Constitutional Conventions of Kansas

Constitutional Conventions of Kansas

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Kansas was organized as a territory of the United States by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was approved by President Franklin Pierce on May 30, 1854. Scarcely had the echoes of the Congressional debates on that measure died away, when an agitation was started for the admission of Kansas as a state. The primary issue at hand was whether Kansas should become a free or a slave state, and in the first efforts for statehood the Free-State men were the aggressors.

The "Bogus Legislature," elected on March 30, 1855 might have called a Constitutional Convention at its first session in July, 1855, but it did not do so. One house passed a resolution to that effect, but the other, fearing the result of the election, declined to concur. From the pro-slavery standpoint, this was a fatal mistake.

1856 map shows slave states in gray, free states in red, US territories in

green, and undecided Kansas in center with no color.

Never again was the pro-slavery interest so strongly entrenched in the territory. The governor, the courts, the army and the President and his cabinet and Congress all were with them, and the Legislature might have called a convention with the assurance that the election could be carried by the same methods by which it was elected and that those methods would be approved at Washington. In all probability if this had been done, Kansas would have been admitted in 1855 with a pro-slavery constitution.

Instead, the pro-slavery men chose to make the fight against admission at this time because so long as the Federal Government was behind them they could control the Territorial Government and they believed that by implementing pro-slavery laws, they could drive the Free-State men out of the territory. This was especially true if they could make the charge of treason stick against the promoters of the Topeka Movement.

The Free-State men; however, were determined and though the so-called "Bogus Legislature"was "officially" in charge, a meeting of Free-State men was held at Topeka on September 19, 1855 that called for an election of delegates to a Constitutional Convention to be held at Topeka on October 23, 1855.

An election was held on October 19, 1855, in which a full list of forty-seven delegates was determined. The pro-slavery people did not participate in the election, the breach already being too wide between the parties. They also contended that a Constitutional Convention could only be called by the the Legislature (Bogus Legislature) and ridiculed the whole movement. The Free-State men, on the other hand, contended that a constitution might be drafted by any convention, however informally called; that the vital question was its ultimate adoption or rejection by the legal voters at an election held for that purpose. To support their contention they had the precedent of California , whose constitution was drafted by a convention held under a popular call.

Topeka Convention

The Constitutional Convention met at Topeka on October 23, 1855. It consisted of forty-seven delegates, including eighteen Democrats, six Whigs, Four republicans, two Free-Soilers, one Free-State man and one Independent. The group elected James H. Lane as president and Samuel C. Smith as secretary.

Several of the delegates elected failed to attend the sessions of the convention. The following list of the men who framed the constitution was compiled from the manuscript records of the convention.

James M. Arthur, Thomas Bell, Frederick Brown, Orville C. Brown, Harrison Burson, Martin F. Conway, Rufus H. Crosby, A. Curtiss, George A. Cutler, Mark W. Delahay, David Dodge, J. S. Emery, D. M. Field, Matt France, J. K. Goodin, William Graham, William R. Griffith, W. H. Hicks, G. S. Hillyer, Cyrus K. Holliday , Morris Hunt, Amory Hunting, Robert Klotz, Richard Knight, John Landis, James H. Lane , S. N. Latta, Sanford McDaniel, Caleb May, Samuel Mewhinney, J. H. Nesbitt, M. J. Parrott, James Phenis, Josiah H. Pillsbury, Robert Riddle, W. Y. Roberts, Charles L. Robinson, James L. Sayle, Phillip C. Schuyler, George W. Smith, H. Smith, C. W. Stewart, J. C. Thompson, J. M. Turner, J. M. Tuton, N. Vandever, and J. A. Wakefield.

The Topeka Constitutional Convention, Frank Leslie's

Illustrated Newspaper, 1855.

The convention completed its labors on November 11, 1855 and provisions were made for the submission of the constitution to the people on December 15th. In the event the constitution was ratified by popular vote at that time, the chairman of the Free-State Executive Committee of the territory was directed to issue a proclamation ordering an election for state officers and members of the legislature on the third Monday of January, 1856, and the legislature then chosen should meet on March 4, 1856.

In the December 15th election, Charles L. Robinson was elected governor and the first Free-State Legislature met at Topeka March 4, 1856. It elected ex-Governor Andrew Reeder (who had been appointed by President Franklin Pierce in June, 1854) and James H. Lane as United States Senators.

The adoption of the constitution and the election of these state officers caused no small commotion in the political circles at Washington. The Bogus Legislature was still in existence and recognized by the Government at Washington as the only legislative authority in Kansas and the Territorial Governor appointed by the President was in full charge of the executive branch with the United States Army at his command and the Federal judiciary submissive to his desires. The whole Topeka movement was regarded as treasonable. President Franklin Pierce in a special message to Congress on January 24, 1856, said:

"No principle of public law, no practice or precedent under the Constitution of the United States, no rule of reason, right, or common sense, confers any such power as that now claimed by a mere party in the territory. In fact, what has been done is of a revolutionary character. It will become treasonable insurrection if it reaches the length of organized resistance by force to the fundamental or any other federal law. "

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