1857 'Bleeding Kansas' document returns briefly to its drafting place
LECOMPTON, Kan. -- A document that historians say helped usher in the Civil War was back in the room where it was drafted 150 years ago, on display at Constitution Hall over the weekend as part of "Bleeding Kansas '07" events.
The Lecompton Constitution, under which Kansas would have been admitted into the union as a slave state, has been preserved at the Kansas State Historical Society since Rutgers University donated it in 1957 to commemorate the document's 100th anniversary...
"It's an important benchmark and an overlooked benchmark in the road to the Civil War," said historian Brian Matthew Jordan, of Gettysburg College, who spoke as part of the program of lectures and dramatic interpretations. "It's absolutely awe-inspiring to stand here and know that this document is here for the first time since it was signed."
The eight-page document was written by men who wanted Kansas admitted to the United States as a slave state. The fight over the Lecompton Constitution caused a split in the Democratic Party of the time, resulting in the election of President Abraham Lincoln.
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The Lecompton Constitution, under which Kansas would have been admitted into the union as a slave state, has been preserved at the Kansas State Historical Society since Rutgers University donated it in 1957 to commemorate the document's 100th anniversary...
"It's an important benchmark and an overlooked benchmark in the road to the Civil War," said historian Brian Matthew Jordan, of Gettysburg College, who spoke as part of the program of lectures and dramatic interpretations. "It's absolutely awe-inspiring to stand here and know that this document is here for the first time since it was signed."
The eight-page document was written by men who wanted Kansas admitted to the United States as a slave state. The fight over the Lecompton Constitution caused a split in the Democratic Party of the time, resulting in the election of President Abraham Lincoln.