Charles Lindbergh was the much-revered pilot who flew his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis non-stop from New York to Paris in May of 1927. He was a lieutenant in the Missouri Air National Guard and an airmail pilot when he undertook the effort. His accomplishment made him a "hero" in the eyes of Europeans and Americans.

William J. Stone was a U.S. Senator for Missouri (the first popularly elected after the 17th Amendment) in the early 20th century. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while World War I was raging in Europe, he opposed the loans the U.S. made to the Allies, preferring to not intercede in European affairs. A Democrat with ties to agricultural interests, he opposed U.S. involvement in WWI, and was widely unpopular for being one of five senators to vote against the war. He died in 1918.

Emma Knell was one of the first female Missouri Representatives to be elected, and the first to win two consecutive elections. A Republican from Carthage, she defeated a Democrat narrowly in 1922 and by wide margin in 1926. She took the 1928 election cycle off, re-entering the General Assembly in 1931 before retiring from her political career.

James A. Reed was a U.S. Senator for Missouri in the early 20thcentury. Appointed to his first term by the Missouri Congress, he won popular re-election in 1916. Although both were Democrats, he vocally opposed President Wilson's support for the League of Nations, Prohibition, and the 19th Amendment. The divided party ran a candidate against him in 1922, but Reed defeated him in the primary and won re-election with support from Irish and anti-prohibitionist voters, as well as from the Pendergast political machine (which had gotten him elected as mayor of Kansas City in 1900). He ran a failed bid for President in 1928, and supported James Collett as his Senate successor, upsetting the Democratic Party.

Tom Pendergast was the "Boss" of a Kansas City political "Pendergast Machine." The brother of Jim Pendergast, who started the machine, Tom took over and started strengthening community and political relations. Under his leadership, the organization expanded to control Kansas City politics, using a deft combination of charity (helping the poor) and intimidation to guarantee votes. The Missouri State Capitol became known as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in light of his mostly consistent ability to deliver elections, and he helped elect Harry Truman to the Senate. Legal crackdowns disassembled his machine and indicted and jailed him and his underlings, destroying the machine's statewide influence.

The "New Deal" was the set of programs and policies taken by the Franklin Roosevelt administration to provide relief for Americans during the Depression. Aimed at employing the out-of-work, improving infrastructure, and supporting the dependent, New Deal programs "did something" in response to the Depression. Missouri's government cooperated with the federal programs, and Missouri reaped the benefits including of improved forests, public spaces, and rural electrification. More details of the New Deal are discussed in the essay.

Before Harry Truman was President, he was a judge from Independence. He was backed by the Pendergast political machine in a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1934, and with its help and his powerful campaigning tactics, he won handily. As a Senator, he made a name for himself by chairing successful WWII-related committees. Although supported by the Pendergast machine through much of his political career, he was untouched by its scandals, and was re-elected largely on the strength of his performance.

The "Central Powers" included Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary, allies in the time leading up to World War I. The "Allied Powers," including France, England, and Russia, made up the other political bloc. Each nation promised to defend its allies if they were attacked, thus creating a "World War" out of a small Serbia/Austria conflict. Although the United States as a whole largely supported the Allies, Missouri, with its sizable German-American population leaned the other way. Missouri also had a large Irish-American population, which largely supported Germany (the original colonizer of Ireland) over England, with which Ireland has been at odds over political and religious reasons for centuries. Thus, Missouri opinion was divided before the outbreak of WWI.

John J. Pershing was the Commander-In-Chief of the American Expedition force during World War II. As commander, he was known as "Black Jack." He was born in Laclede, Missouri, which is part of Linn County. He attended school in Kirksville at Northeast Missouri State before he went to West Point Military Academy, His military career was stellar; he became a highly ranked General.

The League of Nations was Woodrow Wilson's vision for a peacekeeping organization of the countries of the world. It was very controversial in the United States, and in Missouri it divided the Democratic Party. Senators Seldon Spencer and James Reed vehemently and vocally opposed the League. Taking advantage of this party split, Republicans took all the statewide offices in 1920 - this was the largest effect the League had on Missouri

The nonpartisan court plan was instituted in Missouri after voters approved it in 1942, and was written into the Missouri Constitution of 1945. Under the plan, judges undergo a "trial period": a "nonpartisan" committee selects three candidates for vacant positions. The governor then chooses one of these candidates to serve for at least a year. After the year is up, the judge's name goes on the ballot (with no party affiliation) at the next general election, and voters can decide whether to keep him or her on (for a 12 year term). The plan was designed to keep political parties from "stacking the courts."

The "Hoover Commission" was a wide-reaching effort to reorganize the federal government (headed by Herbert Hoover). The "Little Hoover Commission" attempted to do the same thing for Missouri's state government. Designed to simplify the various functions state government agencies provided, it focused on creating departments and coordinating planning efforts. Largely a success, it increased efficiency and earned money for the state. The Commission on Higher Education was a result of the Little Hoover Commission.

The Omnibus State Reorganization Act of 1974 was another effort aimed at organizing the state government's functions. Under it, government activities were coordinated by 13 departments and one administrative office. The departments' names reflected their goals: Social Services included divisions that dealt with family services, health, and aging; Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education dealt with K-12 level and college level schooling, respectively; Natural Resources dealt with the environment; and Consumer Affairs, Regulation and Licensing, Labor and Industrial Relations, Public Safety, Revenue, Agriculture, Conservation, Highways, and Transportation all fulfilled various functions.

