Simone Lawson
The Lecompton Constitution was drafted by pro-slavery advocates and included provisions to protect slavery in the state of Kansas and excluded 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 vote on the Lecompton Constitution was boycotted by free-state supporters, and the referendum suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half of the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent. The major complaint with the Lecompton Constitution was that it lacked true popular sovereignty, as voters were not given the option to reject the constitution entirely and ban slavery in Kansas.
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What You'll Learn
The Lecompton Constitution was drafted by pro-slavery advocates
The Lecompton Constitution enshrined slavery in the proposed state and protected the rights of slave owners. It included Article 7, which protected the right to enslaved "property", preventing the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation. The referendum also provided for a vote on whether to allow more enslaved people to enter the territory.
The vote on the Lecompton Constitution was boycotted by free-state supporters, and the referendum suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half of the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent. Despite this, the document was sent to Washington for approval by Congress, and President James Buchanan endorsed the pro-slavery constitution. This was met with outrage among Northern Democrats, including Stephen Douglas, who felt the constitution violated popular sovereignty.
The controversy over the Lecompton Constitution split the Democratic Party, with many Northern Democrats siding with the Republicans in opposition to the constitution. The Kansas statehood bill passed the Senate, but was blocked in the House, causing a stalemate. A new referendum was proposed, and Kansas voters rejected the Lecompton Constitution by a large margin in January 1858, opting for a free state.
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It enshrined slavery in Kansas and protected the rights of slave owners
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 enshrined the right to "property", including slaves, and prevented the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation.
The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution. The territorial legislature, which mainly consisted of enslavers due to widespread electoral fraud, met at Lecompton in September 1857 to draft a rival document. Free-state supporters boycotted the vote, who comprised most actual settlers. The Lecompton Constitution enshrined slavery and protected the rights of slave owners, even providing for a referendum on whether to allow more enslaved people into the territory.
The vote on the Lecompton Constitution was reduced to a single issue: "Constitution with Slavery" versus "Constitution with no Slavery". However, the latter clause would not have made Kansas a free state; it would have only banned the future importation of enslaved people, which was deemed unenforceable by many. The referendum suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half of the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent. Despite this, it was sent to Washington for approval by Congress, with the endorsement of President James Buchanan, a pro-Southern Democrat.
The controversy over the Lecompton Constitution reached the White House and was hotly debated, eventually splitting the Democratic Party. The document was rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1858, and Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected it in a referendum in January 1858, opting to enter the Union as a free state.
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The document was approved in a rigged election
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 prevented the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation.
The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution. The territorial legislature, which, because of widespread electoral fraud, mainly consisted of enslavers, met at the designated capital of Lecompton in September 1857 to produce a rival document. Free-state supporters boycotted the vote, who comprised most actual settlers.
The referendum suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half of the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent. Nevertheless, the Lecompton Constitution was sent to Washington for approval by Congress. A vocal supporter of enslaver rights, President James Buchanan endorsed the Lecompton Constitution before Congress.
The controversy over the Lecompton Constitution eventually reached the White House, with Buchanan persuading Senator Robert Walker to serve as the territorial governor. Walker agreed on the condition that any constitution written must be voted on by all the residents of Kansas. However, free-state men refused to participate in the election for convention delegates as they believed pro-slavery influences and fraud tainted the election. Consequently, pro-slavery delegates dominated the constitutional convention.
The Lecompton Constitution was ultimately rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1858. 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 to create a state constitution in Kansas that allowed slavery.
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The constitution lacked 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 prevented the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation.
The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution. The territorial legislature, which, because of widespread electoral fraud, mainly consisted of enslavers, met at the designated capital of Lecompton in September 1857 to produce a rival document. Free-state supporters boycotted the vote.
The vote on the Lecompton Constitution did not represent true popular sovereignty as voters were not given the option to reject the constitution entirely—the true anti-slavery option. Free-staters boycotted the referendum, which suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half of the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent. Despite this, President James Buchanan endorsed the Lecompton Constitution before Congress.
Senator Stephen Douglass (Democrat-Illinois), the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, vehemently opposed the Lecompton Constitution because it lacked true popular sovereignty and he threatened to oppose President Buchanan publicly if he continued his support. Buchanan's support for the Lecompton Constitution never wavered, and it became increasingly clear that he would stake his administration on the passage of the Kansas statehood bill under this document.
The controversy over the Lecompton Constitution split the Democratic Party, putting the powerful Illinois senator Stephen Douglas in opposition to many other Democrats. The U.S. House of Representatives refused to honour the Lecompton Constitution, and the voters in Kansas also rejected it. When Kansas eventually entered the Union in early 1861, it was as a state that did not practice enslavement.
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The controversy surrounding the constitution split the Democratic Party
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 prevented the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation. The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution.
The controversy surrounding the Lecompton Constitution centred on the issue of slavery in Kansas and the voting practices that enabled its passage. Free-state supporters boycotted the vote, and the referendum suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half of the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent. Despite this, President James Buchanan endorsed the Lecompton Constitution before Congress, alienating many Democrats, including Stephen Douglas, who felt the constitution violated popular sovereignty.
Douglas, along with Northern Democrats, sided with the Republicans in opposing the constitution and the Kansas statehood bill. 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. In this next round of voting, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected the Lecompton Constitution, suggesting that Free-State supporters outnumbered pro-slavery advocates.
The debate over the Lecompton Constitution had significant political ramifications, ultimately splitting the Democratic Party. The controversy influenced the political careers of Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, playing a role in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 and making Lincoln's victory in the 1860 election possible. The issue of Kansas statehood and the Lecompton Constitution's fate highlighted the irregular and fraudulent voting practices that had marked earlier efforts to create a state constitution in Kansas.
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Frequently asked questions
The Lecompton Constitution was drafted by pro-slavery advocates and included provisions to protect slavery in the state of Kansas. The major complaint with the Lecompton Constitution was that it was a pro-slavery document in a territory with a large anti-slavery population.
The Lecompton Constitution deeply divided the Democratic Party, with many Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, siding with the Republicans in opposition to the constitution. The controversy over the Lecompton Constitution and the subsequent split in the Democratic Party contributed to the victory of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, in the 1860 election.
The Lecompton Constitution was initially approved in a rigged election in December 1857. However, in a second vote in January 1858, it was overwhelmingly defeated by a vote of 10,226 to 138, with Kansas voters rejecting the pro-slavery constitution.
President James Buchanan, a pro-Southern Democrat, endorsed the Lecompton Constitution despite widespread allegations of voter fraud. Buchanan's support for the Lecompton Constitution and his insistence on admitting Kansas as a slave state alienated many Northern Democrats and contributed to the split in the Democratic Party.
