ajones4′s weblog

            The year 1970 was a year that will never be forgotten to many Lawrence locals and alum, but to many KU students it has no real significance. I had no idea about the turmoil that occurred on our campus and around Lawrence until spring of my Junior year when I heard a speaker talk about her involvement in the chaos. As I mentioned before, CJ Brune is a feminist activist who came and spoke to one of my classes. Most of us in the class had no idea about any of the riots and violence that hit so close to our home here at KU.

            During this time in history, there was much to speak up about. People were protesting the war in Vietnam and demanding increased rights for women and African-Americans. The Black Student Union was very active on campus and in high schools around Lawrence. Their goal was to expand the Black Studies curriculum in schools, but were typically met with resistance. The Black Student Union leader also called for all African American students to arm themselves in order to protect against threats and violence aimed at them. The turmoil surrounding civil rights sparked riots, sniper fire, and general chaos in the town and on campus as the spring semester was coming to a close.

            On the evening of April 20^th, 1970 the Kansas Union was set on fire. The arsonist was never caught and the case remains unsolved. The University officials tried to avoid pointing fingers, but there was gossip and speculation that the Black Student Union had some hand in it. After the fire even more mayhem erupted. The Kappa Sigma Fraternity was set on fire, and Gambles Furniture store located downtown was firebombed. Increased riots and racial confrontation flooded the streets of Lawrence. During the summer of 1970, a black man and a white man were killed as a result of police confrontation.

            At first I was surprised to learn about all of the violence and unrest that took place here at KU and around Lawrence. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Lawrence was a liberal college town filled with independent, free-thinkers, and although mot much has changed in that sense, I think we can all be grateful for the change in women’s and African American that were brought by people unafraid to demand equality.

All Information from:

“Fire and Smoke,” KU History; This week in KU history, http://www.kuhistory.com/proto/story.asp?id=73 (July 24, 2008)

            On a Friday night in February in 1972, thirty women peacefully occupied the East Asian Studies building for thirteen hours. What seems like a very simple act rooted in the desire to increase women’s rights, turned the heads of many, including Chancellor Laurence Chalmers who was called out of a bridge game to address the protest. Their goal stated simply as a “means of obtaining the resources to meet the pressing needs of women.”(1) The women’s demands were simple, yet today we take many of these privileges for granted.

            They requested an Affirmative Action negotiating team to meet regularly and discuss women’s rights. They also called for a free child care center on campus, a woman to fill the open position of vice-chancellor of Academic Affairs, a representative to recruit female students to the University, an end to unequal employment, a women’s health program, and the creation of a Women’s Studies Department.(2)

            As the women discussed negotiations with the Chancellor and members of the Student Executive Committee in the early morning hours of the next day, they were pleased with the well-deserved attention they were finally receiving. Steps were put in place to start recognizing the needs of women at the University. Shortly after, funding and services available addressing women’s health increased and less than a year after the sit-in, Hilltop Child Care Center opened it’s doors.

            These protests took place during a revolutionary time in Lawrence and at the University of Kansas. Minority groups such as women, blacks, and gays were speaking out demanding recognition and respect from university officials and the local community. Although violence and much debate took place during this time of great change, people made their voices heard and helped create the environment we live in everyday here at KU.

            This topic is especially interesting to me because one of the original February Sisters came and spoke to our multicultural education class last semester. CJ Brune was a student at KU during this time and participated in the protest on February 4, 1972. Her passion for women’s rights and ability to be a voice for those who couldn’t speak up helped initiate the changes that took place here in the 70s. She continues in her pursuit of equal rights for women and speaks about her experiences at KU that helped make her who she is, and helped make KU what it is today.

            Few states had a harder time than Kansas coming up with a state constitution. The people of Kansas and Congress had a hard time agreeing on the role of slavery in the state and it ultimately took 4 tries to come up with a constitution that go all the way.

            For this blog I listened to a podcast from the Kansas Memory website titled ‘Quadruple Constitutions’. It begins with a discussion about the condition of the state of Kansas leading up to writing these constitutions. The narrator describes it as “chaos,” mentioning that there are two active legislatures in Kansas, one official and one not-so-official. The narrators then go on to talk about the 4 attempts at a constitution, named after the place where the convention and writing took place.