Theodore McNeal was a prominent African-American leader in Missouri. Before entering politics, he was an official at the large American Federation of Labor union. He became the first African-American to be elected to the Missouri Senate in 1960. He served two terms, and then-Governor Hearnes selected him to sit on the University of Missouri's Board of Curators in 1970. Later he was appointed head of the St. Louis Police Board of Commissioners, and was the first African-American to ever hold that position.

The period from 1940-1970 saw Missouri's population grow, but at a slower rate than the rest of the nation. In 1940, Missourians were 2.9% of the U.S. population; by 1970 they accounted for 2.3%. The period also saw a dramatic shift of Missouri's population from rural areas (with fewer than 2,500 people) to urban areas (with more than 2,500 people): in 1940 almost 52% of Missourians lived in urban areas, in 1950 over 61% did, and by 1970 reached over 70%.

William Clay was Missouri's first African-American congressman in the House of Representatives. Before being elected, he was prominent in the state Democratic party. During his term, he helped start the Congressional Black Caucus for African-American representatives, and he represented his St. Louis constituents' interests. His son succeeded him in 2000.

Leonor K. Sullivan was the first female representative in the U.S. Congress from Missouri. The wife of Representative John B. Sullivan, she worked closely with him during his political career. When he died in 1951, voters elected her to his seat. There was not another female representative from Missouri until 1990.

Mary L. Gant was a Kansas City woman who was elected to the State Senate in 1972. The first woman to hold this position, she was also the only one until 1976.

Soybeans became the cash crop most produced in Missouri in 1968, displacing corn by 700,000 acres. Between the 1940's and 1970's soybean production increased drastically, going from 1 million to over 144 million bushels as new uses for soybeans were exploited commercially. Soybeans are grown throughout the state (except for in the Ozark highlands), and along with corn, cotton, and hay, account for the bulk of Missouri's grain exports.

James S. McDonnell was the founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. It was founded as a small company in 1939, and expanded quickly during World War II, during which it time it built planes for the war. In 1962, it became the largest private employer in Missouri. In addition to producing airplanes, it designed and produced space travel vehicles and capsules before being acquired by Boeing in 1995.

James T. Blair was Governor of Missouri from 1957 to 1961. A Democratic reformer whose ideas were often aimed at increasing government efficiency, he endorsed several reform measures. During his administration, the Division of Budget and Comptroller was put under his (the Governor's) direct supervision. He also favored allowing governors to succeed themselves in office, though this change was not made until after his term.

Margaret B. Kelly became the first woman to hold statewide office in Missouri when governor Christopher Bond appointed her to the position of State Auditor in 1984. Formerly Cole County's auditor, she took the place of James Antonio when he resigned. She won re-election numerous times, serving until 1999 (http://www.auditor.mo.gov/aboutus/historical.htm).

Harriet Woods was the first woman to be elected to statewide office in Missouri. Running on the Democratic ticket, she defeated Republican Mel Hancock in the 1984 election (one of the few Democrats to win that year) for lieutenant governor. Previously she had been a State Senator, and lost a very close race for a U.S. Senate seat to John Danforth in 1982. She lost against Christopher Bond for the same position in 1984, but remained active in Missouri politics, and is known for being the first woman to "seriously contest a race for statewide office in Missouri."

Betty Hearnes was the first woman to run for Governor in Missouri. In 1988 she challenged incumbent John Ashcroft, and lost by over 600,000 votes. A Democrat, her loss was characteristic of Republican dominance of 1980's politics in Missouri. She is the wife of Warren Hearnes, a former Missouri governor, and was once a state Representative for Missouri.

The case of Nancy Cruzan brought national attention to Missouri and spurred a longstanding debate on euthanasia. At age 25, Cruzan was involved in a car wreck that left her in a coma for over four years. Her parents, upset that their daughter could only live with assistance from machines, and had "virtually no chance of recovery," sued to remove her from life support in 1987. The case's decision was appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, and then again to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the Cruzan family's wishes could be honored, and she Nancy's feeding tube was removed. The case drew substantial attention, with pro-life activists protesting the requests for euthanasia and the courts' decision.

Times Beach, a small town west of St. Louis, brought national attention to Missouri in the 1980's when a panic over dioxin contamination caused the town to be evacuated and abandoned. The poison substance, to which people and livestock were exposed before the Environmental Protection Agency investigated reports of contamination, spread from oil on roads to the soil. The EPA plans to haul away the dangerous soil, but has met opposition from other environmentalists, who say that the plan might endanger wildlife in the nearby Meramec River (including the "pink mucket" mussel).

The Missouri State River Trail, also known as the Katy Trail State Park, is a gravel trail that goes from beyond Sedalia to St. Charles. It follows the former Missouri-Texas Railroad path, and was created by Missouri voters in the 1980's. It was controversial at the time due to property transfer and stewardship issues. Today it's used primarily by bicyclists, but is also a place for joggers and walkers (http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/). Its view of the Missouri River is very scenic, and the St. Charles Lewis and Clark Marathon's route uses part of it (it is a good place to run).

Breakthrough is a sculpture that includes a piece of the Berlin Wall. It sits at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where Winston Churchill made his famous "Iron Curtain" speech. Created by Edwina Sandys, the sculpture was dedicated in 1990. It has two people carved into the wall, symbols of the "escape from bondage" that the liberation of East Germany represented. Ronald Reagan gave the main address in the dedication.

