The LHS Newsletter Archive Volume Seventeen, Issue Number 1
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The LHS Newsletter Archive Volume Seventeen, Issue Number 1 Originally Published in Lecompton, Kansas : Spring 1991 Digitally Archived August 2006 ~ ~;d UR£1' ERe£~ VOL. 17 'NO. 1 LECOMPTON, KANSAS SPRING 1991 KANSAS TERRITOR Y: AMERICA IN 1857 1857 The "New York Times" of November 11, In Kansas Ter.ritory in 1857 there were 1990, contained a review by Hugh Brogan of many e1ecti ons and governmental meeti ngs. the book, AMERICANIN 1857, A NATIONONTHE People were extremely polarized in their BRINK,by Kenneth M. Stampp. The fact that views concerning slavery, and in their Lecompton was menti oned several ti mes in views of the slavery question in new states the article, aroused the interest of to be admitted to the Union. Po1i ti ca 1 Senator Wint Winter, Jr., who sent a copy parties were in flux. A partial listing of to the Lecompton Historical Society. elections and conventions, mostly in 1857, follows: ~ The book proved to be most interesting . ~as it led the reader to believe that the 1855 October 23 to November 11. Topeka ~events which occurred during the year 1857 Constitution framed by Free-Staters. were big contributing factors in the cause 1857 January 6. Topeka Legislature of the Civil War. Accordi ng to thi s book Convened. Prominent members arrested there were numerous reporters from Eastern by Pro-Slavery forces, taken to cities in Lecompton during the crisis, Tecumseh. Legislature adjourned until representing their newspapers, reporting June 9. the events, particularly during the 1857 January 12. Lecompton Pro-Slavery Lecompton Constitutional Convention. The Convention and Legislature. On debate concerning the admission of the February 19 an act was passed to Lecompton Constitution with or without provi de for the taki ng of a census ratifi cati on by the peopl e of Kansas, and between March 1 and April 1 from which thus the admission of Kansas to the Union, an apportionment of delegates to a lasted for months and was carried daily in Constitutional Convention was to be the newspapers of all -'"the states. Across made by the Governor. It was deci ded the United States Lecompt~n became a that the Constitutional Convention was household name from Maine to California. to be held in September 1857. Third Monday in June was to see the election The book detailed the bRd judgement of of these 60 delegates. the U.S. Government in handling the 1857 June 9 Topeka. Free-Staters meet and problems of the 1857 period and details the resolve to support the Topeka events that so aroused both the North and Constitution of October 23, 1855. the South that they were important factors 1857 August 9. Free State election of which led to the Civil War. legislature. 1857 August 26 Grasshopper Falls \\ I The following article is from the Convention. Free-Staters decide to 'vreview of Mr. Stampp's book. "Kansas in participate in October elections. 1857 was a territory ready to become a 1857 September 7. First Lecompton state. The urgent question was, should it Constitutional Convention adjourned to be admitted to the Union with the (ContinuedC<*1umn"P" 1, Page 2) (Continued Column 2, Page 2) ". (AMERICAIN 1857 - From Page I) proslavery, illdrafted constitution that an News and World Report, January 21, 19Y1, unrepresentative handful of extremists had reports an i ntervi ew with the author cobb1ed together in Lecompton, Kan., 1ate Kenneth Stampp where it was agai n brought in the year? Presi dent James Buchanan by out how the handling of the Lecompton insisting on the Lecompton constitution, Consti tuti on caused the i rreparab 1e sp1i t (and refusing to have the Lecompton in the Democratic party enabling Lincoln to Consti tuti on put to the vote of the be elected presi dent, and teari ng asunder ~ residents of Kansas Territory for the Union, South from North, finally ratification,) split his party and opened causing the Civil War. the way to disaster. In Mr. Stampp's Recently the Kansas City Star and the opinion, his mishandling of the Kansas Lawrence Journal-World also carried cri si s was the fatal step that made articles relating to this book. disruptin~ of the Union, and therefore Sara Walter civil war, all but inescapable. The great blunder over the Lecompton Constitution was Buchanan's own work, not that of his Southern friends and colleagues. (KANSASTERRITORY:1857 - From Page 1) II i One of Mr. Stampp's themes is that in the spring of 1857 the Republic's prospects the 19th. !' were blooming. Even the Dred Scott 1857 September 19 to November 3 Lecompton decision, made that year, was not Constitutional Convention. Jim Lane :I sufficient to revive the passionate prevented the delegates from meeting. disputes of 1856, and although there was a Finally did begin meeting on the 22nd financial crash in the autumn, we now know, and framed the Lecompton Constitution. 