ajones4′s weblog

            Few states had a harder time than Kansas coming up with a state constitution. The people of Kansas and Congress had a hard time agreeing on the role of slavery in the state and it ultimately took 4 tries to come up with a constitution that go all the way.

            For this blog I listened to a podcast from the Kansas Memory website titled ‘Quadruple Constitutions’. It begins with a discussion about the condition of the state of Kansas leading up to writing these constitutions. The narrator describes it as “chaos,” mentioning that there are two active legislatures in Kansas, one official and one not-so-official. The narrators then go on to talk about the 4 attempts at a constitution, named after the place where the convention and writing took place.

            The unofficial legislature was a group of free-staters who set up shop in Topeka, determined to admit Kansas as a free state. They weren’t recognized by congress but drafted the first attempt at a state constitution in 1855. This constitution abolished slavery but also attempted to forbid free blacks into the state. It is turned down pretty quick by congress due to the divide in Congress about slavery. The second attempt at a constitution was the Lecompton Constitution. The man in charge of this convention was John Calhoun, a pro-slavery advocate, who included slavery as acceptable in the state. This constitution was voted on 3 times but continued to fail because of the changing times; more free-staters moving in and not approving it. The third attempt at a state constitution was the Leavenworth Constitution. This was the most liberal constitution yet and had the stamp of approval from the free-staters. It was radically antislavery, allowed free blacks into the state, and gave women some property rights. The Leavenworth Constitution is considered a pioneering document because of how liberal it was, but ended up failing because of it. The fourth and final try was the Wyandotte Constitution drafted in  1859. It was written by free-staters who were considered reasonable people. Some characteristics of this constitution included no voting for blacks, property rights for women, and women were allowed to vote in school board elections.*

            One thing I found interesting about the constitutions was that 3 of the 4 constitutions are displayed in the collection, but the Topeka Constitution never surfaced and is speculated to still be floating around somewhere. I think it’s also interesting that Kansas is the only state to go through so many tries to find a constitution that can please the most people. This just goes to show that Kansas really was a hot spot and that although it has it’s stereotypes today, was once a place full of conflict, controversy, and sometimes scandal.  

* from the podcast at http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/constitutions.htm