William Webster was an outspoken attorney general for Missouri in the 1980's. He was swept into office in the 1984 election's success for Republicans, and won again in 1988. A pro-life activist, he appealed the U.S. Curt of Appeal's and federal district court's denouncement of Missouri's "life begins at conception" statute. The Supreme Court upheld Missouri's statute, vindicating Webster, and causing much debate amongst pro- and anti-abortion factions in the state and nation. He was also involved in the ongoing controversy over desegregating Kansas City's public schools.

Education funding in Missouri during the 1980's was a contentious issue. The continuing trend of citizens moving out of rural areas (and urban to suburban) meant a large number of elementary and secondary school districts lost taxpayer money, and restrictions on state funding procedures and voter resistance to higher taxes meant that funding often did not increase to meet proposed goals. Some districts went into debt and had to cut teacher salaries. For Missouri's Universities, increasing costs without matching increases in funding led to a higher price of students to pay in "fees" (a.k.a. Tuition). Financing desegregation efforts was also contentious (see essay above).

Mel Carnahan, a Democrat from Rolla, was a prominent politician in Missouri. In the 1980's, before he was elected governor, he won in 1980's election and became the state treasurer. He became a Democratic lieutenant governor under Republican John Ashcroft (whom he would defeat posthumously in the 2000 race for Senate), like his predecssor Harriet Woods was under "Kit" Bond.

September 11th, 2001, was the day that terrorists hijacked four airplnes, crashing them into the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and a field in Pennsylvania. The most devastating attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor, September 11 caused a radical shift in how Americans (including Missourians) viewed their security, place in the world, and politics. Republicans were propelled into power in many states, and in Missouri, they secured majorities in both houses of the Missouri legislature for the first time in over half a century. Indeed, Missouri was a decidedly "Red state" from after September 11 until the midterm elections in 2006.

Kevin Phillips is a writer of political and social history and commentary. He wrote A Political History of the American Rich, which charted and bemoaned the "gap" between the "rich" and the "poor" in the United States. He worried that this gap was "unsustainable," and widening. This was true to a point in Missouri, where the rate of increase of the wealth of the "rich" increased faster than the rate of increase of the wealth of the "poor." It should be noted that almost all segments (it depends how many divisions there are) of in the "rich"-to-"poor" continuum largely enjoyed sustained increases in prosperity throughout the 1990's, however. According to the text, the poverty rate in Missouri "fell from 12.7% to 10.8%" during the decade, the unemployment rate declined, and the median family income rose.

John Ashcroft has been a prominent politician from Missouri for decades now. In the 1990's he served as a Governor until 1992, and U.S. Senator until 2000. He ran against Mel Carnahan for re-election in the 2000 election, and lost the race after ceasing to campaign after Carnahan died in a tragic plane crash. George W. Bush appointed Ashcroft to the post of U.S. Attorney General when he took the Presidency. He was a controversial figure, advancing conservative causes, sanctioning drastic "anti-terrorism" and "anti-drug" measures.

According to the text, "starter castles" are large suburban homes in housing developments outside major cities, many of which were built during the housing market boom of the 1990's. They featured "manicured lawns," and driveways (or garages) with Sport Utility Vehicles. SUVs, the large type of vehicle that became popular during the 1990's due to the increased wealth of most Americans, available time for leisure travel, bizarre tax incentives that qualified them for breaks intended for heavy trucks, and their becoming a "status symbol of [affluence]." Increased demands for SUVs meant increased demand for gasoline, the price of which more than tripled from the end of the 1990's to the mid-2000's.

In the spring of 1993 Missouri experienced the largest-scale flood of its history. Heavy rains caused the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to rise to dangerous levels, causing low-lying areas to be inundated with dirty water. Flood barriers and sandbagging efforts helped save some towns from devastation, but thousands of Missourians were displaced when their homes were flooded. Travel was restricted, with bridges and roads closed by floodwaters. During and after the cleanup, the Army Corps of Engineers came under fire for its levy, lock, and dam constructions, which many Missourians saw as a cause of damage from the flood. Since many parts of Missouri's rivers were obstructed to make way for commercial boat traffic, and the federal government forced insurers to insure people living in dangerous floodplains, many criticized government policy.

Christopher "Kit" Bond is a prominent Missouri politician. He was Governor and a U.S. Senator in the 1980's, and in the 1990's he defended his U.S. Senate seat against Democratic contenders - in 1992 he and Margaret Kelly were the only Republicans in statewide office in Missouri when they both won re-election, and in 1998 he beat Jay Nixon by substantial margin as Republicans gained political strength in Missouri. He won re-election again in 2004, and remains in office today.

Senate Bill 380 was an education funding bill passed in the wake of an judicial order to increase education funding in Missouri. Exempt from the Hancock Amendment's taxation/ spending requirements, the provisions of the bill were hotly debated throughout early 1993. It became known as the "Outstanding Schools Act," and was largely the work of Governor Carnahan and the Democrats in the Missouri legislature. It acted to raise taxes and reallocate money to go to Missouri schools, increased "equity" between rich and poor districts, and established a fund for further school aid. It led to much reform in accreditation, curriculum, and education policy. It led to more spending on education in Missouri throughout the 1990's and 2000's.

