Nebraska
- Nebraska
- Nebraska has been one of the United States since 1867; it was No. 37.
- Nebraska's nickname is the Cornhusker State, and in fact corn is one of its chief products.
- The area of Nebraska was bought from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
- Nebraska's name comes from a Native American word meaning "flat water" after the Platte River which runs through it.
American Heritage Dictionary:
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Ne·bras·ka
(Abbr. NE or Nebr.)A state of the central United States in the Great Plains. It was admitted as the 37th state in 1867. The region became part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and was made a separate territory by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Its present boundaries were established in 1861. Lincoln is the capital and Omaha the largest city. Population: 1,770,000.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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Nebraska
State, west-central U.S. Area: 77,349 sq mi (200,333 sq km). Population: (2010) 1,826,341. Capital: Lincoln. Nebraska is bordered by South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming. The Missouri River is on its eastern boundary. The North Platte and South Platte rivers unite in southwest-central Nebraska to form the Platte River. Various prehistoric peoples inhabited the area as early as 8000 . Native American tribes living in the area include the Pawnee, Oto, and Omaha in the east and centre, as well as the Oglala, Sioux, Arapaho, and Comanche in the west. The U.S. bought the territory from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition visited the Nebraska side of the Missouri River. It became part of Nebraska Territory with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Nebraska was admitted to the Union as the 37th state in 1867. Soon after, the population increased, and as Indian resistance on the frontier was broken, settlement extended to Nebraska's panhandle. At the turn of the 20th century, it experienced a short but influential Populist movement. In 1937 it established a unicameral legislature, the only one in the country. Most of the state is agricultural; its industries include food processing and machinery. Petroleum is the principal mineral resource. In addition to Lincoln, Omaha is the state's other cultural and industrial centre.
For more information on Nebraska, visit Britannica.com.
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Nebraska State Information
Phone: 402-471-2311
Website: www.nebraska.gov
Area (sq mi): 77,353.73 (Land: 76,872.41 Water: 481.31). Pop per sq mi: 22.9.
Pop 2005: 1,758,787. Pop changes: 2000-2005: +2.8%; 1990-2000: +8.4%. Pop 2000: 1,711,263 (White: 87.3%; Black: 4%; Hispanic or Latino: 5.5%; Asian: 1.3%; Other: 5.1%) Foreign born: 4.4%. Median age: 35.3.
Income 2000: per capita $19,613; median household $39,250; Pop below poverty: 9.7%.
Personal per capita income 2000-2003: $27,625-$30,179.
Unemployment 2004: 3.9%. Unemployment 2000: 2.8%; Change from 2000: +1.1%. Median travel time to work: 18 minutes. Working outside county of residence: 19.4%.
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Gale Encyclopedia of US History:
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Nebraska
Nebraska looks like a diesel locomotive facing eastward. When it became a territory of the United States in 1854, its northern border extended all the way to Canada and its western border extended deep into the Rocky Mountains, but between 1854 and statehood in 1867, it was whittled down by Congress to please its various constituencies. It is now bounded to the north by South Dakota. The Missouri River flows southeastward out of South Dakota, forming part of Nebraska's border with South Dakota and its eastern border with Iowa and then northwest Missouri. Nebraska's southern border forms Kansas's northern border, meets Colorado, makes a sharp corner northward to southeast of Ogallala, Nebraska, and then turns sharply westward along Colorado's border until meeting Wyoming. The border then goes north until meeting South Dakota, where it turns sharply eastward.
The climate and land of Nebraska can be divided into four parts. The eastern part of Nebraska, along the Missouri, is part of the Central Lowlands of the Missouri River region. It is usually moist, prone to flooding, and rich for agriculture. West of the Lowlands, in south central Nebraska, are the Loess Hills. Loess is fine-grained silt deposited on the land by winds. The Loess Hills region has many rivers that have carved the land into hills and valleys; it is prone to drought, and even the rivers may go dry. The Sand Hills are in the western part of the state. In the early era of Nebraska's settlement, they were often mistakenly thought to be just part of the High Plains farther to the west because of their vast expanses of sand dunes, the third largest expanse of sand dunes in the world, behind only the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Desert. Yet the Sand Hills harbor lakes and streams that enabled those who knew about them to farm and survive even during droughts. The High Plains fill the far western part of Nebraska and are highlands that begin the continent's westward rise into the Rocky Mountains. The High Plains have Nebraska's highest spot, Panorama Point, at 5,424 feet above sea level. This is part of a steady westward rise from 480 feet above sea level at the Missouri River, meaning that Nebraska is tilted. The High Plains tend to be dry and windy, but irrigation and pumping water from underground aquifers have made it good land for raising cattle.
Prehistory
There have been several significant migrations from northeast Asia into North America, the first probably occurring over 100,000 years ago. There is evidence that people were on the land that is now Nebraska 25,000 years ago, probably migratory people who did not settle in one place. When the last glacial era was ending around 11,000 B.C., nomads known as Paleo-Indians, likely a mix of several cultures, judging by the distinct varieties of their spearheads, lived in or migrated through the Nebraska area. These people hunted the big game that was abundant in the Great Plains of the time.
The region of Nebraska gradually warmed, and a great forest grew. About 7000 B.C., new cultures were evolving; archaeologists call the people of those cultures Archaic Indians. These people moved into and off of the land over several thousand years. Most of the really big game had disappeared. Thus the Archaic Indians hunted small game as well as what big game they could find, such as deer, and they foraged for fruits and vegetables. They made advancements in technology that made their survival easier.
About 2000 B.C., a revolution in how people lived in Nebraska began with the migration into the area of people who had lived east of the Missouri River, sometimes called the "Plains Woodland" culture. Perhaps originally attracted by Nebraska's woodlands, they adjusted to a climate change that diminished the forest and generated open grasslands. One of their important contributions to life in the region was the development of pottery, especially vessels in which food or water could be stored. Some large vessels were used for cooking. They probably moved encampments with the seasons, but they were a fairly settled people who built dwellings and even villages that they would return to as the seasons dictated. Some evidence indicates that near the end of their era, the Plains Woodlanders were experimenting with agriculture. Burial mounds from this era indicate a society that was becoming larger and more complex.
In about A.D. 1000, the climate seems to have become drier. The Native Americans in Nebraska of that era often were farmers. Maize had been imported from the southwest, probably along an ancient trading route that extended all the way into Mexico, and it was cultivated along with varieties of squash and beans. Hunting and foraging for wild food plants was still very important for survival. Probably most of the native Nebraskans of the time lived in villages, in rectangular lodges with wooden frames, wattle-and-daub walls, and roofs plastered with mud and covered by grass and tree branches. The pottery became varied and was often simply decorated by carved incisions made before firing.
By the time Europeans were taking an interest in the area of Nebraska, the Native Americans there were in flux, rapidly moving in and out of the area in response to wars and invasions. The Pawnees were in the middle of what became Nebraska; they were settled farmers who probably had been there longer than any of their neighbors. The Poncas occupied the northeast part of modern Nebraska; the Cheyennes were moving in from the west; the Otos had recently settled into the southeast corner; and the Arapahos were hanging onto lands to the southwest. Wars far to the north were sending refugees southward, and the Brule and Oglala Dakota (aka Lakota) Sioux tribes had been forced into northern Nebraska from the other side of the Missouri River by the Chippewas. The Dakotas were violent nomads who raided the villages of the settled peoples of Nebraska; they were very suspicious of outsiders. In addition, the Apaches were following the herds of bison and were pressing the Arapahos and some Pawnees out of their homes.
