"Lecompton Constitution" - On the admission of Kansas as a State under the Lecompton Constitution

The struggle for Kansas to gain admission to the Union went on for a number of years. The attempt, under the Topeka Constitution of 1855, which called for Kansas to be a non-slave state, failed. In 1857 another attempt at statehood was made under the Lecompton Constitution. The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed constitutions for the state of Kansas (it was preceded by the Topeka Constitution and was followed by the Leavenworth and Wyandotte Constitutions, the Wyandotte becoming the Kansas state constitution) This document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution of the free-state advocates. The territorial legislature, consisting mostly of slave-owners, met at the designated capital of Lecompton in September 1857 to produce a rival document. This new constitution enshrined slavery in the proposed state and protected the rights of slaveholders. In addition, the constitution provided for a referendum that allowed voters the choice of allowing more slaves to enter the territory.

This First Edition copy of the "Lecompton Constitution" -- Speech of Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, in the House of Representatives, Jan. 28, 1858, On the admission of Kansas as a State under the Lecompton Constitution relates to the debates attending the question of whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union under its Lecompton Constitution. In this speech Mr Sherman expresses his strong anti-slavery position and his arguments against both the legality of the Lecompton Constitution and the efforts of the Administration to have Congress approve the admission of Kansas under that State Constitution. Mr. Sherman say, early in his speech, "...I have received from the Governor of Ohio the resolutions of the Legislature of that State, requesting me to vote against the admission of Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton Constitution. This request is entirely consistent with my sense of duty, with the wishes of the Republican Party, and the general sentiment of the people of my native State....The irritation of the past is increased, rather than diminished, by the application now made to admit Kansas into the Union as a slave State, against the recent vote and the known will of a large majority of her people.".

The speech is contained in an eight page two-column booklet, without covers, that measures approximately 5 ¾ x 9 inches. The pages of the booklet are tanned, with some foxing, but with text that is clear and easily read. The binding edge of the booklet shows signs of its previous string binding. The overall condition of the item is good.

The illustration accompanying this description shows the first page of the document.

John Sherman, nicknamed "The Ohio Icicle" (May 10, 1823 – October 22, 1900), was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Ohio during the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. He served as both Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State and was the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 1854, he was elected a Republican to the United States House of Representatives . [Wikipedia]