Distrust of politicians by Missourians led to the passage of 1992's term limitation proposition. Passed by popular initiative started by a petition, the proposition forbid legislators from serving for more than 8 years in the same office (starting in 1994). Three quarters of Missouri favored the proposition, although professional politicians were predictably less enthusiastic about it. Proponents say the limits allow politics to serve the interests of the population instead of politicians, and opponents say it forces unexperienced politicians into power and experienced, knowledgeable one out. The term limits largely influenced increased Republican success in the 1990's and 2000's, as the advantage of incumbency was removed from the Democratic politicians who dominated Missouri's legislature.

Bob Griffin was the leader of the Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in history. A Democrat, during his term he had success in leading his party, and in the 1990's he provided significant aid to the Outstanding Schools Act. His previous popularity was overshadowed by scandal - in 1995 he was convicted of charges of corruption and sentenced to a prison term and fined for his transgressions.

Missouri is a "low-tax state" by many measures. By most, it ranks in the lowest third of taxes collected per person among the rest of the United States. Partially thanks to the 1980 Hancock Amendment, which limits taxation rate increases, Missouri spends less on "transportation, education, and welfare" than most other states. The text states that the "taxation system favored the rich" during the 1990's, although this seems to mean that Missouri's income tax was not strongly progressive (rather than actually being regressive) - the tax rate did increase for incomes larger than $9,000. The low-tax provisions have caused funding problems for education, road maintenance, and other state programs, especially after the decline in the national in state economy that followed the 1990's.

The Pony Express was the mail carrying service established by Missouri freight magnate William Russell, or Russell, Majors, and Waddell. It employed small riders to ride fast horses to transport mail from St. Joseph to California. It failed to unseat the Butterfield company's stagecoach route for the federal mail contract, and was finished off by the introduction of the telegraph.

The railroad systems that started during before the war stalled during it. After the war, difficulties, not the least of which was government corruption (alleged of Missouri Governor Fletcher, for example) forced most systems to merge or be bought out. The Missouri Legislature decided to favor road completion over debt payment, and largely financed the successful railroad lines that were subsequently built. The lines got built on the taxpayer dime, and led to explosive industrial and population growth in the industries and cities served by them.

Railroad installation acted as a spur for economic and population growth in Missouri. The cities served by the railroads, Kansas City being the best example, grew into a metropolis. Industries such as meat packing and mining took off with access to transportation in Kansas City, and already-present industries reaped the benefits of railroad proximity in St. Louis.

• Robert Van Horn was a newspaper publisher, mayor of Kansas City, and Representative in the Missouri General Assembly.
• William Rockhill Nelson was the publisher of the Kansas City Star. He pushed to host the 1900 DNC in Kansas City. He was a philanthropist, and KC has a large art gallery bearing his name.
• In Missouri, Democrat Joseph W. Folk, Republican Herbert S. Hadley, Progressive party member Albert D. Nortoni, and Democrat Elliott W. Major all offered a similar brand of reform that can be labeled as Progressive. As governors, Folk, Hadley, and Major constructed a clearly Progressive legislative program. They attempted to reform politics through the primary election system, the initiative and referendum procedures, and the bipartisan election boards. They attacked special interests such as the Royal Baking Powder Company, Standard Oil, and International Harvester. They passed public-interest legislation requiring compulsory school attendance, established the food and drug commission and the public service commission, and passed laws regulating securities and working conditions for women.

Despite adopting the newest scientific procedures and implementing the lastest technological advances, the prices farmers received for their crops and livestock was less than satisfactory. They organized to change government policies to favor them, and advocated: a subtreasury plan as a way to escape banks and bankers and sought inflated money that would increase their crop prices and ease the repayment of their debts. They also desired equitable tax laws, including a graduated income tax, and asked that the government reclaim unused land currently held for speculative purposes. Finally, they advocated direct election of the president and U.S. senators, along with government control and operation of the railroads and telephone and telegraph lines.

The Populists' agenda was largely driven by the interests of farmers, whose difficulty in turning a profit led them to support sweeping government-provided financial services, regulations, and reforms. They most fervently attacked the gold standard, hoping that coining silver would bosst their take, and also championed labor issues.

• Oliver Kelley - Not from Missouri, but he started The Grange, and brought it to Missouri in 1867.
• Richard Bland - A Democratic Representative, known by the anything-but bland nickname "Silver Dick." The nickname described his political views, which were basically about silver coinage and little else. He lost the Democratic presidential nomination to William Jennings Bryan.
• Thomas Crittenden - Governor during the Jesse James fiasco, he pardoned two of James' men, drawing much scorn.
• John Sappington Marmaduke - One of two Missouri politicians in history to share a name with the large cartoon dog, J.S. governed Missouri after Crittenden, and was a populist farmer's dream, supporting measures that allowed farmers to turn the tables and exploit railroads.
• Uriel Hall - A Moberly native, he gave lectures to Missouri farmers about farming and culture for the Farmer's Alliance. He stayed with the Democrats instead of joining the Populists' party, and won a seat in Congresss.
• William J. Stone - Servevd as Governor, and advocated silver coinage quite a bit. He was controversial later as a U.S. Senator, opposing World War I brought him much ire.