Frontier
In 1682, René Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, led a French expedition down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming for France all the land that drained water into the Mississippi, which included the territory that became Nebraska. The region was named "Louisiana" for Louis XIV. At the time, Spain had already laid claim to most of the same land, including Nebraska. Many French trappers and traders visited the Nebraska region without arousing much interest until 1714, when Étienne Veniard de Bourgmont, something of a reprobate adventurer, traveled to the Platte River, which flowed through the middle of what is now Nebraska. Alarmed by this, Spain sent a military expedition north to drive out the French, but there were no French to be found. A couple of years later, in 1720, another Spanish expedition was sent, led by Pedro de Villasur, with forty or so Spanish soldiers and about sixty Native American warriors. They found no French, but they managed to thoroughly antagonize the local population, including the Pawnees, who were on a war footing because of their conflicts with the Dakotas; the Pawnees attacked the Spanish and only thirteen members of the Spanish expedition survived to return south.
In 1739, the French explorers Paul and Pierre Mallet named the Platte River and traveled its length westward and beyond, past the western border of modern Nebraska. French traders continued to visit Nebraska's tribes. In 1800, France forced Spain to surrender its claims to Louisiana, and in 1803 the United States purchased Louisiana from France. In 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition stopped briefly in Nebraska while traveling up the Missouri River, gathered some local tribesmen, and offered American friendship; the tribesmen listened patiently, but they had no authority—the leaders who could have made a pact with the explorers were away on other business. In 1812, trader Manuel Lisa established a trading post near the same spot. Robert Stuart led an expedition that trekked eastward from Oregon, reaching the Platte River in 1813 and following the river to the Missouri; his route became the Oregon Trail on which hundreds of thousands of people traveled through Nebraska to the Far West. Major Stephen Long led an expedition into the Great Plains in 1820, and what he saw seemed "barren and uncongenial" to him. He therefore called it a "Great Desert."
Even so, in 1823, Americans established the town of Bellevue across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs in Iowa. It was the first permanent American settlement in the future Nebraska. In 1834, the United States Congress passed the Indian Intercourse Act, forbidding Americans from settling in Nebraska's lands and providing that the United States Army would remove people who violated the law. The Native Americans of the area also reached an agreement whereby they would be compensated annually for Americans using roads and establishing forts in their territory. Beginning with Moses and Eliza Merrill in 1833, missionaries came to live with the Native Americans. In the 1830s, two trails in addition to the Oregon Trail became important in the mass migration of Americans to the West: the Mormon Trail that followed the north bank of the Platte River, and the Denver Trail, which followed the Blue River and the Platte River and then went to Denver.
The Oto name for the Platte River was Nebrathka, which meant "flat water," because even though very long, the Platte River was shallow and easy to cross on foot in many places. Explorer Lieutenant John C. Frémont referred to the river as the Nebraska in a report in 1842, and in 1844 Secretary of War William Wilkins said that given the river's importance, either Nebraska or Platte should be the official name of the region. An effort in Congress on 17 December 1844 to recognize Nebraska as a territory failed, but on 30 May 1854 Nebraska was recognized as an American territory in the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In the Missouri Compromise of 6 March 1820, all lands from Kansas northward were supposed to become free states—no slavery allowed; the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and left it up to the citizens of the Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether to be free or slave states.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act gave Nebraska a vast territory, from Kansas to Canada, from the Missouri River into the Rocky Mountains. A census in 1854 found 2,732 Americans living in Nebraska. The citizens of Bellevue and much of southern Nebraska were upset when Omaha was chosen to be the territorial capital instead of Bellevue. In 1863, Congress divided the territory into smaller ones, leaving Nebraska close to its modern form. The Civil War (1861–1865) was going on at the time, but Nebraska felt the effect primarily in the 3,000 troops it contributed to the Union. From 1865 to 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad built a line out from Omaha, westward past the Nebraska border.
In 1866, Nebraska submitted a proposal for a state constitution to Congress. It included a clause that said only white males could vote, which outraged a Congress controlled by the Radical Republicans, who opposed racial discrimination. The offending clause had to be eliminated in order for the constitution to be acceptable; the change was made, allowing Nebraska to become the thirty-seventh state in the Union on 1 March 1867. The new state government resolved to build a new city for its capital, naming it "Lincoln" because it was unlikely that anyone would complain about the name of the martyred President. In 1875, a new state constitution was approved to replace the first one, because the first one had been put together in haste and had not provided a clear framework for laws.
Early Statehood
Although Arbor Day was begun by Nebraska on 10 April 1872, the 1870s were difficult times, with droughts and plagues of locusts between 1874 and 1877. The 1880s, however, saw a boom in the economy. During that decade, the population increased from 453,402 to 1,062,656, an amazing jump in ten years. By 1885, the bison of Nebraska had been exterminated. The 1890s saw a severe reversal of fortune because the United States was hit by a depression that lasted most of the decade. Land prices plummeted, crop prices dropped, and water was scarce. The population only increased to 1,066,300 during the decade. During the 1890s and 1900s, dry land farming techniques and irrigation opened the High Plains to farming, but growing crops there proved to be too difficult for farmers, and thus much of the land became pasture for cattle. Congress's Reclamation Act of 1902 proved especially helpful to Nebraska by providing funds for the development of state water projects.
During the 1890s, one of Nebraska's most famous public figures rose in prominence: William Jennings Bryan, "the Boy Orator of the Platte," from Lincoln. He served Nebraska in the House of Representatives from 1890 to 1894. In 1896, 1900, and 1908, he won the Democrats' presidential nomination. His public speaking was galvanizing, thrilling his listeners. He advocated farmers' rights, and in his best-known speech, he declared that farmers should not be crucified "on a cross of gold."
In the 1920s, Nebraska had another boom. Like that of the 1880s, it was cut down by a depression, the Great Depression that lasted until America entered World War II (1939–1945). In the 1930s, a drought dried the land in most of Nebraska. The soil was composed of fine grains from decades of tilling, and high winds out of the southwest would pick it up and blow tons of it into the sky, blotting out the sun and penetrating everything from clothing to stored food. This was the era of the Dust Bowl. During Nebraska's worst year, 1935, Congress passed the Tri-County Pact, a federal irrigation project designed to help Nebraskans. By 1954, 1,300,000 acres were irrigated.
In 1937, Nebraska revised its constitution to create a unicameral legislature. Until 1937, Nebraska had a bicameral legislature, meaning it had two houses, a senate and a house of representatives, but the new unicameral legislature had only one house, the Senate. The constitution was further amended to make the Senate nonpartisan. The idea was to streamline the process of making laws and to minimize partisan bickering. The amendment became law partly because Nebraska's very popular United States Senator George W. Norris supported it. He went so far as to leave the Republican Party and run as an independent for reelection to the United States Senate, winning a fifth term.
Modern Era
In 1944, near the end of World War II, the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Project was passed by Congress, authorizing hydroelectric plants and reservoirs in states along the Missouri River. This contributed to the expansion of irrigation in Nebraska and to a boom in the 1950s that managed to defy another drought. This boom attracted investors, and corporations began buying farms, with farm sizes nearly doubling from 1950 to 2000, while the number of farms dropped by about 40 percent. People who had worked on farms moved to cities to work in manufacturing plants. In 1960, 54.3 percent of the population of 1,411,921 lived in cities, the first time a census recorded more Nebraskans living in urban areas than in rural areas. African Americans in Nebraskan cities began civil rights protests in 1963. The nationally recognized civil rights leader Malcolm X was born in Omaha.
