III the first half of the nineteenth century 'Alis smiri. though a slave State, w•as not an ardent defender of slavery. and a very large proportion if its citizens were interested in movements look ing toward the gradual entaneipation of the slaves. With the rise of the abolitionists. how ever, \lissotr•i became decidedly a pro-slavery State. It favored the annexation of Texas in 1845, and took a very prominent share in the Mexican War, General Kearny's army of inva sion consisting largely of Missourians. In 1849 the Legislature adopted the so-called Jackson Resolutions. in which the right of Congress to regulate slavery in She Territories was trenchant ly denied, and the principle of squatter sov ereignty was asserted. The Jackson Resolutions, however, did not represent the unanimous feeling in the State, when they covertly threatened se cession. In the election of 1860 the vote in the State for Douglas and for Bell was nearly equal, while Breckenridge and Lincoln received a far smaller vote than the others. The Legislature thereupon issued a call for a con vention to consider the relation of the State to the Union. In the elections for the convention, the secessionist delegates were defeated by a pop ular majority of 80,000. and when the convention met—February to April, 1861—it declared that it could find no cause to dissolve the connection between the State and the Federal Union, and expressed the hope that some compromise might be effected between the North and the South. In reply to President Lincoln's call for troops, Gov ernor Jackson. who, with the rest of the State Government. was in favor of secession, refused to participate in the 'unholy crusade,' and sum moned the State militia to arms. Between the State militia and the Federal troops, under Colonel Lyon, aided by the volunteer bands winch the loyalists of Saint Louis had organized, civil war ensued. The Governor, together with a majority of the Legislature, tied to the southern part of the State, and the supreme power was assumed by the convention, which declared all the offices vacant and proceeded to install a pro visional The fugitive Legislature responded by declaring Missouri a member of the Southern Confederacy. ( For military opera
tions in :Missouri. see Civil. WAR.) In 1S63 the convention passed an ordinance of emancipation of doubtful legality, which was to go into effect in 1870. With the fall of the Confederate power in Missouri the regular State Government was reorganized (1864), and in January, 1865, a con stitutional conveption controlled by the radical union party assembled in Saint Louis. The new Constitution provided for the immediate emanci pation of the slaves and imposed ,.evere political disabilities on all who had participated in the re bellion; all teachers, physicians, lawyers, and ministers were required to take a searching oath of loyalty. The qualifications for the franchise deprived a vast proportion of the citizens of the right to vote and continued in force till 1871, when a more liberal registration law was adopted. A third constitution went into effect in 1875. Since the war the prosperity of the State has been greatly increased by the development of its min eral industries and the growth of railroads. The improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi and the Missouri was carried on actively for many years. In the matter of public educa tion there has been exceedingly rapid progress, the school fund of the State being one of the largest in the Union. Preparations are now (1903) nearly completed for an exposition to be held at Saint Louis to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the acquisition of Louisiana. See SAINT LOUIS WORLD'S FAIR.
From 1824 to the Civil War Missouri was always Democratic, but the Whig minority was very strong. From 1864 to 1872 the Republi cans were in power, but the defection of a large body of Liberal Republicans who were opposed to the vindictive policy pursued against those who had participated in the Rebellion led to the of Democratic supremacy, which has remained unbroken since, save for the election of 1894, when the Republicans secured a majority in the Legislature and the Congressional delega tion. The following is a list of the Governors of the State with their party affiliations: