Lecompton Constitution: Kansas, A Sectional Division Catalyst

The Lecompton Constitution was a pro-slavery document drafted in 1857 by pro-slavery advocates seeking to make Kansas a slave state. It was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas and was drafted in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution. The Lecompton Constitution was approved in a rigged election in December 1857, but this approval was short-lived as it was overwhelmingly defeated in a second vote in January 1858. The rejection of the Lecompton Constitution and the subsequent admittance of Kansas as a free state exacerbated the divide between Northern and Southern Democrats, with Southern Democrats supporting President James Buchanan's endorsement of the Lecompton Constitution, while Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, opposed it. This sectional division ultimately contributed to Lincoln's election victory in 1860, which served as a catalyst for the secession of the lower South states.

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The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

The act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had outlawed slavery above the 36°30' parallel in the Louisiana territories. By repealing this compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act reopened the national struggle over slavery in the western territories. It allowed for popular sovereignty, or the idea that the settlers of the new territories should decide if slavery would be legal there. This policy, however, contradicted the Missouri Compromise and left the question of slavery open, arousing a storm of protest throughout the North.

The act aggravated the split between the North and South on the issue of slavery, with anti-slavery supporters outraged that slavery would now be allowed in the territories. This conflict turned violent, earning the nickname "Bleeding Kansas". Opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act helped found the Republican Party, which opposed the spread of slavery into the territories.

The passage of the act led to a rush of ideologically inspired Northern and Southern migrants into Kansas Territory, with each side hoping to determine the results of the first election. This further deepened the divide along pro- and anti-slavery lines, and Kansas Territory was soon flooded with migrants hoping to shape the future of the West. Four constitutions were eventually proposed, with the second and most controversial emerging from a territorial convention held in Lecompton in 1857, which aimed to protect the institution of slavery.

Voter fraud

The Lecompton Constitution was drafted in 1857 by pro-slavery advocates and included provisions to protect slavery in the state of Kansas and to exclude free people of colour from its bill of rights. The document was drafted in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution.

The Lecompton Constitution was ratified by Kansas voters, with free-staters boycotting the vote, and was transmitted to President James Buchanan, who recommended its approval and the admission of Kansas to the union as a slave state.

However, the vote on this document did not represent true popular sovereignty as voters were not given the option to reject the constitution entirely—the true anti-slavery option. This boycott by free-staters, over fears of ballot fraud, meant that the referendum suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half of the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent.

The mounting division among Democrats allowed the Free-Staters in Kansas, with the support of the budding Republican Party, to expose the voter fraud behind Lecompton and force a new referendum. In the next round of voting, on January 4, 1858, Kansas voters rejected the Lecompton Constitution by a decisive margin of 10,226 to 138. Kansas was ultimately admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861.

Sectional divide in the Democratic Party

The Lecompton Constitution was drafted in 1857 by pro-slavery advocates and included provisions to protect slavery in the state of Kansas and to exclude free people of colour from its bill of rights. It was the second of four proposed constitutions for Kansas, and it never went into effect. The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 required people to decide on the issue of slavery through their vote for a constitution for any new territory which desired to become a state. This led to a series of events in Kansas and Missouri that culminated in violence and became known as "Bleeding Kansas". The crisis over the Lecompton Constitution further fractured the Democratic Party while building the Republicans' base.

The Lecompton Constitution was endorsed by President James Buchanan, a pro-Southern Democrat. Buchanan's support was met with outrage among Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, who sided with the Republicans in opposition to the constitution. The sectional divide laid bare by the debate over Kansas and Lecompton ultimately split the national Democratic Party in the 1860 presidential election. This was one of the reasons that the Democrats ran two sectional candidates in the Election of 1860, with Stephen Douglas as the Northern Democrat candidate and John C. Breckenridge as the Southern Democrat candidate.

The Lecompton Constitution was rejected by Kansas voters in a referendum on January 4, 1858, by a vote of 10,226 to 138. The rejection of the Lecompton Constitution, and the subsequent admittance of Kansas to the Union as a free state, highlighted the irregular and fraudulent voting practices that had marked earlier efforts.

