Topeka Constitution
Encyclopedia
The Topeka Constitutional Convention was held in October 1855 in the town of Topeka
, Kansas Territory
. The convention was held in the town's Constitution Hall (see Constitution Hall (Topeka, Kansas)
). This convention was the first effort to establish Kansas under a state constitution; it drafted the Topeka Constitution that was approved by Free-State
voters in Kansas on December 15, 1855. This document banned slavery in Kansas
. The convention was organized by Free-Stater
s seeking to subvert the official (proslavery) territorial legislature, which was elected in March 1855 in polling suffering widely from electoral fraud
.
Elections in Kansas Territory were held pursuant to the Topeka Constitution on January 15, 1856. In voting, boycotted by most proslavery men, Charles L. Robinson
was elected Governor. The question of whether free African American
s would be excluded from settling in Kansas under the Topeka Constitution was also put to a vote at the same time; the results favored exclusion.
The result of the election was the creation of a Free-State legislature in opposition to the official Territorial legislature, which was a proslavery body. Each side considered the other to be fraudulent. Their conflict, carried out with guns and the ballot box, inspired the term Bleeding Kansas
. Following the elections, in a lengthy address on January 24, 1856, President Franklin Pierce
declared the Topeka government to be revolutionary and ordered the arrest of its leaders:
Despite the President's proclamation, the Topeka legislature convened on March 4, 1856. While reconvening on the Fourth of July in 1856 to ask the Congress for admittance of the state, the legislature was dispersed by three squadrons of federal troops under the command of Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner
.
The Topeka Constitution was submitted to the U.S. Congress; it was approved by the House of Representatives in July 1856, but failed in the Senate by two votes. Three more state constitutions were later proposed: the proslavery Lecompton Constitution
(in 1857) and the Free-State Leavenworth Constitution
(in 1858) were each rejected, before the Wyandotte Constitution
(in 1859) ultimately led to Kansas being admitted into the Union as a free state in 1861.
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
. The convention was held in the town's Constitution Hall (see Constitution Hall (Topeka, Kansas)
Constitution Hall (Topeka, Kansas)
Constitution Hall, in Topeka, Kansas, is one of the most famous buildings dating from the history of early Kansas. It was a two-story building constructed from April to October 1855 by brothers Loring and John Farnsworth. It was built of native limestone with a flat roof on the 400 block of...
). This convention was the first effort to establish Kansas under a state constitution; it drafted the Topeka Constitution that was approved by Free-State
Free-Stater
Free-Stater was the name given those settlers in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas era in the 1850s who opposed the extension of slavery to Kansas....
voters in Kansas on December 15, 1855. This document banned slavery in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. The convention was organized by Free-Stater
Free-Stater
Free-Stater was the name given those settlers in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas era in the 1850s who opposed the extension of slavery to Kansas....
s seeking to subvert the official (proslavery) territorial legislature, which was elected in March 1855 in polling suffering widely from electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
.
Elections in Kansas Territory were held pursuant to the Topeka Constitution on January 15, 1856. In voting, boycotted by most proslavery men, Charles L. Robinson
Charles L. Robinson
Charles Lawrence Robinson was the first Governor of Kansas. He was also the first governor of a US state to be impeached, although he was not convicted or removed from office. To date he is the only governor of Kansas to be impeached...
was elected Governor. The question of whether free African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s would be excluded from settling in Kansas under the Topeka Constitution was also put to a vote at the same time; the results favored exclusion.
The result of the election was the creation of a Free-State legislature in opposition to the official Territorial legislature, which was a proslavery body. Each side considered the other to be fraudulent. Their conflict, carried out with guns and the ballot box, inspired the term Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
. Following the elections, in a lengthy address on January 24, 1856, President Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
declared the Topeka government to be revolutionary and ordered the arrest of its leaders:
Despite the President's proclamation, the Topeka legislature convened on March 4, 1856. While reconvening on the Fourth of July in 1856 to ask the Congress for admittance of the state, the legislature was dispersed by three squadrons of federal troops under the command of Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War...
.
The Topeka Constitution was submitted to the U.S. Congress; it was approved by the House of Representatives in July 1856, but failed in the Senate by two votes. Three more state constitutions were later proposed: the proslavery Lecompton Constitution
Lecompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed constitutions for the state of Kansas . The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution of James H. Lane and other free-state advocates...
(in 1857) and the Free-State Leavenworth Constitution
Leavenworth Constitution
The Leavenworth Constitution was one of four Kansas state constitutions proposed during the era of Bleeding Kansas. The Leavenworth Constitution was drafted by a convention of Free-Staters, and was the most progressive of the four proposed constitutions...
(in 1858) were each rejected, before the Wyandotte Constitution
Wyandotte Constitution
The present Constitution of the State of Kansas was originally known as the Wyandotte Constitution to distinguish it from three proposed constitutions that preceded it...
(in 1859) ultimately led to Kansas being admitted into the Union as a free state in 1861.