Lecompton Capital of Kansas Territory
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 39° 01.181 W 095° 30.621
15S E 282670 N 4321960
Kansas historical marker located in service area along I-70
Waymark Code: WM1ZHM
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 08/09/2007
Views: 119
Lecompton
Capital of Kansas Territory
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.
~ text of marker