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The role of President James Buchanan

President James Buchanan was a pro-Southern Democrat who played a significant role in the events surrounding the Lecompton Constitution and the admission of Kansas into the Union as a state. In 1857, Buchanan was focused on achieving Kansas's admission into the Union as quickly as possible, regardless of whether it was a free state or a slave state.

To this end, he persuaded Senator Robert Walker, a Democrat from Mississippi, to serve as the territorial governor of Kansas. Walker agreed on the condition that any constitution written must be voted on by all the bona fide residents of Kansas, which Buchanan approved. However, the pro-slavery territorial legislature called for a constitutional convention to be held in Lecompton, Kansas, in September 1857. Free-state men refused to participate in the June 1857 election for delegates due to concerns about pro-slavery influences and voter fraud. This resulted in pro-slavery delegates dominating the constitutional convention.

Despite evidence of voter fraud and warnings from Walker that the Lecompton Constitution did not represent true popular sovereignty, Buchanan unwaveringly supported the Lecompton Constitution. He demanded that Congress approve it and admit Kansas as a slave state, even though a clear majority of Kansans did not approve of it. Buchanan's support for the Lecompton Constitution alienated many Democrats, including Stephen Douglas, who felt it violated popular sovereignty. Douglas broke with Buchanan and joined Republicans in trying to block the Kansas statehood bill.

Buchanan's actions had significant political consequences. They further divided the Democratic Party along sectional lines and strengthened the Republican Party. Additionally, Buchanan's support for the Lecompton Constitution and his insistence on Kansas's admission as a slave state contributed to the mounting tensions over slavery and increased sectional division in the country.

The impact on Lincoln's election

The Lecompton Constitution, drafted in 1857, was a document framed in Lecompton, the Territorial Capital of Kansas, by Southern pro-slavery advocates of Kansas statehood. It contained clauses protecting slaveholding and a bill of rights excluding free blacks, and it added to the frictions leading up to the US Civil War.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, proposed by Illinois Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas, organised governments on territories that belonged to the Louisiana Purchase, Kansas, and Nebraska. These new territories would be open to deciding on the inclusion or exclusion of slavery by popular sovereignty. The Act nullified the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which served as a limitation on the spread of slavery.

The Act had a significant impact on Lincoln's election. Abraham Lincoln emerged from his self-imposed political retirement in 1854 soon after the Kansas-Nebraska Act became law. He committed himself to building a coalition against the Act, disputing Douglas' argument that slavery would not expand into new territories as their populations might or might not vote for it. Lincoln centred his argument on the question of "whether the negro is not or is a man". He argued against Douglas' claim that African Americans were not human but property. Lincoln asserted that the Declaration of Independence was the core of American freedom based on the fact that "all men are created equal".

Lincoln ran unsuccessfully for the Senate from Illinois that fall and later supported the fusion of the Whigs with the new Republican Party. He was drafted to run for the state legislature in 1854, which he won, but he immediately resigned to contest a US Senate seat. Lincoln's stance against the extension of slavery and his moderate rhetoric towards the South attracted support from various political groups united in their opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

The Lecompton Constitution further exacerbated sectional divisions. It was endorsed by President James Buchanan, a pro-Southern Democrat, despite fraudulent voting practices. This endorsement outraged Northern Democrats, including Stephen Douglas, and the sectional divide laid bare by the debate over Kansas and Lecompton ultimately split the national Democratic Party in the 1860 presidential election. The mounting division among Democrats allowed the Free-Staters in Kansas, with Republican support, to expose the voter fraud behind Lecompton and force a new referendum. Kansas voters rejected the Lecompton Constitution in January 1858, suggesting that Free-State supporters overwhelmingly outnumbered pro-slavery elements.

The split in the Democratic Party in the 1860 election made it unable to stop Lincoln's election, which served as the main catalyst for the secession of the lower South states.

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