In 1966, the state property tax seemed too much of a burden for small farmers, and Nebraska was trying to discourage out-of-staters from owning farms in the state and to encourage family ownership of farms. Thus, it revamped its tax structure, eliminating the state property tax while beginning an income tax and a sales tax to finance the state government.
During the 1970s, times were generally good, but in the 1980s, Nebraska went into a recession. Many people lost their farms. The Family Farm Preservation Act of 1982 passed by Nebraska's legislature was intended to help the small farmers with low-interest loans and tax breaks. In 1987, the legislature passed tax incentives to encourage more manufacturing in the state, hoping to create jobs. In 1986, Nebraska's race for governor featured for the first time two female nominees for the Republican and Democratic Parties, with Republican Kay Orr winning over Helen Boosalis.
In the 1990s, Nebraska slowly pulled out of its recession. Advances in farm equipment made it easier for a few people to manage a large farm or ranch, and investments in expensive new equipment were being paid off in an average of three years. This brought with it a significant increase in population, from 1,578,417 in 1990 to 1,713,235 in 2002.
Bibliography
Andreas, A. T. History of Nebraska. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, 1976 (circa 1882).
Creigh, Dorothy Weyer. Nebraska: A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton, 1977.
Johnson, J. R. Representative Nebraskans. Lincoln, Nebr.: Johnsen Publishing, 1954.
Mattes, Merrill J. The Great Platte River Road: The Covered Wagon Mainline Via Fort Kearney to Fort Laramie. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, 1969. About the Overland Trail.
McNair, Sylvia. Nebraska. New York: Children's Press, 1999.
Nebraska State Historical Society. Home page at http://www.nebraskahistory.org.
Olson, James C. History of Nebraska. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1955.
Wills, Charles A. A Historical Album of Nebraska. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook Press, 1994.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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Nebraska
Nebraska (nəbrăs'kə), Great Plains state of the central United States. It is bordered by Iowa and Missouri, across the Missouri R. (E), Kansas (S), Colorado (SW), Wyoming (NW), and South Dakota (N).
Facts and Figures
Area, 77,227 sq mi (200,018 sq km). Pop. (2000) 1,711,263, an 8.4% increase since the 1990 census. Capital, Lincoln. Largest city, Omaha. Statehood, Mar. 1, 1867 (37th state). Highest pt., 5,426 ft (1,655 m), Kimball Co.; lowest pt., 840 ft (256 m), SE corner of state. Nickname, Cornhusker State. Motto, Equality before the Law. State bird, Western meadowlark. State flower, goldenrod. State tree, cottonwood. Abbr., Nebr.; NE
Geography
Nebraska is roughly rectangular, except in the northeast and the east where the border is formed by the irregular course of the Missouri River and in the southwest where the state of Colorado cuts out a squared corner. The land rises more or less gradually from 840 ft (256 m) in the east to 5,300 ft (1,615 m) in the west. The great but shallow Platte River, formed in W Nebraska by the junction of the North Platte and the South Platte, flows across the state from west to east to join the Missouri S of Omaha. The Platte and the Missouri, together with their tributaries, give Nebraska all-important water sources that are essential to farming in this agrarian state. Underground water sources are also widely used for irrigation. The river valleys have long provided routes westward, and today the transcontinental railroads and highways follow the valleys.
From the Missouri westward over about half the state stretch undulating farm lands, where the fertile silt is underlaid by deep loess soil. Nebraska's population is concentrated there; many are farmers who produce grains for the consumer market or for feeding hogs and dairy cattle. In this region also lie Nebraska's two major cities-Lincoln, the capital and an important insurance center, and Omaha, the state's largest city and an important meat and grain distribution center-as well as many of the state's larger towns.
To the west and northwest the Sand Hills of Nebraska fan out, their wind-eroded contours now more or less stabilized by grass coverage. Cattle graze on the slopes and tablelands, protected in the severe winters by the sand bluffs and the valleys. The climate is severely continental throughout Nebraska; a low of −40°F (−40°C) in the winter is not unusual, and during the short intense summers temperatures may easily reach 110°F (43°C). Rainfall is almost twice as heavy in the east as in the west. Yet in the west along the river valleys the mixture of silt and sand is watered enough to yield abundantly to cultivation, even under semiarid conditions. In the far west the land rises to the foothills of the Rocky Mts. and displays spectacular bedrock foundations.
Hundreds of fresh and alkali lakes in the state attract sportsmen and campers. The pioneers' migration west over the Oregon Trail is commemorated by the Scotts Bluff National Monument and the Chimney Rock National Historic Site. Other points of interest to the traveler include Father Flanagan's Boys Town, near Omaha; the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, near Valentine; and the Homestead National Monument, near Beatrice.
Economy
Agriculture is Nebraska's dominant occupational pursuit. The state's chief farm products are cattle, corn, hogs, soybeans, and wheat. Nebraska ranked second among the states in cattle production in 1997. Wheat farming flourishes on the southwest plateaus, while irrigation along the Platte and its tributaries has increased the sugar-beet crop. The Univ. of Nebraska maintains agricultural experiment stations throughout the state. A program of soil conservation includes a shelter belt running across the state to check the effect of wind erosion, and dryland-farming techniques have been encouraged. Forest conservation is stressed, and the state (the birthplace of Arbor Day) has been very active in planting forests.
Nebraska's largest industry is food processing, notably including beef production. The state has diversified its industries since World War II, and the manufacture of electrical machinery, primary metals, and transportation equipment is also important. Deposits of oil (discovered in Cheyenne co. in 1949-50) contribute to the state's economy. Omaha and Lincoln are centers for insurance and telecommunications industries, and Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, was the cold-war center of the Strategic Air Command.
Government and Higher Education
Nebraska's constitution was adopted in 1875. It was amended in 1982 to ensure that rangeland and farmland could be sold only to a Nebraska family-farm corporation. The executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. By constitutional amendment in 1934 the legislature was made unicameral (it is unique in the United States), with 49 members elected on a nonpartisan basis for terms of four years. The state elects three representatives and two senators to the U.S. Congress and has five electoral votes in presidential elections. In 1986, Nebraska's Kay A. Orr became the first Republican woman to be elected governor of a state. E. Benjamin Nelson, a Democrat elected governor in 1990 and 1994, was succeeded by Mike Johanns, a Republican elected in 1998 and 2002. Johanns resigned in 2005 to become U.S. secretary of education, and was succeeded by fellow Republican Dave Heineman, who won election to the governorship in 2006 and reelection in 2010.
The state's leading institution of higher education is the Univ. of Nebraska, at Lincoln, Omaha, and Kearney. Creighton Univ. is at Omaha.
History
Hunters, Explorers, and Fur Traders
Nebraska's soil has been farmed since prehistoric times, but the Native Americans of the plains-notably the Pawnee-devoted themselves more to hunting the buffalo than to farming, since buffalo, as well as the pronghorn antelope and smaller animals, were then abundant in the area. The Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his men were the first Europeans to visit the region. They probably passed through Nebraska in 1541.
