Wyandotte Constitution

The Wyandotte Constitution is the constitution of the U.S. state of Kansas. Amended many times (including a universal suffrage amendment in 1912), the Wyandotte Constitution is still the constitution of Kansas.

The upshot was that there were sizeable pro- and anti-slavery factions in Kansas, although the former were more numerous, if one accepted at face value their claim to be genuine Kansas residents. The result was dueling constitutions: for several years Kansas had two governments, in two different cities (Lecompton and Lawrence), with two constitutions, one pro- and one anti-slavery, each claiming to be the only legitimate government of the entire territory.

Dueling constitutions

The convention drafting the Wyandotte Constitution was held between July 5, 1859 and on July 29, 1859, at Lipman Meyer's Hall just north of Kaw Point in the former community of Wyandotte (which is now part of Kansas City, Kansas, in Wyandotte County, Kansas).

However, there were also three other constitutions made for Kansans to vote on: the Topeka Constitution, the Leavenworth Constitution, and the Lecompton Constitution. After voting took place in a climate of intimidation and open violence, the Lecompton Constitution was voted to be the constitution of Kansas, and would have made Kansas a slave state. All that was left to do was send it to Washington D.C. After a rigorous national debate over the topic, it was overruled, and the people of Kansas were set to vote on the four constitutions again.

The Wyandotte Constitution was approved in a referendum by a vote of 10,421 to 5,530 on October 4, 1859. In April, 1860, the United States House of Representatives voted 134 to 73 to admit Kansas under the Wyandotte Constitution; however, there was resistance in the United States Senate. As 11 slave states seceded from the Union, their senators left their seats and, on January 21, 1861, the Senate passed the Kansas bill. The constitution represented a pragmatic compromise over hotly contested issues: it rejected slavery and affirmed separate property rights for married women and their right to participate in school elections, but also denied universal suffrage for women, blacks, and Indians.

Another issue delegates considered was that of women's rights. Clarina Nichols, social activist and associated editor of Quindaro Chindowan, an abolitionist newspaper, was asked to address the convention. As a result of her efforts, women gained the rights to own property and to participate in school district elections. In addition, the constitution assured that the state would provide for women's equal rights "in the possession of their children."

The constitution dramatically reduced the size of the state, setting its western border at 102W longitude instead of the Rocky Mountains. The area between was part of Kansas Territory and at the time was the height of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The three earlier constitutions had set the western border as the Rockies.

Wyandotte Constitution

Dueling constitutions

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