Colton's New Sectional Map of the State of Missouri. Compiled from United States Surveys and other Authentic Sources.

1861 Colton Map of Missouri at the outset of the Civil War

Publication Date: 1861

About this Item

Average. Mounted on fresh linen. Varnished. Dampstaining. Cracking. Wear along original fold lines. Some small areas reinstated or infilled. Size 36.5 x 42.5 Inches. This is an 1861 J. H. Colton map of Missouri at the beginning of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). The map captures Missouri during a period when it was a violent microcosm of the greater abolition/pro-slavery divide. Although officially a slave state, Missouri harbored a large population of absolutists on both sides of the debate - and more from each side flooded in from 1850 on - turning it into a hotbed of violence and unrest that did not relent until long after the Civil War. A Closer Look Missouri appears divided into counties, with the Public Land Survey System grid superimposed. Cities and towns are labeled, with St. Joseph, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Palmyra prominent. Roads and railroads (including the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, the North Missouri Railroad, and the Cairo and Fulton Railroad) snake through the state. The American Civil War in Missouri The American Civil War officially began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. However, the history of conflict in Missouri began decades earlier. Tensions in Missouri began in 1820 following the Missouri Compromise when Missouri was allowed to join the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. As part of the compromise, Congress declared that slavery would be illegal north of 36° 30' latitude. This brought southern slaveholders to Missouri, but its proximity to free states made Missouri an important part of the Underground Railroad. A little over thirty years later, as part of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Congress decreed that the issue of slavery would be decided by a vote in the Kansas and Nebraska territories. This led to a flood of pro-slavery Missourians (known as 'Border Ruffians') into Kansas as well as anti-slavery 'Free-Staters' from northern states. Inevitably, violence erupted between these two factions in what has become known as 'Bleeding Kansas.' The two sides exchanged atrocities, with pro-slavery forces sacking Lawrence and abolitionist John Brown leading the Pottawatomie massacre. Finally, during the 1860 - 1861 secession crises, Missouri declared that it would remain 'militarily neutral,' not declaring allegiance to either the Union or the Confederacy and fighting any incursion into the state from either side. However, Missouri's newly elected governor, Claiborne Fox Jackson, was an ardent supporter of the Confederacy and worked behind the scenes to advocate for Missouri's secession. A potential flashpoint in Missouri was the St. Louis Arsenal (the greatest Union asset in the state), which held over 39,000 small arms. Unionists believed Jackson wanted to use the Missouri State Guard to capture the Arsenal and send the arms south to the Confederacy. President Lincoln sent reinforcements to guard the Arsenal, which eventually led to Union forces attacking the Missouri State Guard after learning that the Guard had received Confederate artillery, presuming (rightly?) that the artillery would be used to attack the Arsenal. Both sides attempted to sign a truce, but it did not last. By June 1861, the pro-Confederate elements of the government fled Jefferson City and created a government-in-exile in Neosho, Missouri, where it seceded. (In reality, this action meant almost nothing since the pro-Confederate government did not control any of Missouri.) After the governor's office was officially declared vacant, a pro-Union government took power, aligned with the Union, and tens of thousands of Missourians eventually served in the Union Army. In Missouri, armed field and guerilla conflict persisted throughout the war. The guerrilla aspects of the war in Missouri lasted well into the 1880s, even if the continued violence was not seen as directly related to the war. The James-Younger Gang, led by Jesse James, was one of the groups t. Seller Inventory # SectionalMissouri-colton-1861

Bibliographic Details

Title: Colton's New Sectional Map of the State of ...

Publication Date: 1861