The French also came and in the 18th cent. engaged in fur trading, but development began only after the area passed from France to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804) and the explorations of Zebulon M. Pike (1806) increased knowledge of the country, but the activities of the fur traders were more immediately valuable in terms of settlement. Manuel Lisa, a fur trader, probably established the first trading post in the Nebraska area in 1813. Bellevue, the first permanent settlement in Nebraska, first developed as a trading post.
Steamboats and Wagon Trains
Steamboating on the Missouri River, initiated in 1819, brought business to the river ports of Omaha and Brownville. The natural highway formed by the Platte valley was used extensively by pioneers going west over the Oregon Trail and also the California Trail and the Mormon Trail. Nebraska settlers made money supplying the wagon trains with fresh mounts and pack animals as well as food.
Nebraska became a territory after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The territory, which initially extended from lat. 40°N to the Canadian border, was firmly Northern and Republican in sympathy during the Civil War. In 1863 the territory was reduced to its present-day size by the creation of the territories of Dakota and Colorado. Congress passed an enabling act for statehood in 1864, but the original provision in the state constitution limiting the franchise to whites delayed statehood until 1867.
Railroads, Ranches, and the Growth of Populism
In 1867 the Union Pacific RR was built across the state, and the land boom, already vigorous, became a rush. Farmers settled on free land obtained under the Homestead Act of 1862, and E Nebraska took on a settled look. The population rose from 28,841 in 1860 to 122,993 in 1870. The Pawnee were defeated in 1859, and by 1880 war with the Sioux and other Native American resistance was over. With the coming of the railroads, cow towns, such as Ogallala and Schuyler, were built up as shipping points on overland cattle trails. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows opened in Nebraska in 1882.
Farmers had long been staking out homestead claims across the Sand Hills to the high plains, but ranches also prospered in the state. The ranchers, trying to preserve the open range, ruthlessly opposed the encroachment of the farmers, but the persistent farmers won. Many conservationists believe that much of the land that was plowed under should have been left with grass cover to prevent erosion in later dust storms.
Nature was seldom kind to the people of Nebraska. Ranching was especially hard hit by the ruinous cold of the winter of 1880-81, and farmers were plagued by insect hordes from 1856 to 1875, by prairie fires, and by the recurrent droughts of the 1890s. Many farmers joined the Granger movement in the lean 1870s and the Farmers' Alliances of the 1880s. In the 1890s many beleaguered farmers, faced with ruin and angry at the monopolistic practices of the railroads and the financiers, formed marketing and stock cooperatives and showed their discontent by joining the Populist party. The first national convention of the Populist party was held at Omaha in 1892, and Nebraska's most famous son, William Jennings Bryan, headed the Populist and Democratic tickets in the presidential election of 1896. Populists held the governorship of the state from 1895 to 1901.
Twentieth-Century Changes
Improved conditions in the early 1900s caused Populism to decline in the state, and the return of prosperous days was marked by progressive legislation, the building of highways, and conservation measures. The flush of prosperity, largely caused by the demand for foodstuffs during World War I, was almost feverish. Overexpansion of credits and overconfidence made the depression of the 1920s and 30s all the more disastrous (see Great Depression). Many farmers were left destitute, and many others were able to survive only because of the moratorium on farm debts in 1932. They received federal aid in the desperate years of drought in the 1930s.
Better weather and the huge food demands of World War II renewed prosperity in Nebraska. After the war, efforts continued to make the best use of the water supply, notably in such federal plans as the Missouri River basin project, a vast dam and water-diversion scheme.
Recent attempts to diversify Nebraska's economic base to reduce dependence on meat processing and agriculture have made Lincoln, where state government and the Univ. of Nebraska generate many jobs, a business center, along with Omaha. Among noted Nebraskans have been the pioneer and historian Julius Sterling Morton, who originated Arbor Day, and authors Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, John G. Neihardt, Loren Eisley, and Wright Morris, all of whom have vividly described the state.
Bibliography
See J. C. Olson, History of Nebraska (2d ed. 1966, repr. 1974); M. P. Lawson and R. E. Lonsdale, Economic Atlas of Nebraska (1977); D. W. Creigh, Nebraska: A History (1977); Nebraska (1985), "Geographies of the United States" series.
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Nebraska
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US State Stats by Answers.com:
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Nebraska
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- Abbreviation: NE
- Capital City: Lincoln
- Date of Statehood: Mar. 1, 1867
- State #: 37
- Population: 1,711,263
- Area: 77358 sq.mi. Land 76878 sq. mi. Water 481 sq.mi.
- Economy:
Agriculture: cattle, corn, hogs, soybeans, wheat, sorghum;
Industry: food processing, machinery, electric equipment, printing and publishing - Where the name comes from: Name based on an Oto Indian word that means "flat water," referring to the Platte River
- State Bird: Western Meadowlark
- State Flower: Goldenrod
- About the Flag: On a field of national blue is a reproduction of the great seal of the state, charged on the center in gold and silver.
- State Motto: Equality before the law
- State Nickname: Cornhusker State
- State Song: Beautiful Nebraska
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categories related to 'Nebraska'
- States of the United States - Nebraska: NE; 37th state, admitted 1867; NW central United States; capital Lincoln; ranks 15th in area, pop. 1,585,000; Cornhusker State
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Nebraska
This article is about the U.S. state. For other uses, see Nebraska (disambiguation).
Nebraska (
i/nəˈbræskə/) is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. Its state capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River.
The state is crossed by many historic trails, but it was the California Gold Rush that first brought large numbers here, and it became a state in 1867. Certain landmarks still compete for the notional distinction 'Where the West Begins'.
There are wide variations between winter and summer temperatures, and violent thunderstorms and tornadoes are common. The state is characterized by treeless prairie, ideal for cattle-grazing, and it is a major producer of beef, as well as pork, maize and soybeans. Nebraska is overwhelmingly rural, as the 8th least-densely populated state of the United States.
Ethnically, the largest group are German-Americans, and the state has the biggest Czech-American population per head. During the Great Migration, many African Americans came to Omaha, and they continue to campaign for improved conditions. More recently, Native American activism has increased, with a drive for self-determination in a climate of co-operation with state officials on regional issues. It is traditionally a Republican-voting state.
Nebraska is identified with notables as varied as Fred Astaire, Malcolm X, Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, Montgomery Clift, Henry Fonda, Buffalo Bill Cody, Warren Buffett, L. Ron Hubbard, Willa Cather, Marlon Brando and Alexander Payne. Kool-Aid was first formulated in Nebraska in 1927.
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Etymology
Nebraska gets its name from the archaic Otoe words Ñí Brásge, pronounced [ɲĩbɾasꜜkɛ] (contemporary Otoe Ñí Bráhge), or the Omaha Ní Btháska, pronounced [nĩbɫᶞasꜜka], meaning "flat water", after the Platte River that flows through the state.[4]
History
Main article: History of Nebraska
Varying cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the region along the rivers for thousands of years before European exploration. Historical Native American tribes living in Nebraska have included the Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various branches of the Lakota (Sioux).
Long before the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806, French-Canadian explorers (including the Mallet brothers in 1739) traversed the territory of Nebraska on their way to trade in Santa Fe, then claimed by Spain.[5]
In 1819, the United States established Fort Atkinson as the first US Army post west of the Missouri River, just east of present-day Fort Calhoun. The army abandoned the fort in 1827 as migration moved further west.
European-American settlement did not begin in any numbers until after 1848 and the California Gold Rush. On May 30, 1854, the US Congress created the Kansas and the Nebraska territories, divided by the Parallel 40° North, under the Kansas-Nebraska Act.[6] The Nebraska Territory included parts of the current states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.[7] The territorial capital of Nebraska was Omaha.
