after the civil war, kansas had many frontier towns. the railroads were stops for cattle drives from texas. many black people moved from the south to kansas. these people were called "exodusters". farmers tried growing corn and raising pigs, but there was little rain, so they were not able to. they started growing wheat. they became very good at growing wheat, and they had enough to trade with europe. many angry farmers joined the populist and progressive movement in the 1890s, and they supported it until the 1940s. since the 1940s, kansas has been a very conservative state. since 1945, the number of farmers has lowered, and manufacturing has become more popular.