• Thomas Hart Benton - painter of frontier scenes
• George Caleb Bingham - politician and painter of the antebellum period and portraits, and notably, Order No. 11
• Carl Wimar - German painter of Indian an frotnier scenes
• Louiss Henri Sullivan - Architect and designer of the Wainright Building in St. Louis

• Mark Twain - noted writer, satirist, often wrote about life in the United States.
• Kate O'Flaherty Chopin - Except for The Awakening, in which she questioned women's role in society, she wrote about Louisiana themes.
• Sara Teasdale - Teasdale became nationally known for her lyrical, sophisticated poetry The Potter's Wheel, a journal produced by a group of young St. Louis women. William Marion Reedy gave her a wider forum in his Mirror, and she soon left St. Louis for New York, where she wrote her most significant poetry.
• Eugene Field - The son of Dred Scott's lawyer (ouch), he worked for newspapers before he was a noted children's poet, penning "Little Boy Blue," "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod," and others.
• Marrianne Moore - Misouri-born poet who wrote about everything from science to the arts to sports
• T.S. Eliot - Missouri-born poet who became a British citizen, and casually mentioned Missouri once in a poem (hooray).
• Harold Bell Wright - A prolific author whose works such as The Shepherd described his experience in the Ozarks.

Ragtime fused a syncopated beat that fused gospel, early forms of jazz, and funeral marches into this new genre.

• Scott Joplin - Missouri piano virtuoso, black ragtime pioneer
• Tom Turpin - Missouri piano virtuoso, black ragtime pioneer
• Percy Wenrich - Missouri ragtime composer, white exploiter of black musical success (big surprise)

William Marion Reedy published a magazine that influenced readers across the nation. Reedy contributed to literature by recognizing and publishing such important writers as Teasdale, Fanny Hurst, Edgar Lee Masters, and Homer Croy.

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• Dwight Brown - Missouri Secretary of State, controversial for his placement of delegate candidates on the ballot for the 1945 Constitutional Convention
• Phillip M. Donnelly - Governor who supported the 1945 Constitution and various reforms
• James T. Blair - Governor, supporter of varous reforms
• Warren E. Hearnes - Governor during the 1960's supporter of various reforms
• Christopher Bond - Governor in the 1970's
• forrest Smith - Democratic governor whose election was plagued by accusations of corruption from gambling interests in Kansas City
• Stuary Symington - Influential St. Louis native and president of Emerson Electric, Symington was a longtime Missouri U.S. Senator.
• Thomas Eagleton - A Missouri U.S. Senator, he was tapped by Democratic Presidential hopeful George McGovern, then subsequently dropped after it came out that he'd had medical "difficulties" and suffered from depression.

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Labor organized because conditions of work changed dramatically when large establishments replaced small ones. Before industrialization, bosses of small establishments knew the workers personally, and an individual could bargain with a boss that knew him. The industrialization of the nation meant corporate structures, in which many people, by buying shares, put their money into a company run by a board of directors. The board hired an executive to run the company. The executive then hired subordinates, and there soon developed a bureaucracy, putting several levels of management over laborers. Mass production of goods meant mechanization of production. Labor skills could easily be learned. Laborers took on the same characteristics as the machines they ran, that is, they became interchangeable and easily replaced. One worker could not successfully bargain under such arrangements. Withholding their labor as a group became the only weapon labor had. They organized to bargain collectively, with the threat of withholding their labor in mass if negotiations between their representatives and the representatives of management failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

James B. Eads built the first bridge at St. Louis across the Mississippi River, completing it in 1874. His bridge meant that the river no longer served as an obstacle to commerce with the East. Next, he saved New Orleans from being cut off from the Gulf of Mexico by creating a series of jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi River that kept the river from silting, allowing large ships to enter from the Gulf of Mexico and land at New Orleans.

The Omaha Platform made clear what the farmers wanted. They desired more influence in government through popular election of presidents and senators. These propositions indicated that farmers thought their interests ill served by the current government. Next, they put faith in a reformed government to take care of their interests. For example, they wanted the nationalization of the railroads or government ownership of the railroads, telephone, and telegraph companies. They wanted the government, not private banks, to control the money supply, so they advocated that government issue all currency. They wanted speculators to release control of land they did not occupy. They wanted a system of increasing available currency through the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 ounces of silver to 1 ounce of gold, and by instituting a subtreasury system that would make the government a lender of money at low interest rates with crops as collateral. The subtreasury would have allowed the marketing of goods at times other than when the supply was greatest and the price lowest. They wanted a graduated income tax and equal enforcement of the laws.

Railroads provided all-weather routes between cities and towns. Mass production of goods necessitated that massive amounts of raw materials be available for processing into manufactured items and that those items be sent to a mass of consumers. In short, railroads provided the transportation of raw materials to centers of production (cities) and the distribution of a mass of manufactured goods to many consumers.

Both Bingham and Benton produced art that depicted their surroundings. Well trained, both artists could draw well, knew much about light, and used color with confidence.

• Bingham showed frontier life and political activities with a realism that conveyed mystery and loneliness. His Order No. 11, discussed in Lesson 6 and reproduced in your text on page 187, showed the depth of privation caused to those who suffered from this unfortunate military strategy.
• Benton painted in a very distinctive manner, showing his human subjects with flowing muscles and vivid expressions. He viewed much of his work as a pictorial account of history.