In the 1860s, after the US government forced many of the Native American tribes to cede their lands and settle on reservations, it opened large tracts of land to agricultural development by Europeans and Americans. Under the Homestead Act, thousands of new settlers migrated into Nebraska to claim free land granted by the federal government. Because so few trees grew on the prairies, many of the first farming settlers built their homes of sod, as had the Native Americans such as the Omaha. The first wave of settlement gave the territory a sufficient population to apply for statehood.[8]
Nebraska became the 37th state on March 1, 1867, and the capital was moved from Omaha to the center at Lancaster, later renamed Lincoln after the recently assassinated President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.
During the 1870s to the 1880s, Nebraska experienced a large growth in population. Several factors contributed to attracting new residents. The first was that the vast prairie land was perfect for cattle grazing. This helped settlers to learn the unfamiliar geography of the area. The second factor was the invention of several farming technologies. Agricultural inventions such as barbed wire, wind mills, and the steel plow, combined with good weather, enabled settlers to make use of Nebraska as prime farming land. By the 1880s, Nebraska's population had soared to more than 450,000 people.[9]
The Arbor Day holiday was founded in Nebraska. The National Arbor Day Foundation is still headquartered in Nebraska City, with some offices in Lincoln.
In the late nineteenth century, many African Americans migrated from the South to Nebraska as part of the Great Migration, primarily to Omaha which offered working class jobs in meatpacking, the railroads and other industries. Omaha has a long history of civil rights activism. Blacks encountered discrimination from other Americans in Omaha and especially from recent European immigrants, ethnic whites who were competing for the same jobs. In 1912 African Americans founded the Omaha chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to work for improved conditions in the city and state. Activism has continued.
Since the 1960s, Native American activism in the state has increased, both through open protest, activities to build alliances with state and local governments, and in the slower, more extensive work of building tribal institutions and infrastructure. Native Americans in federally recognized tribes have pressed for self-determination, sovereignty and recognition. They have created community schools to preserve their cultures, as well as tribal colleges and universities. Tribal politicians have also collaborated with state and county officials on regional issues.
Geography
The state is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwest; and Wyoming to the west. The state has 93 counties; it occupies the central portion of the Frontier Strip. Nebraska is split into two time zones. The Central Time zone comprises the eastern half of the state, while the western half observes Mountain Time. Three rivers cross the state from west to east. The Platte River, formed by the confluence of the North Platte and the South Platte, runs through the central portion of the state, the Niobrara River flows through the northern part, and the Republican River runs across the southern part.
Nebraska is composed of two major land regions: the Dissected Till Plains and the Great Plains. The easternmost portion of the state was scoured by Ice Age glaciers; the Dissected Till Plains were left behind after the glaciers retreated. The Dissected Till Plains is a region of gently rolling hills; Omaha and Lincoln are in this region.
The Great Plains occupy the majority of western Nebraska. The Great Plains region consists of several smaller, diverse land regions, including the Sandhills, the Pine Ridge, the Rainwater Basin, the High Plains and the Wildcat Hills. Panorama Point, at 5,424 feet (1,653 m), is the highest point in Nebraska; despite its name and elevation, it is a relatively low rise near the Colorado and Wyoming borders.
A past Nebraska tourism slogan was "Where the West Begins"; locations given for the beginning of the "West" include the Missouri River, the intersection of 13th and O Streets in Lincoln (where it is marked by a red brick star), the 100th meridian, and Chimney Rock. Nebraska is a triply landlocked state, as it does not border the ocean, nor do any of the states it borders, nor any that they border.[10]
Federal land management
Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:
- Agate Fossil Beds National Monument near Harrison
- California National Historic Trail
- Chimney Rock National Historic Site near Bayard
- Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice
- Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
- Missouri National Recreational River near Ponca
- Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
- Niobrara National Scenic River near Valentine
- Oregon National Historic Trail
- Pony Express National Historic Trail
- Scotts Bluff National Monument at Gering
Areas under the management of the National Forest Service include:
Climate
Two major climatic zones are represented in Nebraska: the eastern half of the state has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), and the western half, a semi-arid climate (Koppen BSk). The entire state experiences wide seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation. Average temperatures are fairly uniform across Nebraska, with hot summers and generally cold winters, while average annual precipitation decreases east to west from about 31.5 inches (800 mm) in the southeast corner of the state to about 13.8 inches (350 mm) in the Panhandle. Humidity also decreases significantly from east to west. Snowfall across the state is fairly even, with most of Nebraska receiving between 25 and 35 inches (65 to 90 cm) of snow annually.[11] Nebraska's highest recorded temperature is 118 °F (48 °C) at Minden on July 24, 1936 and the lowest recorded temperature is −47 °F (−44 °C) at Camp Clarke on February 12, 1899.
Nebraska is in Tornado Alley; thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer months, and violent thunderstorms and tornadoes happen primarily during the spring and summer, though they can also occur in the autumn. The chinook winds from the Rocky Mountains provide a temporary moderating effect on temperatures in western Nebraska during the winter months.[12][13]
Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1860 | 28,841 |
|
|
| 1870 | 122,993 | 326.5% | |
| 1880 | 452,402 | 267.8% | |
| 1890 | 1,062,656 | 134.9% | |
| 1900 | 1,066,300 | 0.3% | |
| 1910 | 1,192,214 | 11.8% | |
| 1920 | 1,296,372 | 8.7% | |
| 1930 | 1,377,963 | 6.3% | |
| 1940 | 1,315,834 | −4.5% | |
| 1950 | 1,325,510 | 0.7% | |
| 1960 | 1,411,330 | 6.5% | |
| 1970 | 1,483,493 | 5.1% | |
| 1980 | 1,569,825 | 5.8% | |
| 1990 | 1,578,385 | 0.5% | |
| 2000 | 1,711,263 | 8.4% | |
| 2010 | 1,826,341 | 6.7% | |
| Source: 1910–2010[14] | |||
The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Nebraska was 1,842,641 on July 1, 2011, a 0.89% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[1] The center of population of Nebraska is in Polk County, in the city of Shelby.[15]
According to the 2010 Census, 86.1% of the population was White (82.1% non-Hispanic white), 4.5% was Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.8% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 2.2% from two or more races. 9.2% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (they may be of any race).[16]
As of 2004, the population of Nebraska included about 84,000 foreign-born residents (4.8% of the population).
| By race | White | Black | AIAN* | Asian | NHPI* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 (total population) | 93.53% | 4.48% | 1.32% | 1.58% | 0.11% |
| 2000 (Hispanic only) | 5.24% | 0.13% | 0.17% | 0.04% | 0.02% |
| 2005 (total population) | 93.06% | 4.82% | 1.31% | 1.85% | 0.11% |
| 2005 (Hispanic only) | 6.74% | 0.20% | 0.18% | 0.05% | 0.03% |
| Growth 2000–05 (total population) | 2.25% | 10.52% | 1.72% | 20.76% | 5.53% |
| Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only) | 0.48% | 9.02% | 0.56% | 20.73% | 4.75% |
| Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only) | 32.17% | 61.17% | 9.63% | 22.13% | 8.10% |
| * AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | |||||
The five largest ancestry groups in Nebraska are German (38.6%), Irish (12.4%), English (9.6%), Czech (5.5%), and Swedish (4.9%).
