Eleanor Finch
The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas, drafted in the city of Lecompton in 1857. It was strongly pro-slavery and included provisions to protect slavery in the state and to exclude free people of colour from its bill of rights. The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution. The Lecompton Constitution was endorsed by President James Buchanan, who was a vocal supporter of enslaver rights. However, it was opposed by Stephen A. Douglas, an Illinois senator and author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, who felt that it violated popular sovereignty and that voters of Kansas should have the right to decide whether any slaves could enter their territory. Douglas's opposition to the Lecompton Constitution cost him support among Southern Democrats, and his break with the Democratic Party had significant consequences, including the party running two sectional candidates in the 1860 Election.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Reaction to the Lecompton Constitution | Stephen Douglas vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution, arguing that it lacked true popular sovereignty and that the voters of Kansas should have the right to decide whether any slaves could enter their territory. |
| Impact on the Democratic Party | Douglas's opposition to the Lecompton Constitution, which was endorsed by President James Buchanan, caused him to break ranks with the Democratic Party and jeopardized his standing with Southern Democrats. His stand effectively split the party. |
| Impact on Kansas | Douglas's successful leadership of the anti-Lecompton effort contributed to the rejection of the Lecompton Constitution and the subsequent admittance of Kansas as a free state. |
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What You'll Learn
Stephen Douglas's opposition to the Lecompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas, drafted in 1857 in the city of Lecompton, Kansas. It was strongly pro-slavery and included provisions to protect slavery in the state and exclude free people of colour from its bill of rights. It prevented the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation.
Stephen Douglas, the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution. He felt that it violated the principle of popular sovereignty, which he had hoped would remove the issue of slavery from the politics of Congress and allow the settlers in the territories to decide the issue for themselves. Douglas's intentions backfired, and Congress was forced to take sides.
Douglas's opposition to the Lecompton Constitution cost him the support of the South, and perhaps even the presidency. He broke with President James Buchanan, who sought to foist a pro-slavery constitution on the new state of Kansas, and sided with the Republicans in trying to block the Kansas statehood bill. This break with the Democratic Party had significant and damaging consequences, and Southerners felt betrayed by Douglas's actions.
In 1858, the Lecompton Constitution was submitted to a popular vote and was decisively rejected by Kansas voters. Kansas was eventually admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861, but Douglas's principle of popular sovereignty had been severely discredited.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Prior to the Act, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the 36°30' parallel, which included the newly created territories of Kansas and Nebraska. However, the Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned this compromise by allowing settlers in these territories to decide on the legality of slavery through popular sovereignty, the notion that residents of a territory should have the right to determine their own laws, including the status of slavery. This idea of popular sovereignty, championed by Douglas, was intended to appeal to both pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions by allowing local majorities to decide the issue.
The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act set off a rush of migrants from both the North and the South to the Kansas Territory, as they sought to influence the future of slavery in the region. The territory became a battleground for competing ideologies, with pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups resorting to violence and electoral fraud to impose their preferred constitutions. This period, known as "Bleeding Kansas," witnessed the drafting of four constitutions, including the Lecompton Constitution, which emerged from a pro-slavery convention in Lecompton, Kansas, in 1857.
The Lecompton Constitution, drafted by pro-slavery advocates, included provisions to protect slavery and exclude free people of color from its bill of rights. It was submitted to a referendum, but the voting process was marred by fraud and manipulation, with pro-slavery Missourians crossing the border to cast ballots. Despite the controversy and questionable legitimacy of the voting process, President James Buchanan, a pro-Southern Democrat, endorsed the Lecompton Constitution to appease the South and retain the support of Southern Democrats.
However, Stephen Douglas, despite being the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution. Douglas argued that it violated the principle of popular sovereignty by not truly representing the will of the people of Kansas. He believed that voters should have the right to decide on the presence of any slaves in their territory, not just the entry of more slaves. Douglas's opposition to the Lecompton Constitution led him to break ranks with President Buchanan and the Democratic Party, further fracturing the party along sectional lines.
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Popular Sovereignty
The Lecompton Constitution was drafted 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 preceded by the Topeka Constitution, which was an anti-slavery constitution. The Lecompton Constitution was highly controversial and was the result of fraudulent voting practices.
Senator Stephen Douglas, the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution because it lacked true popular sovereignty. Douglas's notion of popular sovereignty held that the people of Kansas should have the right to decide whether any slaves could enter their territory. Douglas felt that the Lecompton Constitution violated this principle by only giving the voters of Kansas the right to decide on the entry of more slaves into the territory, rather than the entry of slaves altogether.
