in romantic western fiction than it ever did in historical fact．Still，some legends of the Old West roamed these plains—Buffalo Bill Cody，Wild Bill Hickock，the Dalton Gang，Gen．George A．Custer and Annie Oakley．
In 1874，Mennonite settlers arrived，bringing with them a strain of Turkey Red wheat that found fertile soil in the Kansas plains and led to its present－day claim as “The Wheat State”．As the railroads and cattlemen moved on，the wheat farmers moved in and transformed Kansas from a rowdy（吵闹的）Wild West locale（场所）to a rural，agricultural－dependent environment．
But it was not so bucolic（田园风味的）that a few other characters couldn’t stir the national imagination．Not the least among them was Carry A．Nation（her real name；born Carry Amelia Moore，she married David Nation），the fiery，hatchet－wielding temperance advocate of the 1890s who would descend on（袭击）Kansas saloons（大会客室，公共大厅）to smash the fixtures（固定设备）and censure（责难）the patrons（赞助人）．
Early settlers were largely New Englanders of Anglo－Saxon stock，but later ethnic groups included Swedes，Volga Germans，Czechs，Bohemians，Germans，Norwegians，Russians and others attracted by jobs and land．
Many pockets of European culture，such as the Swedes in Lindsborg and Czechs in Wilson，thrive（旺盛）today．
Meanwhile，Kansas continued to grow and develop．Schools，farms，and main streets cropped up all over the State．Railroads paved the way for the further proliferation（增殖）of modernization．People could travel and transport goods and services more easily，resulting in the establishment of towns like Wichita，Dodge City，and Newton．The great prairie enabled Kansas to establish the country’s eminent（有名的）cattle industry．And，the farmland that attracted Indians and impressed Coronado earned Kansas the nickname The Wheat State．
The dominance of agriculture and the demands for food created by World War I led to more and more Kansas prairie being plowed（耕）under for production，which led to prosperity in the 1920s．But that was a direct contributor to the Dust Bowl devastation（毁坏）of the 1930s．
Modern agricultural practices，derived from lessons of the Dust Bowl，have revolutionized farming．Today，both wheat and beef are major products of Kansas，as are airplanes and oil．
Through the 20th century，Kansas has contributed several major figures to the national political scene，including Dwight D．Eisenhower，the supreme commander of allied forces in Europe during World War II and later the 34th U．S．president．Kansas has produced two other presidential candidates who captured the Republican nomination（任命）in Alf Landon（1936）and Bob Dole（1996）．
In this century Kansas has changed from being primarily a cattle and wheat state to a thriving industrial and agricultural state．As the center of the 48contiguous（邻近的）states，Kansas has proven to be an attractive location for many companies serving national and international markets．Technology advanced，enabling planes to fly and trains to run on diesel（柴油机）instead of steam．In the early 20th century，Kansas began what is now the greatest airplane producing center in the world．More efficient farm equipment helped make Kansas the largest exporter of wheat，and energy drawn from its oil wells helped power a nation．Kansas has never been free of adversityadversity（逆境）．Throughout its proud，yet difficult history，the citizens of this state have fought for prosperity and success．
Governor州长
Kathleen Sebelius在2002年成为堪萨斯州第44任州长，她宣誓新鲜而全新的领导班子将推动堪萨斯州的发展。她是作为美国历史上一位州长的女儿第一人来竞选相同的岗位。在州长Sebelius为中心的领导下，她承诺要使州政府的管理更加的灵活，更加有效，更加对本州人民负责。
Pledging fresh，new leadership to move Kansas forward，in 2002，Kathleen Sebelius became the 44th Governor of the State of Kansas．
She is the first daughter of a Governor in US history to be elected to that same position．