Nebraska has the largest Czech-American and non-Mormon Danish-American population (as a percentage of the total population) in the nation. German Americans are the largest ancestry group in most of the state, particularly in the eastern counties. Thurston County (made up entirely of the Omaha and Winnebago reservations) has an American Indian majority, and Butler County is one of only two counties in the nation with a Czech-American plurality.
Rural flight
Eighty-nine percent of the cities in Nebraska have fewer than 3,000 people. Nebraska shares this characteristic with five other Midwestern states: Kansas, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota, and Iowa. Hundreds of towns have a population of fewer than 1,000. Regional population declines have forced many rural schools to consolidate.
Fifty-three of Nebraska's 93 counties reported declining populations between 1990 and 2000, ranging from a 0.06% loss (Frontier County) to a 17.04% loss (Hitchcock County).
More urbanized areas of the state have experienced substantial growth. In 2000, the city of Omaha had a population of 390,007; in 2005, the city's estimated population was 414,521 (427,872 including the recently annexed city of Elkhorn), a 6.3% increase over five years. The 2010 census showed that Omaha has a population of 408,958. The city of Lincoln had a 2000 population of 225,581 and a 2010 population of 258,379, a 14.5% increase.
Religion
The religious affiliations of the people of Nebraska are:
- Christian – 90%
- Catholic – 28%
- Lutheran – 16%
- Methodist – 11%
- Baptist – 9%
- Presbyterian – 4%
- Other Protestant – 21%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Non-religious – 9%
- Other religions – 1%
The largest single denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Catholic Church (372,791), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (128,570), the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (117,419) and the United Methodist Church (117,277).[17]
Taxation
Nebraska has a progressive income tax. The portion of income from $0 to $2,400 is taxed at 2.56%; from $2,400 to $17,500, at 3.57%; from $17,500 to $27,000, at 5.12%; and income over $27,000, at 6.84%. The standard deduction for a single taxpayer is $5,700; the personal exemption is $118.[18]
Nebraska has a state sales tax of 5.5%. In addition to the state tax, some Nebraska cities assess a city sales and use tax, up to a maximum of 1.5%. One county in Nebraska, Dakota County, levies a sales tax.[19] All real property within the state of Nebraska is taxable unless specifically exempted by statute. Since 1992, only depreciable personal property is subject to tax and all other personal property is exempt from tax. Inheritance tax is collected at the county level.
Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates of Nebraska's gross state product in 2010 was $89.8 billion.[20] Per capita personal income in 2004 was $31,339, 25th in the nation. Nebraska has a large agriculture sector, and is an important producer of beef, pork, corn (maize), soybeans, and sorghum. [21] Other important economic sectors include freight transport (by rail and truck), manufacturing, telecommunications, information technology, and insurance.
As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 4.6%.[22]
Industry
Kool-Aid was created in 1927 by Edwin Perkins in the city of Hastings, which celebrates the event the second weekend of every August with Kool-Aid Days. Kool-Aid is the official soft drink of Nebraska.[23] CliffsNotes were developed by Clifton Hillegass of Rising City. He adapted his pamphlets from the Canadian publications, Coles Notes.
Omaha is home to Berkshire Hathaway, whose CEO Warren Buffett was ranked in March 2009 by Forbes magazine as the second richest person in the world. The city is also home to ConAgra, Mutual of Omaha, InfoUSA, TD Ameritrade, West Corporation, Valmont Industries, Woodmen of the World, Kiewit Corporation, and the Union Pacific Railroad. UNIFI Companies, Sandhills Publishing Company, and Duncan Aviation are based in Lincoln; The Buckle is based in Kearney. Sidney is the national headquarters for Cabela's, a specialty retailer of outdoor goods.
The world's largest train yard, Union Pacific's Bailey Yard, is in North Platte. The Vise-Grip was invented by William Petersen in 1924, and was manufactured in De Witt until the plant was closed and moved to China in late 2008.[24]
Lincoln's Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing is the only Kawasaki plant in the world to produce the Jet-Ski, ATV, and Mule lines of product. The facility employs more than 1200 people.
The Spade Ranch, in the Sand Hills, is one of Nebraska's oldest and largest beef cattle operations.
Transportation
Railroads
Further information: List of Nebraska railroads
Nebraska has a rich railroad history. The Union Pacific Railroad, headquartered in Omaha, was incorporated on July 1, 1862, in the wake of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862. Bailey Yard, in North Platte, is the largest railroad classification yard in the world. The route of the original transcontinental railroad runs through the state.
Other major railroads with operations in the state are: Amtrak; Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway; Canadian Pacific Railway; and Iowa Interstate Railroad.
Roads and highways
Further information: List of Nebraska numbered highways
Interstate Highways through the State of Nebraska
The U.S. Routes in Nebraska
Law and government
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
Nebraska's government operates under the framework of the Nebraska Constitution, adopted in 1875,[25] and is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Executive branch
Further information: Governor of Nebraska
The head of the executive branch is the Governor Dave Heineman. Other elected officials in the executive branch are the Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy (elected on the same ticket as the Governor), Attorney General Jon Bruning, Secretary of State John A. Gale, State Treasurer Don Stenberg, and State Auditor Mike Foley. All elected officials in the executive branch serve four-year terms.
Legislative branch
Further information: Nebraska Legislature and Nebraska State Capitol
Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral legislature. Although this house is officially known simply as the "Legislature", and more commonly called the "Unicameral", its members call themselves "senators". Nebraska's Legislature is also the only state legislature in the United States that is nonpartisan. The senators are elected with no party affiliation next to their names on the ballot, and the speaker and committee chairs are chosen at large, so that members of any party can be chosen for these positions. The Nebraska Legislature can also override a governor's veto with a three-fifths majority, in contrast to the two-thirds majority required in some other states.
The Nebraska Legislature meets in the third Nebraska State Capitol building, built between 1922 and 1932. It was designed by Bertram G. Goodhue. Built from Indiana limestone, the Capitol's base is a cross within a square. A 400-foot domed tower rises from this base. The Golden Sower, a 19-foot bronze statue representing agriculture, crowns the Capitol. The state Capitol is considered an architectural achievement and has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects.
| Nebraska state insignia | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Equality Before the Law |
| Slogan | Nebraska, possibilities...endless |
| Bird | Western meadowlark |
| Animal | White-tailed deer |
| Fish | Channel catfish |
| Insect | European honey bee |
| Flower | Goldenrod |
| Tree | Cottonwood |
| Song | "Beautiful Nebraska" |
| Quarter |  Released April 7, 2006 |
| Grass | Little bluestem |
| Beverage | Milk |
| Dance | Square dance |
| Fossil | Mammoth |
| Gemstone | Blue agate |
| Rock | Prairie agate |
| Soil | Holdrege series |
For years, US Senator George Norris and other Nebraskans encouraged the idea of a unicameral legislature, and demanded the issue be decided in a referendum. Norris argued:
| “ | The constitutions of our various states are built upon the idea that there is but one class. If this be true, there is no sense or reason in having the same thing done twice, especially if it is to be done by two bodies of men elected in the same way and having the same jurisdiction. | ” |
Unicameral supporters also argued that a bicameral legislature had a significant undemocratic feature in the committees that reconciled Assembly and Senate legislation. Votes in these committees were secretive, and would sometimes add provisions to bills that neither house had approved. Nebraska's unicameral legislature today has rules that bills can contain only one subject, and must be given at least five days of consideration.
