Editing Jackson County, Missouri (section)

==History==

===Early years===
Jackson County was long home to members of the indigenous [[Osage Indians|Osage]] tribe, who occupied this territory at the time of European encounter. The first known European explorers were [[France|French]] [[Animal trapping|trapper]]s who used the [[Missouri River]] as a highway for explorations and trading with regional [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes. Jackson County was claimed as a part of the territory of [[New France]], until 1763 and the [[Great Britain|British]] victory in the [[French and Indian War]]. After that, France ceded this territory west of the Mississippi River to Great Britain's ally, [[Spain]]. In 1800 Spain was forced by France in the [[Third Treaty of San Ildefonso]] to return its [[Louisiana Territory]] (of which modern Jackson County formed a part) to France. Soon abandoning its claims in North America, Napoleon of France sold the territory to the United States in the [[Louisiana Purchase]] of 1803.

Operating on behalf of President [[Thomas Jefferson]], explorers [[Meriwether Lewis]] and [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]] passed through Jackson County on their notable [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] in 1804, to survey peoples, property and resources of the [[Louisiana Territory]]. Among other items, their report indicated a "high, commanding position" along the river within the current boundaries of Jackson County; in 1808 [[Fort Osage]] was constructed there. This stockade and trading post was one of the first U.S. military installations within the Louisiana Purchase territory, and remained active until 1822.

In 1821, Jackson County was included in the newly admitted state of [[Missouri]]. Jackson County was organized on December 15, 1826, and named for [[Andrew Jackson]], [[U.S. Senator]] from Tennessee and military hero of the [[War of 1812]], who would ascend to the [[President of the United States|Presidency]] shortly after, in 1829.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ | title=How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri | author=Eaton, David Wolfe | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ/page/n74 177]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n166 167]}}</ref> Its county seat was designated as Independence, then a minuscule settlement near a spring. However, the rapid increase in westward exploration and expansion ultimately resulted in Independence becoming the starting point for three of the great Westward Trails: the [[Santa Fe Trail]], the [[Oregon Trail]], and the [[California Trail]]. Following the [[American Civil War]] and construction of railroads through this area, nearby Kansas City, Missouri, ultimately eclipsed Independence, though both towns remain county seats.

In 1838, the "Town Company" bought a small piece of land along the Missouri River in northern Jackson County, establishing "Westport Landing" (today this is known as the [[River Market]] district). The area outside Westport Landing was renamed in 1839 as the "Town of Kansas", after the local [[Kaw (tribe)|Kanza or Kaw tribe]].

The town was chartered by Jackson County in 1850 and incorporated by the State of Missouri in 1853 as the "City of Kansas". In 1889, with a population of around 60,000, the city adopted a new charter and changed its name to Kansas City. In 1897, Kansas City annexed Westport.

===Latter Day Saints===
{{See also| Expulsion of Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri}}
[[File:Independence - RLDS Temple 02.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Independence temple|Community of Christ Temple]] in Independence, Missouri, USA. Dedicated 1994]]
Jackson County figures prominently in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as Mormons. The Church was formed in Palmyra, [[New York (state)|New York]], in 1830, located in Western New York, north of the Finger Lakes Region. March 1831 President [[Joseph Smith]] said that a location on the Missouri–Kansas border was to be the [[Eschatology|latter-day]] "[[Zion (Latter Day Saints)|New Jerusalem]]"<ref>{{cite book |first= Joseph Fielding |last= Smith |author-link= Joseph Fielding Smith |editor-first= Bruce R. |editor-last= McConkie |editor-link= Bruce R. McConkie |title= Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith |place= Salt Lake City |publisher= [[Bookcraft]] |volume= 3 |page= 74 |year= 1956 |lccn= 56034495 |oclc= 3188957 }}</ref> with the "center place" located in Independence, the [[county seat]].<ref>[[Doctrine and Covenants]] {{lds||dc|57|1|5}}</ref> Traveling to the area in the summer of 1831, Smith and some associates formally proclaimed Jackson County as the site in a ceremony in August 1831.<ref name = hmm>[[H. Michael Marquardt]], [http://www.xmission.com/~research/about/temple.htm "The Independence Temple of Zion"], 1997. Retrieved March 28, 2008.</ref>

Leadership and members of the Church began moving to Jackson County soon after but open conflict with earlier settlers ensued, driven by religious and cultural differences. Many early settlers along the Missouri River had come from the upper South: Kentucky and Tennessee, for instance, and brought their slaves and [[pro-slavery]] customs with them. They believed that the "[[Yankee]]" Mormons, from New York and northern states, were [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.blacklds.org/mob |title= The Manifesto of the Mob |work= Blacklds.org |access-date=July 10, 2013}}</ref> Mobs in the public and private sector used force to drive individual Saints from Jackson to nearby counties within Missouri and put Latter Day Saints on notice that they had until November 6, 1833, to leave the county ''en masse''. On November 23, 1833, the few remaining LDS residents were [[Expulsion of Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri|ordered to leave Jackson County]]. By mid-1839, following the [[Mormon War (1838)|Missouri Mormon War]], the Mormons were driven from the state altogether. They did not return to Jackson County or Missouri in significant numbers until 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War.