• The work of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, continues to attract readers because his characters have such identifiable human characteristics. A satirist, a humorist, and always a writer who conveys exactly what he means in a clear and interesting style, Twain has been called the best novelist America has produced.
• Sara Teasdale wrote poetry that is still valued today. Her work, like Twain's, speaks to modern readers in language that conveys important meaning to them. The same is true of Kate Chopin, whose book The Awakening has been called the forerunner of books by important twentieth-century feminist writers.

Both Joplin and Turpin wrote and played a new style of music called ragtime. It used a syncopated beat that fused gospel, early forms of jazz, and funeral marches into this new genre. Both Turpin and Joplin were piano virtuosos.

William Marion Reedy published a magazine that influenced readers across the nation. Reedy contributed to literature by recognizing and publishing such important writers as Teasdale, Fanny Hurst, Edgar Lee Masters, and Homer Croy.

Seeking security, European nations signed secret treaties that obligated each country to defend the other. The treaties created two blocks of countries that opposed each other. England, France, and Russia formed one group and were called the Allies. Germany and Austria-Hungary were the chief partners in the other group and were called the Central Powers because of their location in the center of Europe. On June 28, 1914, a Serbian nationalist killed the Archduke of Austria. By August, the world was at war as one country after another was called upon to honor its treaty to defend the other. The United States entered the war in 1917 on the side of the Allies, primarily because Germany violated international law and U.S. neutrality by using submarines to stop U.S. ships supplying the Allies.

Agriculture and mining experienced depression during the 1920s, but the stock market and industry flourished. With agriculture in bad shape and a movement away from the land, towns and cities held a majority of Missouri's people for the first time. Labor productivity greatly increased, as did wages, but the wages did not keep up with the level of productivity, and companies reaped great profits. New items became available to consumers, such as electric refrigerators and vacuum cleaners. Of course, automobiles transformed transportation, and road building to accommodate cars spurred construction.

To buy automobiles, appliances, and other items, consumers often used a new idea called installment buying; they would pay a bit down with the obligation to make regular future payments. Personal debt increased. By the mid-1920s, making investmensts in companies to expand production became less attractive than placing profits in the stock market. Money that could have gone into the real economy, building plants and putting people to work making things, went into the stock market. In October, the stock market crashed. Banks that had lent money with stock as collateral could not return the money that investors had placed in them and so they went broke. Bank clients lost their savings. Companies also went bankrupt or dismissed workers. The economy almost stopped. The Great Depression was on its way.

Hoover believed in a limited role for government. To face the economic crisis, Hoover proposed no bold plan of federal intervention, encouraging private charities and local government to aid the destitute. Not until his last year as president did Hoover create the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to help banks, and the Federal Home Loan Bank to help homeowners with mortgages. Too little funding hampered these efforts. The crisis worsened; the gross national product went from $104 billion to $74.2 billion between 1929 and 1933; per capita income followed a similar path. Unemployment reached 25 percent in Missouri by 1933. Voters turned Hoover and the Republicans out of office in the 1932 election.

Voters sent Franklin D. Roosevelt to the White House and a large majority of Democrats to Congress. Roosevelt acted decisively, declaring a Bank Holiday to allow time for bank inspections. When the banks reopened, the runs on them diminished and depositors put their money back in them. Within the next 100 days, the government created more new laws to attack the depression than passed at any other time up to that date. The New Deal government passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act to deal with farm problems. Later it greatly improved rural life through the Rural Electrification Authority. The Emergency Relief Act provided direct government aid to those suffering the worst. Putting people to work formed the basis of much New Deal legislation. The Civilian Conservation Corps put young people to work on government projects. The biggest government work program employed all kinds of labor, including writers, actors, and artists. Called the Works Progress Administration, this program employed millions of people in the nation and tens of thousands in Missouri.

The Social Security Act provided basic support for those who could not manage for themselves. It was designed to be a foundation below which individuals in American society were not to be allowed to sink. The law provided federal funds for unemployment insurance and pensions for those who had paid social security taxes. Aid to dependent children attempted to give support to some of the most vulnerable members of society.

• Brown v. Board of Education, a U.S. Supreme Court decision, for practical purposes ended legal segregation in the country, doing away with the 1945 Missouri Constitution's clause segregating the public schools and other features of segregation in public accommodations.
• In 1957, the General Assembly created the Missouri Commission on Human Rights to oversee equal treatment of the races under the law.
• In 1961, the General Assembly passed the Fair Employment Practices Act, which prohibited discrimination in employment.
• In 1965, the legislature passed a Public Accommodations Act, outlawing discrimination by Missouri businesses. And in 1972, the General Assembly passed a Fair Housing Law, prohibiting discrimination in buying, selling, or renting housing.

The 1945 Constitution kept intact the three branches of government. It retained the nonpartisan court plan, made the Missouri Supreme Court responsible for overseeing lesser courts, abolished the office of justice of the peace, ended the practice of paying some judges from fees, and established the magistrate court system. While the structure of the legislature remained about the same, the executive branch underwent changes designed to make it clearer who had responsibility and to increase efficiency. Five executive departments were created, with provision for establishing five more if needed. The constitution strengthened the governor's control over finance by allowing him or her to appoint the director of revenue and the director of the budget. It also gave the governor power to assign agencies, boards, etc. to the appropriate department.