In 1934, due in part to the budgetary pressure of the Great Depression, Nebraska citizens ran a state initiative to vote on a unicameral legislature, which was approved. In effect, the Assembly (the house) was abolished; as noted, today's Nebraska state legislators are commonly referred to as "Senators".
Judicial branch
Further information: Nebraska Supreme Court
The judicial system in Nebraska is unified, with the Nebraska Supreme Court having administrative authority over all Nebraska courts. Nebraska uses the Missouri Plan for the selection of judges at all levels. The lowest courts in Nebraska are the county courts, above that are twelve district courts (containing one or more counties). The Court of Appeals hears appeals from the district courts, juvenile courts, and workers' compensation courts. The Nebraska Supreme Court is the final court of appeal.
In 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the state's only method of execution, electrocution, was in conflict with the state's constitution. For the next year, Nebraska had no active death-penalty law. (Prior to that ruling, Nebraska was the only place in the world that used electrocution as the sole method of execution.) In May 2009, the legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that changed the method of execution in Nebraska to lethal injection, enabling capital punishment.[26] Executions in Nebraska have been infrequent; none have been carried out in the 21st century. During the last few decades, residents have considered a moratorium on, or complete abolition of, capital punishment.
Federal government representation
Further information: United States congressional delegations from Nebraska
Nebraska's U.S. senators are Mike Johanns (R), the junior senator, and Ben Nelson (D), the senior senator.
Nebraska has three representatives in the House of Representatives: Jeff Fortenberry (R) of the 1st district; Lee Terry (R) of the 2nd district; and Adrian M. Smith (R) of the 3rd district.
Nebraska is one of two states (with Maine) that allow for a split in the state's allocation of electoral votes in presidential elections. Under a 1991 law, two of Nebraska's five votes are awarded to the winner of the statewide popular vote, while the other three go to the highest vote-getter in each of the state's three congressional districts.
Politics
Further information: United States presidential election, 2004, in Nebraska, Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2006, Nebraska United States Senate election, 2006 and Political party strength in Nebraska
For most of its history, Nebraska has been a solidly Republican state. Republicans have carried the state in all but one presidential election since 1940: the 1964 landslide election of Lyndon B. Johnson. In the 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush won the state's five electoral votes by a margin of 33 percentage points (making Nebraska's the fourth-strongest Republican vote among states) with 65.9% of the overall vote; only Thurston County, which is majority-Native American, voted for his Democratic challenger John Kerry. In 2008, the state split its electoral votes for the first time: Republican John McCain won the popular vote in Nebraska as a whole and two of its three congressional districts; the second district, which includes the city of Omaha, went for Democrat Barack Obama.
Despite the current Republican domination of Nebraska politics, the state has a long tradition of electing centrist members of both parties to state and federal office; examples include George Norris (who served few years in the Senate as an independent), J. James Exon, and Bob Kerrey. Voters have tilted to the right in recent years with the election of conservative Mike Johanns to the US Senate and the re-election of Ben Nelson, who is currently considered the most conservative Democrat in the US Senate.
Former President Gerald Ford, a Republican and Michigan resident, was born in Nebraska. Illinois native William Jennings Bryan represented Nebraska in Congress and unsuccessfully ran for President as a Democrat from Nebraska three times.
Important cities and towns
As of the 2010 Census, there are 530 cities and villages in the state of Nebraska. There are five classifications of cities and villages in Nebraska, which is based upon population. All population figures are 2010 Census Bureau estimates.
Largest cities
Metropolitan Class City (300,000 or more)
- Omaha – 408,958
Primary Class City (100,000 - 299,999)
- Lincoln – 258,379
First Class City (5,000 - 99,999)
- Bellevue – 50,137
- Grand Island – 48,520
- Kearney – 30,787
- Fremont – 26,397
- Hastings – 24,907
- North Platte – 24,733
- Norfolk – 24,210
- Columbus – 22,111
- Papillion – 18,894
- La Vista – 15,758
- Scottsbluff – 15,039
- South Sioux City – 13,353
- Beatrice – 12,459
- Lexington – 10,230
- Gering – 8,500
- Alliance – 8,491
- Blair – 7,990
- York – 7,766
- McCook - 7,698
- Nebraska City - 7,289
- Seward - 6,964
- Crete - 6,960
- Sidney - 6,757
- Plattsmouth - 6,502
- Schuyler - 6,211
- Ralston - 5,943
- Chadron - 5,851
- Wayne - 5,660
- Holdrege - 5,495
Second Class Cities (800 - 4,999) and Villages (100 - 800) make up the rest of the communities in Nebraska. There are 116 second class cities and 382 villages in the state.
Urban areas
| Metropolitan areas | Micropolitan areas | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Other areas
- Grand Island, Hastings and Kearney comprise the "Tri-Cities" area, with a combined population of 163,399.
- The northeast corner of Nebraska is part of the Siouxland region.
Education
Colleges and universities
|
Community Colleges |
Private colleges/universities
|
Further information: Colleges and universities of Omaha, Nebraska
Culture
- Arbor Day was founded by J. Sterling Morton; the National Arbor Day Foundation has its headquarters near his home in Nebraska City.
- The swing in the Hebron, Nebraska city park at 5th and Jefferson streets is claimed to be the world's largest porch swing, long enough to fit 18 adults or 26 children.
- Nebraska Huskers football influences many of Nebraska's residents. During home football games, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, with a capacity of 85,500, becomes larger than Nebraska's third-largest city.[27]
- Job's Daughters was founded in Omaha in 1920 by Ethel T. Wead Mick. There are now bethels in Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Philippines.
Sports
Further information: Sports in Nebraska
- Professional sports
- Lincoln Saltdogs – American Association (independent minor league baseball)
- Nebraska Danger – Indoor Football League
- Omaha Beef – Indoor Football League
- Omaha Storm Chasers – Pacific Coast League (AAA minor league baseball; affiliate of the Kansas City Royals)
- Omaha Nighthawks – United Football League
- Omaha Vipers – Major Indoor Soccer League
- NCAA Division I college sports
- Creighton Bluejays
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- University of Nebraska at Omaha (currently ice hockey only; all other sports moving to Division I in fall 2012)
- NCAA Division II college sports[28]
- University of Nebraska at Kearney Antelopes (Lopers)
- University of Nebraska at Omaha Mavericks
- Wayne State College Wildcats
- Chadron State College Eagles
- Junior-level sports: United States Hockey League
See also
- Outline of Nebraska
- Index of Nebraska-related articles
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Nebraska
References
- ^ a b "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011" (CSV). 2011 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. December 2011. http://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2011/tables/NST-EST2011-01.csv. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- ^ a b "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ^ a b Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
- ^ Koontz, John. "Etymology". Siouan Languages. http://spot.colorado.edu/~koontz/faq/etymology.htm. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
- ^ "Nebraska", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910
- ^ Interactive Media Group - Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. "1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act signed". Nebraskastudies.unl.edu. http://nebraskastudies.unl.edu/0500/frameset_reset.html?http://nebraskastudies.unl.edu/0500/stories/0502_0100.html. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
- ^ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper Utah: Everton Publishers, 2002).
- ^ Marsha Hoffman and Dwight A. Radford, “Nebraska,” Redbook: American State, County, and Town Sources, 3rd ed. (Provo: Ancestry, 2004), 408.
- ^ Redbook
- ^ Note that Nebraska's designation as a "triply landlocked" state does not consider the fact that Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois have ports on the shores of the Great Lakes that have access to the seas.