'I if the people of the time did not, that the 1857 October 5. Free-Staters won this 'I economy was to make a rapi d recovery. In election of legislators even though i I short, Buchanan had to work really hard to the Oxford vote and McGee County vote wreck things. If, as is only fair, we were grossly fraudulent. I! judge him by the foreseeable consequences 1857 December 2 Lawrence Free-State ~ of his actions, he must without question be rated the worst American President. Convention. It was composed of fairly, Iill elected delegates from October 5 ~" election. They re-endorsed the Topeka In 40 years of politics, Buchanan did Constitution of 1855. They asked for not learn to respect the honest concerns of II the submission of the Lecompton his opponents, or indeed of anyone but Consti tuti on to the people of Kansas himself and those who agreed with him for vote. III completely; nor did he ever see that 1857 December 7 Extra Sessi on of opi ni ons, on thei r own, are unsafe gui des Legislature Convened. Supported to acti on. He was a doughface, a Northern Topeka Constitution and condemned man of Southern opinions; and he explicitly Lecompton Constitution. bl amed the Kansas di sturbances not on the 1857 December 21. Election to vote on handful of proslavery conspirators who Lecompton Consti tuti on "with slavery" began them but on the great mass of or Lecompton Consti tuti on "without antislavery settlers in the territory. So slavery". he had no qualms of conscience about trying to override the settlers' democratic The physical violence of previous ri ghts. He chose to recommend the months had been quelled to a large part by fraudulent Lecompton Constitution to the action of Governor Geary; however, the Congress and in so doing broke his word and efforts of the pro-slavery party did not split his party (Democratic) beyond cease, but they then turned to the "means recovery. Three years 1ater a Repub1i can of political management, legislative craft victory came, followed by secession and and low cunning." war. II The October 1857 election to select a Since the review in the New York Times new territorial legislature aligned the in November of 1as t year other arti c1es peop1e in di fferent camps. The opposi ng '-' I about thi s new book and its author have parti es were a freestate party made up of appeared in important peri odi ca1s. U.S. -~ Republicans, Northern Democrats, and a few II 4 ..".. .~ 0"~.. ..~...~ ~! 03 /' j::;: S~ ~a ";I CJ . ~ ..t/ ~» "'''' a °5t" 11 :i t ~~"Z .za 11\'8 ~ d!.~ ~./ ~ i'" U C III ~1c.1 ~ ..~~ !~III~t~ z {~e ;)- DC ~ ~ ~ ~ V') q: I/) Z EX :::c ~ ~ ',-, " )J Southernn Democrats; and the pro-slavery thei r names had been i nc1uded. Thus the party consisted of Southern Democrats and free-staters were by vari ous tacti cs not Southern Whig-Americans. The free-state represented at the Lecompton Convention. party had refused to take part in the June Of the 34 counti es in exi stence in Kansas --'- election of delegates to the Consitutiona1 Territory in 1857 only 15 were counted in Convention, but reluctantly agreed to the census with thei r popul ati ons used in participate in the October election. the apportionment of delegates to the Lecompton Consti tuti ona1 Conventi on. (See The attitude of many in 1857 can be map.) These favored 15 counties were those discovered between the pages of a book in which pro-slavery held control or those written in that year by John H. Gihon, that were on the Missouri border where the M.D., the private secretary of Governor Missouri ans coul d cross over to regi ster Geary. The book: Geary and Kansas is a and 3 months later appear to cast a history of Kansas Territory until June 1857 pro-slavery ballot. The census in counties and concerns events occuring in the which were 1argely free-state or were too terri tory not from the perspecti ve of the far from Missouri for" cross over voters" Monday Morning Quarterback, but from first was never completed. hand observation of these events. The June election j'esults were Accordi ng to the preface, the author bolstered by the border ruffian vote of at sets forth his observations of the events least 7,000 of pro-slavery persuasion. in an unbiased and non-partisan manner. Thus, by dishonest means the pro-slavery John Gihon came to Kansas Terri tory as an party claimed victory and the right to advocate of the pro-slavery intentions, frame the constitution for admission to which he made know at every opportuni ty.