1. What’s the matter with the Kansas Constitution? Today nothing more than elsewhere. But in the 1850s you’d have to ask *which* Kansas Constitution. On #50Weeks50Constitutions we’re touring some wild constitutional history that’ll teach you we’re not in Bleeding Kansas anymore.
2. After stints in the Louisiana Territory, Missouri Territory & then “Indian country,” the Kansas Territory was created by Congress in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. A smooth path to statehood was envisioned, but the Act left the legality of slavery to the people of Kansas. 
3. Almost all white residents hadn’t been there long. Those from slave states, like Missouri, were more pro-slavery than those from the Midwest or New England. In the 1st (questionable) elections for the territory’s legislature slavery forces won control. There was much Bleeding.
4. Freestaters called this the “bogus” legislature & moved straight to writing a constitution amidst a push for statehood as a free state. Delegates assembled in Topeka in 1855 to draft a constitution that was overwhelmingly then approved at the polls.
5. The problem was the proslavery folks didn’t participate in the Topeka convention or the vote. It had no legal authority. Instead, amidst ongoing violence the legislature called another convention, at Lecompton in 1857. This resulted in a draft constitution recognizing slavery.
6. The draft went to the voters, who overwhelmingly adopted it. But this time the freestaters boycotted. Nevertheless the constitution was sent on to Washington for approval. However, while this had been going on the territory had held elections for the legislature, and . . .
7. The freestaters won control. They then scheduled *another* vote on the Lecompton Constitution AND called for another convention. The constitution was rejected. Nevertheless, crafty (& terrible) President James Buchanan introduced it into Congress on Feb. 2, 1858.
8. The convention met in Leavenworth & drafted another anti-slavery constitution. It was then ratified by the people. Meanwhile, Congress kicked the can of the Lecompton Constitution back to Kansas for it to be voted on AGAIN, where it failed in Aug. 1858.
You following along?
You following along?
9. The freestaters then tried to write a better draft. This Wyandotte Constitution came out of a convention in that place (now Kansas City, KS) in 1859. This version, & statehood, went to Congress, which didn’t pass it until southern senators left their seats in Jan. 1861.
10. The Wyandotte Constitution was in some ways similar to the two previous freestater versions, but it had evolved. Unlike the Topeka Constitution it did not bar free blacks from the state. It even allowed women to vote (but only for school district elections).
11. Like other constitutions of the time it heavily circumscribed banks & corporations, following recent constitutions in Indiana & Ohio that settlers were familiar with. The bill of rights was fairly typical. It also gave the governor a veto. Supreme Court judges were elected.
12. Over the next hundred years the constitution was amended here & there a few dozen times, but no conventions were held, despite many calls by legislators. Punitive corporate liability was rolled back at one point, & the way bills become laws was expanded.
13. A series of commissions in the post-war period, however, essentially rewrote much of the constitution, even though it technically is still the same one. Through amendments that allowed for large changes, this strategy revised the document to what it is today.
