Final answer:
Kansas was admitted as a free state on January 29, 1861, before the start of the Civil War, which makes the statement false. The period leading up to statehood, known as Bleeding Kansas, was marked by intense conflict over slavery. Missouri faced its own internal battles during the Civil War but remained under Union control.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that Kansas joined the Union once the Civil War starts is false. Kansas was admitted as a free state on January 29, 1861, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, with the conflict at Fort Sumter occurring in April 1861. The inclusion of Kansas into the Union was part of the intensifying national debate over slavery and occurred after a period of violent conflict in the territory known as Bleeding Kansas. This period of unrest was a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed the settlers of a territory to decide the slavery issue for themselves, leading to violent clashes between proslavery and antislavery settlers.
The quote '...South playing for mighty stakes...' speaks to how Kansas statehood was seen as crucial for the future of slavery in America and how vital the issue was for Southern honor, as expressed by Representative Preston Brooks. Missouri, another border state, experienced significant conflict during the Civil War, with Governor Claiborne Jackson pushing the state toward the Confederacy, while federal forces and Captain Nathaniel Lyon fought to retain control for the Union.