Missouri State
Missouri State, named after Missouri River, cuts across the state to join Mississippi River. The state is endowed with numerous forests, lakes, and rivers, where residents spend their time in outdoor recreation. Before the US acquired the region during Louisiana Purchase, the region was under French control, and the main economic activities were fur trade, agriculture, and transportation business along the Mississippi River. The construction of railway across the state opened up more trade, in addition to development of Kansas and St. Louis as the two main cities in the state. The debate on Missouri State will focus on how to improve its economy to enhance freedom and the living standards of its residents.
Missouri has a vibrant economy that mainly depends on agriculture and industries. The main manufactures are aerospace and transportation. However, other industries, such as food products, printing and publishing, electrical gadgets, chemicals, and machinery have also contributed to the state’s economy. The state is second after Texas in terms of agriculture, and the most productive crops include corn, wheat, soybeans. Animal products include beef and dairy products. The state also boasts of attractive resorts and lakes that boost tourist income.
Missouri is a multicultural state due to its traditional role of being an entrance for migrants as they head west. The presence of the Ozark Mountains and lakes created a unique Ozark culture, which attract different kinds of travelers. The influx of numerous ethnic groups and races in St. Louis and Kansas City, the two main cities in the region, has helped in creating the jazz, blues, and barbecue cultures. Most residents of Missouri are Catholics. I am a Southern state resident, a region with plenty beautiful sites that offer plenty of outdoor escapades.
Missouri has always been supporting women’s right since the nineteenth century. Prior to this time, women in Missouri held equal rights with children while married women held fewer rights than children. Women were not permitted to vote, occupy public offices, or join military. Soon after the Civil War, Missouri’s senators brought the motion in the Senate to support women suffrage. Before the twentieth century, women in Missouri were allowed to work in public offices, but not to hold elective positions. The struggle for equality became a reality in the 1970s, but more struggles are underway until sexual discrimination is eliminated.
On issues of slavery, the Missouri Compromise became the first Congressional compromise concerning slavery, which demonstrated the state’s support for slavery. Slavery remained legal in Missouri, even after joining the Union. An agreement had been signed stating that no territory that accepted slavery could be allowed in the Union. The controversy emerged when Missouri state bill was amended to prevent more slave from entering the state while slaves’ children who were already in the state had to remain as slave until they attained 25 years of age. Slavery abandoned after the Civil War.
The state government, rather than the federal government, holds the rights to personal autonomy. The state’s rights are provided for in the Tenth Amendment, where authorities not entrusted to the US by the Constitution, nor banned by it to states, are kept by the states, or are held by people. This means that Missouri residents rely on the state government to direct them on what to do.
Missouri is not ready to disengage herself from the Union, despite pressure from the South to leave the union. At the beginning of the Civil War, some people from the South favored secession, but after a referendum, Missouri was against secession. Petitions for secession have never been taken seriously, despite the growing trend among states to get rid of Democratic rule. Twenty states, including Missouri, have already requested for secession, after realizing that the federal government’s act of divisiveness and lack of commitment to end economic woes. The number of those petitioning for secession in each state has never reached the threshold of 25,000 signatures, and this depicts that Missouri residents are not ready for secession, but would continue supporting the Union.