Editing Platte Purchase (section)

{{Short description|Land Purchase by the U.S. from American Indians}}
{{History of Missouri}}
[[Image:USA Territorial Growth 1820.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The United States in 1820. The graphic shows the straight line western border of Missouri. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in the [[Territories of the United States#Formerly unorganized territories|Unorganized Territory]] (dark green) and permitted it in Missouri (yellow).]]
[[Image:Map of Missouri highlighting the Platt Purchase.gif|thumb|300px|The Platte Purchase region (highlighted in red).]]
[[File:PlattePurchaseMarker.jpg|thumb|Iowa-Missouri Border Marker from the Platte Purchase north of Sheridan, Missouri]]
The '''Platte Purchase''' was a land acquisition in 1836 by the [[United States]] government from [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] tribes of the region. It comprised lands along the east bank of the [[Missouri River]] and added {{convert|3149|sqmi|km2|0}} to the northwest corner of the state of [[Missouri]].

This expansion of the slave state of Missouri was in violation of the [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820, which prohibited the extension of slavery in the former [[Louisiana Territory]] north of the parallel 36°30′ north, except within the boundaries of the state of Missouri, as defined at the time of the adoption of the Missouri Compromise.<ref>Hilde Heun Kagan, Ed. in Charge, ''The American Heritage Pictorial Atlas of United States History,'' New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1966, p. 199.</ref> The area acquired was almost as large as the states of [[Delaware]] and [[Rhode Island]] combined, and extended Missouri westward along the river. [[St. Joseph, Missouri|St. Joseph]], one of the main river ports of departure for the westward migration of [[American pioneer]]s, was located in the new acquisition.

The region of the Platte Purchase includes the following modern counties within its bounds: [[Andrew County, Missouri|Andrew]] (435 square miles, 1127&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), [[Atchison County, Missouri|Atchison]] (545 square miles, 1412&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), [[Buchanan County, Missouri|Buchanan]] (410 square miles, 1062&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), [[Holt County, Missouri|Holt]] (462 square miles, 1197&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), [[Nodaway County, Missouri|Nodaway]] (877 square miles, 2271&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), and [[Platte County, Missouri|Platte]] (420 square miles, 1088&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>). It also includes what are now the northwest suburbs of [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], a small area of Kansas City proper, the cities of [[St. Joseph, Missouri|St. Joseph]] and [[Maryville, Missouri]], as well as [[Kansas City International Airport]] and almost all of Missouri's portion of [[Interstate 29]], save the small portion which runs concurrently with [[Interstate 35]] in [[Clay County, Missouri|Clay County]].