Leavenworth Constitution

The Leavenworth Constitution was one of four Kansas state constitutions written during the era of Bleeding Kansas.  The Leavenworth Constitution was written by a convention of Free-Staters. It was the most progressive of the four proposed constitutions. Important parts of this Constitution were a Bill of Rights that referred to "all men" (making no distinction between the rights of white men and black men), making slavery in the state illegal, and a basic framework for the rights of women.

The constitutional convention that wrote the Leavenworth Constitution was provided for by an act of the Territorial Legislature passed in February 1858, while the Lecompton Constitution was being debated in Congress. The constitution was adopted by the convention at Leavenworth April 3, 1858. It was also chosen by the people at an election on May 18, 1858.

The Leavenworth Constitution did not have a big impact on the history of Kansas since the US Senate did not approve of the laws in the document.  The other proposed state constitutions were the Topeka Constitution (1855), the Lecompton Constitution (1857) and the Wyandotte Constitution (1859).

Related pages
Topeka Constitution
Lecompton Constitution
Wyandotte Constitution
Bleeding Kansas

More reading
 Wilder, D.W., "The Annals of Kansas". 1886.
 William G. Cutler, "History of the State of Kansas" 1883

Other websites
 The Kansas Constitution
  The Leavenworth Constitution

Category:Bleeding Kansas
Category:1858