- ^ http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/products/atlas.html
- ^ "Nebraska Climate Office | Applied Climate Science | SNR | UNL". Nebraskaclimateoffice.unl.edu. July 23, 2009. http://www.nebraskaclimateoffice.unl.edu/weather.summary.Dec99. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
- ^ "Climate – Twin Cities Development Association, Inc. – Nebraska: Scottsbluff, Gering, TerryTown, Mitchell, Bayard". Tcdne.org. http://www.tcdne.org/climate.htm. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
- ^ Resident Population Data. "Resident Population Data - 2010 Census". 2010.census.gov. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-pop-text.php. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
- ^ "Population and Population Centers by State: 2000". United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
- ^ http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/31000.html
- ^ "State Membership Report". The Association of Religion Data Archives. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
- ^ "State Individual Income Tax Rates, 2000–2010". The Tax Foundation. March 25, 2010. http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/228.html. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about Nebraska Sales and Use Tax". Nebraska Department of Revenue. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- ^ "GDP by State". Greyhill Advisors. http://greyhill.com/gdp-by-state. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
- ^ "Nebraska State Agriculture Overview – 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Ag_Overview/AgOverview_NE.pdf. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
- ^ Bls.gov; Local Area Unemployment Statistics
- ^ "History: Kool-Aid: Hastings Museum". Hastings Museum<!. http://www.hastingsmuseum.org/koolaid/kahistory.htm. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
- ^ Jirovsky, Kristin. "Owner of Nail Jack Tools wants to share former Vise-Grip plant", Lincoln Journal-Star. Jan 8, 2009.
- ^ "Nebraska as a State". Andreas's History of the State of Nebraska.. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
- ^ Volentine, Jason (May 28, 2009). "Nebraska Changes Execution Method to Lethal Injection". KOLN. http://www.kolnkgin.com/political/headlines/46424547.html. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
- ^ "Nebraska Lost, Nebraska Found". Sports Illustrated. April 21, 2008. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1128181/index.htm. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
- ^ "NCAA Division II Home Page". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070822001230/http://www.siue.edu/ATHLETIC/d2/alpha.html. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
Bibliography
Surveys
- Chokecherry Places, Essays from the High Plains, Merrill Gilfillan, Johnson Press, Boulder, Colorado, trade paperback, ISBN 1-55566-227-7.
- Olson James C. and Ronald C. Naugle, History of Nebraska 2nd ed (1997)
- Andreas, Alfred T., History of the State of Nebraska (1882) (a highly detailed history)
- Creigh, Dorothy Weyers. Nebraska: A Bicentennial History (1977)
- Faulkner, Virginia, ed. Roundup: A Nebraska Reader (1957)
- Hickey, Donald R. Nebraska Moments: Glimpses of Nebraska's Past (1992).
- Miewald, Robert D., Nebraska Government & Politics (1984)
- Luebke Frederick C. Nebraska: An Illustrated History (1995)
- Morton, J. Sterling, ed. Illustrated History of Nebraska: A History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi Region. 3 vols. (1905–13)
- Wishart, David J. ed. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, University of Nebraska Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8032-4787-7. complete text online; 900 pages of scholarly articles
- Nebraska: A Guide to the Cornhusker State, WPA Guide, 1939; scanned online edition
Scholarly special studies
- Barnhart, John D. "Rainfall and the Populist Party in Nebraska." American Political Science Review 19 (1925): 527–40. in JSTOR
- Beezley, William H. "Homesteading in Nebraska, 1862–1872", Nebraska History 53 (spring 1972): 59–75
- Bentley, Arthur F. "The Condition of the Western Farmer as Illustrated by the Economic History of a Nebraska Township." Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science 11 (1893): 285–370
- Cherny, Robert W. Populism, Progressivism, and the Transformation of Nebraska Politics, 1885–1915 (1981)
- Bogue Allen G. Money at Interest: The Farm Mortgage on the Middle Border (1955)
- Brunner, Edmund de S. Immigrant Farmers and Their Children (1929)
- Chudacoff, Howard P. Mobile Americans: Residential and Social Mobility in Omaha, 1880–1920 (1972)
- Chudacoff, Howard P. "A New Look at Ethnic Neighborhoods: Residential Dispersion and the Concept of Visibility in a Medium-sized City." Journal of American History 60 (1973): 76–93. about Omaha; in JSTOR
- Coletta, Paolo E. William Jennings Bryan. 3 vols. (1964–69)
- Dick, Everett. The Sod-House Frontier: 1854–1890 (1937)
- Farragher, John Mack. Women and Men on the Overland Trail (1979)
- Fuller, Wayne E. The Old Country School: The Story of Rural Education in the Midwest (1982)
- Grant, Michael Johnston. "Down and Out on the Family Farm" (2002)
- Harper, Ivy. Walzing Matilda: Life and Times of Nebraska Senator Robert Kerrey (1992)
- Holter, Don W. Flames on the Plains: A History of United Methodism in Nebraska (1983)
- Jeffrey, Julie Roy. Frontier Women: The Trans-Mississippi West, 1840–1880 (1979)
- Klein, Maury. Union Pacific: The Birth of a Railroad, 1862–1893 (1986)
- Klein, Maury. Union Pacific: The Rebirth, 1894–1969 (1989)
- Larsen, Lawrence H. The Gate City: A History of Omaha (1982)
- Lowitt, Richard. George W. Norris 3 vols. (1971)
- Luebke, Frederick C. Immigrants and Politics: The Germans of Nebraska, 1880–1900 (1969)
- Luebke, Frederick C. "The German-American Alliance in Nebraska, 1910–1917." Nebraska History 49 (1969): 165–85
- Olson, James C. J. Sterling Morton (1942)
- Overton, Richard C. Burlington West: A Colonization History of the Burlington Railroad (1941)
- Parsons Stanley B. "Who Were the Nebraska Populists?" Nebraska History 44 (1963): 83–99
- Pierce, Neal. The Great Plains States (1973)
- Pederson, James F., and Kenneth D. Wald. Shall the People Rule? A History of the Democratic Party in Nebraska Politics (1972)
- Riley, Glenda. The Female Frontier. A Comparative View of Women on the Prairie and the Plains (1978)
- Wenger, Robert W. "The Anti-Saloon League in Nebraska Politics, 1898–1910." Nebraska History 52 (1971): 267–92
External links
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- Nebraska state government
- Nebraska Division of Travel and Tourism
- Energy Profile for Nebraska
- USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Nebraska
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Nebraska State Facts
- Nebraska Frequently Asked Questions
- Nebraska State Publications Online
- Nebraska city-data
- Nebraska at the Open Directory Project
- nebraskastudies.org – History of Nebraska from Nebraska Department of Education, Nebraska State Historical Society, and NET
- Nebraska State Databases – Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Nebraska state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.
Geographic data related to Nebraska at OpenStreetMap
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| Preceded by Nevada |
List of U.S. states by date of statehood Admitted on March 1, 1867 (37th) |
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Nebraska
Français (French)
n. - Nebraska
Deutsch (German)
n. - Nebraska
Português (Portuguese)
n. - Nebrasca
Español (Spanish)
n. - Nebraska
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
内布拉斯加
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 內布拉斯加
한국어 (Korean)
네브레스카 (미국 중서부의 주; 주도 Lincoln; (약) Nebr.; 속칭 Cornhusker State, Black water State)
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