Lecompton Capital of Kansas Territory - Kanwaka, KS
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 38° 59.605 W 095° 23.445
15S E 292948 N 4318765
Located on US 40 in wayside park.
Waymark Code: WM159MM
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 11/15/2021
Views: 0
This is one of two markers with the same text. The other is located in the west bound rest area on I-70.
Marker Name: Lecompton Capital of Kansas Territory
Marker Type: Rest Area
Marker text:
In 1855 the new town of Lecompton was named the capital of Kansas Territory. President James Buchanan appointed a governor and officials to establish government offices in Lecompton, and construction began on an elegant capitol building. In the fall of 1857 a convention met in Constitution Hall and drafted the famous Lecompton Constitution, which would have admitted Kansas as a slave state. The constitution was rejected after intense national debate and was one of the prime topics of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The controversy contributed to the growing dispute soon to erupt in civil war. The Lecompton Constitution failed, in part, because the antislavery party won control of the territorial legislature in the election of 1857. The new legislature met in Constitution Hall, now a National Historic Landmark, and immediately began to abolish the proslavery laws. The victorious free-state leaders chose Topeka as capital when Kansas became a state in 1861.
Kansas Department of Transportation and State Historical Society
Marker Location: Douglas
Official Marker Number: 14
Name of agency setting marker: Other (Please identify in marker text)
Marker Web Address: [Web Link]
Year Marker Placed: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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