Douglas's opposition to the Lecompton Constitution put him at odds with President James Buchanan, who endorsed the document before Congress. Buchanan, a pro-Southern Democrat, sought to placate the South and retain the support of Southern Democrats by accepting the pro-slavery constitution. He insisted on accepting the dubious results of the election, which included voter fraud and the boycott of Free-State supporters, who comprised most actual settlers.
Douglas's stand against the Lecompton Constitution had significant consequences. It effectively split the Democratic Party, with Northern Democrats led by Douglas opposing the document, while Southern Democrats supported it. Douglas's actions also alienated Southerners, who felt betrayed and blacklisted him. This divide within the Democratic Party ultimately contributed to the party running two sectional candidates in the 1860 election, with Douglas as the Northern Democrat candidate.
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The Democratic Party split
The Lecompton Constitution was drafted by pro-slavery advocates and included provisions to protect slavery in the state of Kansas and to exclude free people of color from its bill of rights. The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution. The pro-slavery legislature submitted the constitution to a referendum, offering a "no slavery" option that actually included slavery, earning a boycott from free-state forces. This became known as the "Lecompton swindle" by Republicans.
The Lecompton Constitution was endorsed by President James Buchanan, a pro-Southern Democrat. Buchanan's predecessor, President Franklin Pierce, had also supported Lecompton and denounced the Topeka Constitution. Buchanan's decision to accept the pro-slavery constitution for Kansas was an attempt to placate the South and retain the support of Southern Democrats. However, this move alienated many Northern Democrats, including Senator Stephen Douglas, who felt that the constitution violated the principle of popular sovereignty. Douglas had previously authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened free territory to slavery and led to violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas and Missouri, known as "Bleeding Kansas."
Douglas vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution, arguing that the voters of Kansas should have the right to decide whether any slaves could enter their territory, not just whether more slaves would enter. He challenged the president's power and jeopardized his standing with Southern Democrats by opposing the constitution. Douglas's successful leadership of the anti-Lecompton effort effectively split the Democratic Party, with Southerners feeling betrayed by his actions. This divide within the party ultimately led to the Democrats running two sectional candidates in the 1860 presidential election: Stephen Douglas as the Northern Democrat candidate and John C. Breckinridge as the Southern Democrat candidate.
Douglas's break with the Democratic Party had significant consequences. His opposition to the Lecompton Constitution, which was at odds with his earlier support for expanding slavery, prompted some prominent members of the infant Republican Party to urge support for his 1858 re-election bid. Douglas's stance on Lecompton also highlighted the irregular and fraudulent voting practices that had marked earlier efforts to create a state constitution in Kansas that allowed slavery.
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Violence in Kansas
The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas. It was drafted in 1857 in Lecompton, Kansas, by pro-slavery advocates seeking statehood for Kansas. The document included provisions to protect slavery in the state and to exclude free people of colour from its bill of rights. It prevented the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation.
The Lecompton Constitution was preceded by the Topeka Constitution, drafted in 1855 by Free-Staters led by James H. Lane, which would have effectively banned slavery in Kansas. In response, pro-slavery forces dominated the next election in 1857 through widespread voter fraud, electing a slate of delegates to draft the Lecompton Constitution. The Free-Staters boycotted this election, suspecting that it would be rigged by pro-slavery forces.
The adoption of the Lecompton Constitution led to a new wave of violence in Kansas, with "Bleeding Kansas" becoming a term used to describe the guerrilla war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces. The breakdown of popular sovereignty and the proliferation of violence caused concern among onlookers, who saw it as a sign of worse things to come. The mounting division between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas led to increased political polarisation and violence in the territory.
Stephen Douglas, the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution because it lacked true popular sovereignty. He argued that the voters of Kansas should have the right to decide whether any slaves could enter their territory, not just whether more slaves would enter. Douglas's stand against the Lecompton Constitution cost him support among Southern Democrats, who saw him as siding with the Republicans in preventing another slave state from entering the Union. Despite his objections, the Kansas statehood bill under the Lecompton Constitution passed the Senate on March 23, 1858, by a vote of 33 to 25.
Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected the Lecompton Constitution 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 as a free state in 1861 highlighted the irregular and fraudulent voting practices that had marked earlier efforts. The debate over the Lecompton Constitution also destroyed the Democratic Party, with Northern Democrats, led by Stephen Douglas, siding with the Republicans in opposition to the constitution.
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Frequently asked questions
Stephen Douglas, a Northern Democrat, vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution. He felt that it violated popular sovereignty and did not represent the wishes of the majority of the people of Kansas.
The Lecompton Constitution was a pro-slavery document drafted in 1857 by the pro-slavery legislature in Kansas. It was the second of four proposed constitutions for Kansas and the most controversial.
Stephen Douglas's successful leadership of the anti-Lecompton effort split the Democratic Party. It also prompted some prominent members of the infant Republican Party to urge support for Douglas's 1858 re-election bid.
