territory constitutions
It was the mid-1850s, and the population of Quindaro was growing rapidly to its peak of 1,200 residents. In an article published in the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association, the author wrote that, at that time, the Kansas Territory “resembled a banana republic and a miniature civil war over political and moral ideals.” That article offers a detailed description of the four Kansas Territory constitutions that emerged from four different constitutional conventions between 1854 and 1859. The process to approve the final state constitution took so long because delegates could not write a document with which both the people of the territory and the United States Congress were satisfied.
The following is the author’s explanation of these tumultuous years:
The following is the author’s explanation of these tumultuous years:
“Kansas citizens created and fought over four constitutions,
voted on one of them three different times, saw federal cavalry
break up political meetings, enacted laws creating five different
capital cities, suffered through the Panic of 1857 . . . The territory
also spawned two separate legislatures – one antislavery, the other
pro-slavery. Each lawmaking body served at the same time and
each ignored the other’s laws.”
voted on one of them three different times, saw federal cavalry
break up political meetings, enacted laws creating five different
capital cities, suffered through the Panic of 1857 . . . The territory
also spawned two separate legislatures – one antislavery, the other
pro-slavery. Each lawmaking body served at the same time and
each ignored the other’s laws.”