Free or Slave?
When Kansas and Nebraska were opened as territories in 1854, Congress decided that settlers would decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. Many proslavery Missourians moved into Kansas, hoping to influence the election. Those opposed to slavery also saw Kansas as an important state to control, both for moral purposes and economic self-interest. The New England Emigrant Aid company sent many free-state settlers to the territory, but most came on their own, attracted by the promise of new lands and new beginnings in Kansas.
In Johnson County, feelings were strong on both sides of the issue. The towns of McCamish and Lanesfield, established on opposite banks of Bull Creek in southwest Johnson County, illustrate this division. McCamish was founded as a proslavery community in 1857. Lanesfield, established one year later, was named in honor of James Lane, leader of the Free-state party. Located on the Missouri border, Johnson County was, however, generally considered to be proslavery.
Kansas politics during the territorial period were very complicated, with ten men serving as governor or acting governor. Elections were sometimes dominated by well-armed, proslavery Missourians who voted illegally and denied the vote to actual settlers with free-state views. These “Border Ruffians” controlled the election in 1854 when a proslavery delegate was chosen for Congress. They did so again in 1855 when a unanimously proslavery territorial legislature was elected. This legislature met at the Shawnee Methodist Mission and enacted laws including the Missouri slave code.
Free-staters called this elected body the “Bogus Legislature” and their legislation “Bogus Laws.” They decided to form their own government. They wrote a constitution and elected a governor at Topeka. Kansas then had two governments — each with its own governor, its own “army” and its own press for spreading propaganda.
The Free-staters were eventually persuaded to try the ballot box again in 1857, with the promise that election frauds would not be tolerated. They insisted that the only condition to voting would be residence in the territory six months prior to the election in October — a condition which would exclude the Missourians.
The election appeared to be peaceful and honest, with a free-state majority. An observer from Lawrence visited the Oxford precinct in Johnson County and counted 88 voters. When the official votes were counted, Oxford reported 1,628 proslavery votes — which exceeded the number of eligible voters in all of Johnson County. Investigators discovered that all names on the voting list were written in the same hand from the Cincinnati directory. The names had even been copied in alphabetical order. The election was declared a blatant fraud and the returns from Oxford were rejected.
The territory made other unsuccessful attempts to write a constitution acceptable to Congress. Finally, a constitution written in Wyandotte (now part of Kansas City) was overwhelmingly approved by voters in fall 1859. It was accepted by Congress, and Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 19, 1861.
--ALBUM vol. 7, no. 2 (spring 1994)