Kansas's Lecompton Constitution

Lecompton Costitution Hall

The Lecompton Constitution was written by pro-slavery activists and was the second constitution written for the Kansas Territory in anticipation of statehood. The Lecompton Constitution was rejected by Kansas for its injustices, however, the controversy over this proposed Constitution added to the tensions leading up to the Civil War. It allowed slavery, and did not permit free blacks to live in Kansas. It also only allowed white male citizens of the U.S. to vote. One of the most serious repercussions of the Lecompton Constitution was that controversy and debate over it destroyed the Democratic party. President Buchanan supported the Lecompton Constitution and so lost his political supporters in the North, while Stephen Douglas objected to it because it went against his "Popular Sovereignty" position. The Lecompton Constitution was defeated and Kansas was admitted as a free state in 1861.