The Lecompton Constitution. In the House of Representatives, March 10, 1858. Report
[Washington?]: 1858. Unbound. near Very Good binding. Item #9866
Octavo. 16 pp. First edition. Unbound, folded sheet forming 8 leaves. Old folds with some closed tears/silverfishing along a couple the creases; staining to the bottom margin of a a few leaves, not touching text; otherwise, generally, a very good copy.
Circumstances surrounding Kansas's Lecompton Constitution brought the tension surrounding the confluence of statehood and slavery to a new level. A pro-slavery document, the Lecompton Constitution and subsequent votes on it were a fraught and dishonest affair complete with subterfuge, false choices, boycotted votes, and more, all in service of establishing a pro-slavery constitution in a state that's populace had a clear (and before the end, demonstrable) antislavery majority. This report before the House by Georgia's Alexander Stephens (soon to be Vice President of the Confederate State of America), defends a December election that was widely boycotted by antislavery voters because the options presented to the electorate both allowed for slavery to persist in Kansas, despite the misleading language of the referendum. By August of this same year, 1858, a new vote would be held to keep or toss out the Lecompton Constitution. In a vote that demonstrated the antislavery sentiment of Kansas residents, the Constitution would be thrown out, by a 7 to 1 margin. Leaving space for a constitution to be drafted and ratified prohibiting slavery in Kansas. Krdlicka, James F. Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions: Creating the American Republic. Sabin 91261.
Price: $200.00