            The unofficial legislature was a group of free-staters who set up shop in Topeka, determined to admit Kansas as a free state. They weren’t recognized by congress but drafted the first attempt at a state constitution in 1855. This constitution abolished slavery but also attempted to forbid free blacks into the state. It is turned down pretty quick by congress due to the divide in Congress about slavery. The second attempt at a constitution was the Lecompton Constitution. The man in charge of this convention was John Calhoun, a pro-slavery advocate, who included slavery as acceptable in the state. This constitution was voted on 3 times but continued to fail because of the changing times; more free-staters moving in and not approving it. The third attempt at a state constitution was the Leavenworth Constitution. This was the most liberal constitution yet and had the stamp of approval from the free-staters. It was radically antislavery, allowed free blacks into the state, and gave women some property rights. The Leavenworth Constitution is considered a pioneering document because of how liberal it was, but ended up failing because of it. The fourth and final try was the Wyandotte Constitution drafted in  1859. It was written by free-staters who were considered reasonable people. Some characteristics of this constitution included no voting for blacks, property rights for women, and women were allowed to vote in school board elections.*

            One thing I found interesting about the constitutions was that 3 of the 4 constitutions are displayed in the collection, but the Topeka Constitution never surfaced and is speculated to still be floating around somewhere. I think it’s also interesting that Kansas is the only state to go through so many tries to find a constitution that can please the most people. This just goes to show that Kansas really was a hot spot and that although it has it’s stereotypes today, was once a place full of conflict, controversy, and sometimes scandal.  

* from the podcast at http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/constitutions.htm

            We’ve all played it, and some of us wish to be back in the days when our biggest worry was who was next to get malaria, or if we were going to be able to shoot enough bison to feed our family on our last box of ammo. The game Oregon Trail entertained us for hours in elementary school, but acted as a legitimate (yet obviously simple) glimpse into what life on the trail might have been like. We had the pleasure of being virtually unaffected by our hunting and trading skills on the trail, except for a little blow to our pride when we died from a snake bite. We all know the Oregon Trail was not as simple and lighthearted as the game made it out to be, but some don’t know that the true Oregon Trail passed right through our  little town of Lawrence.

            The Oregon Trail originated in Independence, Missouri and headed west; some destined for Oregon and others splitting south in present-day eastern Idaho and traveled the California Trail across the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada into the sunshine state.*

            Before Kansas was even open for settlement, people began moving westward on the trail. Between 350,000 and 500,000 people made the trip between 1841 and 1867 leaving their homes and sometimes their families in pursuit of settling land out west. 

            Before I started researching the Oregon Trail through Kansas, I knew it passed through Lawrence, but I was unsure of the approximate location. I found a few sources that claim Route 40 as the path through Lawrence toward Topeka and Bellvue.** I know Route 40 because I take it out of town to sail at Clinton Lake, and was surprised to learn that this road, otherwise known as 6^th street, is the route so many endured on their way to a new world out west.

            Some claim that the ruts from wagon wheels can still be spotted around town, which I find highly unlikely, but it can be bizarre to think about our 6^th street being home to so many so long ago. Next time you’re driving down 6^th, try to imagine the wagons and trade posts… our town apart of yet another important part of history.

* http://www.nps.gov/archive/fola/oregon.htm

** http://www.route40.net/history/oregon.shtml

2) According to www.thefreedictionary.com, nationalism is defined as: “1. Devotion to the interests or culture of one’s nation, 2. The belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals, 3. Aspirations for national independence in a country under foreign domination.” Based on this definition, is the government’s policy on Indian removal an example of American nationalism? If so, why?

         I believe the first part of the definition, “devotion to the interest or culture of one’s nation”, is the government’s motive behind removing Indians from their own territory. The government’s policy on Indian removal is an example of American nationalism because President Andrew Jackson believed that they were truly inferior and weren’t doing their part to assimilate into American culture. In 1833 he is quoted as saying,

“They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement which are essential…Established in the midst of a superior race…they must yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear.”*

In the eyes of our government, Indians weren’t part of our culture, and had no right to live and prosper on their land. Although many tribes adopted the English language, Christianity, and other European customs, they still weren’t considered equals and were seen as in the way of our nation pursuing what was “rightfully theirs”.

         Andrew Jackson, on behalf of our government truly believed that they were doing what was best for the Indians;

“This unhappy race…are now placed in a situation where we may well hope that they will share in the blessings of civilization and be saved from the degradation and destruction to which they were rapidly hastening while they remained in the states.”*

This twisted notion that they are only happy if they were “civilized” according to European-American ways, shows just how nationalistic our government was about who had rights to the land and the idea that was later coined, manifest destiny. Jackson didn’t believe them to be apart of out nation (even though they had settled first), therefore he was doing what he thought was best for the American nation as a whole – acting devoted to his own culture and nation.

*From Powerpoint, The Creation of Indian Territory. June 9, 2008