An African-American, Theodore McNeal achieved things during the 1960s and 1970s that a black person in the 1950s could only dream of doing. A vice president in the American Federation of Labor, McNeal won a seat in the Missouri Senate in 1960, was appointed to the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri in 1970, and was appointed as president of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissions in 1973. He had altogether a remarkable career.

John Danforth led the Republican Party to a position of surprising strength by 1976. He won the office of Missouri attorney general in 1968. He recruited such talented people as Christopher Bond and John Ashcroft to run for office. In 1970, Christopher Bond won the race for auditor, and in 1972, he won the race for governor. In the 1970 election, Danforth barely lost the race for U.S. Senate, falling to the distinguished Stuart Symington. In 1972, Danforth won the attorney general race, and another Republican, William Phelps, won the race for lieutenant governor. In 1974, Ashcroft lost a race for auditor, but in 1976 Danforth won a U.S. Senate seat, while Bond had a minor setback, losing to "Walking" Joe Teasdale. In 1976, Ashcroft won the attorney general race, and William Phelps was reelected as lieutenant governor. Despite these victories in state-wide contests, Republicans failed to win control of either house in the General Assembly.

The General Assembly passed a reorganization law in 1947. The number of school districts declined from more than 8,000 to just over 1,000. The law eliminated one-room schools and consolidated high schools so that students had better facilities and stronger faculties. Further consolidation occurred in 1969, again reducing the number of districts by about one-half.

The change from a predominantly rural population engaged in farming to an urban population dependent on manufacturing and services led to greater emphasis on education. Enrollments in colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher education began to increase after World War II, in part swelled by the very important G.I. Bill of Rights. Some three million veterans took advantage of this government-financed program to help those who fought for the country readjust to civilian life. Those who became educated led the way in science, engineering, teaching, technology, and other fields. Many Missourians learned the real significance of learning, that education enriched their lives. They wanted their children to gain this advantage and enrichment. Veterans also produced many children after the war. The baby boom generation supplied many students for the schools.

Citizens clearly supported the expansion of higher education by voting in favor of a $75 million bond issue for new buildings on public college and university campuses. The bond issue also called for improvement in the state penitentiary that had experienced a riot and for repair of the state hospital in Fulton that had suffered a fire. About half of the money went for campus construction.

Women began changing their roles in society after World War II, enrolling in colleges and universities in ever-increasing numbers. The women's rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s opened new opportunities for women, and their enrollments increased even more as they entered medical schools, business programs, and engineering in large numbers.

In 1961, Democratic governor John M. Dalton proposed expanding the number of junior colleges in the state. As a result, at least two years of higher education became available close to home for most citizens in the state. In addition, the University of Missouri expanded to Kansas City and to St. Louis, when the two-campus school became the University of Missouri System in 1963. In the late 1960s, the state created two new four-year campuses: Missouri Southern State College in Joplin and Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph. Finally, Harris-Stowe College in St. Louis became a part of the state system.

Officially called the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, the G.I. Bill provided government financing of education for veterans, provided loans for veterans to begin businesses, and supported those who returned to farms to obtain training in agriculture. More than three million individuals took advantage of the higher education opportunities.

Kansas City and St. Louis both have impressive art museums, both have active outdoor summer theaters, both have symphony orchestras, and both have impressive libraries. Each city has a campus of the University of Missouri and private institutions of higher education. Both cities have an extensive community college system. Both cities have fine public libraries. Kansas City area libraries also include the Linda Hall Library with an extensive holding of works on science and the Harry S Truman Presidential Library in Independence. St. Louis libraries and research holdings include the Vatican Archives housed in St. Louis University and the Missouri Historical Society. These are some of the more impressive cultural institutions among a host of them in both cities.

Missourians voted for Ronald Reagan for president over Jimmy Carter in 1980. They elected Christopher Bond over the incumbent Democrat governor, Joe Teasdale. John Ashcroft won reelection to the office of attorney general, and John Danforth still represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate. Republican James Antonio had won the office of auditor in 1978 and won reelection in 1982. For the rest of the 1980s, Republicans controlled that office in state government. In formerly strong Democratic districts in southeast and south central Missouri, Republicans Wendell Bailey and William Emerson replaced Richard Ichord and Bill Burlison.

Throughout the 1980s, Democrats controlled the legislature, but Republicans took the presidency again in 1984. John Ashcroft won the first of his two terms of governor in the same election, Roy Blunt became the first Republican to be elected secretary of state in many years, and Wendell Bailey won the office of treasurer. Republican William Webster became attorney general. So except for the victory of Harriett Woods for lieutenant governor, Republicans swept state-wide offices in 1984.

In 1986, Christopher Bond won election to the U.S. Senate, joining his Republican colleague John Danforth. Margaret Kelly, who had been appointed auditor when James Antonio resigned in 1984, becoming the first woman to hold state-wide office, won reelection to that office. Republican John Buechner took the U.S. House seat of Democrat Robert Young, long-time representative from St. Louis County. The ratio of Missouri Republicans to Democrats in the House now stood at four to five.

In 1988, only Mel Carnahan, among Democratic nominees, won a state office, when he became lieutenant governor. George Herbert Walker Bush carried Missouri in his race for president, and John Danforth won a third term in the U.S. Senate. In U.S. House races, the ratio of Republicans to Democrats remained the same.

Desegregation cases in Kansas City and St. Louis affected many Missourians, as both cities brought cases into the courts questioning plans to bring African-American students into suburban schools and bringing suburban students into city schools. Both involved busing students for the purpose of desegregating districts. The cases differed somewhat, but in the end the courts upheld the desegregation of both cities, requiring Missouri taxpayers to support the expensive efforts.

The Nancy Cruzan case bought more national attention to Missouri. In 1983, Cruzan suffered an automobile accident that left her comatose. Four years later she remained unconscious, kept alive by a feeding tube. Her parents filed suit in Jasper County Probate Court to have the tube removed. The court ruled in favor of the parents' request. Medical authorities appealed the case to the Missouri Supreme Court, which overruled the lower court. The Cruzans appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court, which in June 1990 ruled that a patient in Cruzan's condition had the right to die, if the patient had previously made known that is what she wanted. Cruzan had put nothing to that effect in writing. Later, through witnesses, the parents showed that she had discussed the desire to end her life if faced with the circumstances in which she found herself. The local court gave permission to remove the tube.

Another case concerned Roe v. Wade, the famous 1973 abortion rights case. The Missouri legislature passed a law that declared that life began with conception. The law placed a number of restrictions on medical personnel performing abortions. Pro-choice advocates questioned the constitutionality of the law in court. They won in federal district court and in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. William Webster, Missouri's attorney general, appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court upheld the Missouri statute.

A third case involved dancing in the Purdy High School. The courts ruled that school officials had the right to prescribe conduct in the schools.

The Hancock Amendment was passed by initiative and referendum to limit state spending. Hancock took the right of raising taxes and fees out the General Assembly's hands, requiring a vote of the people to increase taxes or to increase fees. Thus, the legislature lost its ability to solve financial problems or to initiate new programs that required money without the time-consuming process of taking the issue to the people. Republican Mel Hancock succeeded in partially changing our representative system of government into a direct democracy.

• Harriett Woods became the first woman to win election to state-wide office in Missouri, when in 1984 she won the contest for lieutenant governor.
• J.B. "Jet" Banks became a force in the Missouri Senate and in Democratic politics. An African-American from St. Louis, Banks became majority floor leader in the Senate during the 1980s. Woods and Banks represent the increasing importance of women and blacks in Missouri politics during the 1980s.

The decade began with a judicial ruling that Missouri's funding formula for public schools was inadequate. In response, Governor Mel Carnahan and members of the General Assembly cooperated in passing Senate Bill 380, which called for a large tax increase to help those schools with low tax bases but with high levies to receive more state money. Advocates of better schools argued that the new formula would provide needed aid in creating more educational equity in Missouri.

Desegregation efforts in St. Louis and Kansas City took large chunks of tax money from the state. Approved by the courts, the efforts included renovation of long-neglected city schools and the transportation of city students in St. Louis to schools in St. Louis County and suburban children to new magnet schools in St. Louis City. The idea was to provide city students (mostly African-American) with opportunities offered in mostly white suburban schools and county students (mostly Caucasian) with opportunities to study in superior special subject schools in the city. In Kansas City, the program focused on improving city schools. Attorney general Jay Nixon tried to end the programs, because the purposes had been met. The issues were not completely resolved by the end of the decade.

Despite legislative efforts, funding for neither elementary/secondary nor higher education in Missouri met national averages, even after the famous tax increase. Fees for attendance at colleges and universities continued to rise throughout the decade, so opportunities for youngsters with few funds continued to decline. Colleges raised student fees; school districts raised local taxes to improve conditions. The other way to improve education, some said, was to institute more testing. Surprisingly, Missouri students scored above national averages on tests even though they received smaller investments from taxpayers in their education.

The disastrous flooding in 1993 called into question the building of levies and floodwalls to control the rivers channeled by the Corps of Engineers. The Corps had spent more than fifty years deepening and straightening the rivers for navigational purposes and building structures along the banks of rivers to control high water. The 1993 flood rose over many of the barriers, because with the flood plains blocked off, the water had no place to go other than to keep getting higher behind the levies. When the water topped the levies, it did so with great force, covering vast areas of land. The great flood called into question Corps policies.

The prosperity of the 1990s reminded the author of those past decades. In addition, all of these decades saw emphasis placed on consumption of goods. The 1880s and 1890s produced large, elaborately decorated houses, as did the decade of the 1990s. Remember the term "starter castles"? In addition, the gap between rich and poor increased in all of the decades. In both the 1920s and the 1990s, labor became more productive, but wages did not keep up with greater productivity. The decades shared as well the idea that the stock market would continue to rise, and ever more people invested in stocks. Some economists during the 1990s said that business cycles no longer existed. Finally, in all of the decades, government policy aided business growth. Even President Bill Clinton prided himself as a job creator through free trade and business growth.

• Bob F. Griffin - The record-holder for longest time served as Missouri's speaker of the house, Griffin was indicted and convicted of "influence peddling" in 1995, and served prison time.
• William Webster - An attorney general in the 1980's, he was a passionate advocate of conservative causes. In the 1992 election for governor, his primary-stage opponent Roy Blunt accused him of illegal dealings. He won the primary, lost the election to Mel Carnahan, and served jail time after being convicted of some of the charges Blunt alleged.
• Richard Franklin - A Missouri state senator from Independence, he notably helpd create the "Outstanding School's Act"'s budget formula. He predicted the booming '90's would not be sustained and that cutting taxes would lead to a budget crunch.