===Civil War===
During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Jackson County was the scene of several engagements, the most notable of which was the [[Battle of Westport]] in 1864, sometimes referred to as "the [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]] of Missouri". The Union victory here firmly established Northern control of Missouri, and led to the failure of Confederate General [[Sterling Price]]'s [[Price's Raid|Missouri expedition]]. Other noteworthy battles were fought in [[First Battle of Independence|Independence]] in 1862, [[Battle of Lone Jack|Lone Jack]] a few days later, and again in [[Second Battle of Independence|Independence]] in 1864.

Jackson County was strongly affected by Union General [[Thomas Ewing, Jr.|Thomas Ewing]]'s infamous [[General Order No. 11 (1863)]]. With large numbers of Confederate sympathizers living within its boundaries, and active Confederate operations in the area a frequent occurrence, the Union command was determined to deprive Confederate [[bushwhacker]]s of all local support. Ewing's decree practically emptied the rural portions of the county, and resulted in the burning of large portions of Jackson and adjacent counties. According to American artist [[George Caleb Bingham]], who described the order as "imbecilic" and was a resident of Kansas City at the time, one could see the "dense columns of smoke arising in every direction", symbolic of what he termed "a ruthless military despotism which spared neither age, sex, character, nor condition". Because of the destruction carried out under the order, its legacy haunted Jackson County for decades after the war.

===Twentieth century===
[[File:Harry S. Truman statue -Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, USA-18Jan2009.jpg|upright|right|thumb|[[Harry S. Truman]] statue in [[Independence, Missouri]]]]
The coming of the railroads and the building of stockyards led to the rapid expansion of Kansas City in the late 19th century. During the 1920s and '30s, the city became a noted center for [[Jazz]] and [[Blues]] music, as well as the headquarters of [[Hallmark Cards]] and the site of [[Walt Disney]]'s first animation studio. The county fared better than many during the [[Great Depression]], as local political boss [[Thomas Pendergast]] worked to implement a $50,000,000 public works project that provided thousands of jobs. One of Pendergast's political protegés was a young [[World War I]] veteran from Independence, [[Harry S. Truman]], who had been his nephew's commanding officer in the war. Truman was elected Presiding Judge (equivalent to a County Executive) of Jackson County with Pendergast support in 1926. He later was elected as a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from Missouri, [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] and, in 1945, following the death of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], succeeded him to become the thirty-third [[President of the United States]]. Truman was also elected president in 1948 in his own right.

Following [[World War II]], developers followed new highways and created subdivisions for new housing, which increasingly encroached on rural portions of the county. They provided housing for the nation's returning veterans and their young families. Independence, [[Blue Springs, Missouri|Blue Springs]] and [[Lee's Summit, Missouri|Lee's Summit]] underwent growth during this period, which continues to the present. Kansas City, on the other hand, suffered problems of [[urban decay]] as jobs and families left the industrial city, problems common to many large American cities in the late 20th century.

Recent building projects have sought to reverse this trend, including work on the city's famous City Market, [[Westport, Kansas City|Westport]] district, [[18th and Vine Historic District]], and most recently, the [[Kansas City Power & Light District]].<ref>Information for this section was obtained largely from [http://jchs.org/175th%20Anniversary_files/175%20Year%20History%20in%20a%20Nutshell.htm 175 Years of Jackson County History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123193052/http://jchs.org/175th%20Anniversary_files/175%20Year%20History%20in%20a%20Nutshell.htm |date=January 23, 2009}}, Jackson County Historical Society.</ref>

In 2024, the statues of Andrew Jackson were voted about whether to remove as to not idolize a slave owner or not. The plaques added in 2021 to the statues to hopefully add context and support for keeping the statues,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-06 |title=Plaque added to statue in Kansas City to acknowledge Andrew Jackson owned slaves |url=https://fox4kc.com/news/plaques-added-to-andrew-jackson-statue-outside-courthouse-acknowledge-history-of-slave-ownership/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV {{!}} News, Weather, Sports |language=en-US}}</ref> wording it so they ended up in support of removing native Americans from their land via the [[Indian Removal Act]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-10 |title=Jackson County wants to remove Andrew Jackson statues outside courthouses |url=https://fox4kc.com/news/jackson-county-to-remove-andrew-jackson-statues-outside-courthouses/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV {{!}} News, Weather, Sports |language=en-US}}</ref>

Some of the county's local history is presented at the [[Pleasant Hill Historical Society Museum]], in [[Pleasant Hill, Missouri|Pleasant Hill]] on the southern edge of the county.