Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/774

 754 KANSAS of governor was announced, July 20, for the alleged reason of irregular proceedings in the purchase of Indian lands. The territorial legis- lature assembled at Pawnee, July 3, hut two days afterward adjourned to Shawnee mission, near the Missouri line, where they reassembled July 16, and remained in session till Aug. 30. One of their first acts was to expel the free- state men chosen at the second elections or- dered by Gov. Reeder, and to give their seats to the pro-slavery men originally returned. They also passed an act making it a capital of- fence to assist slaves in escaping either into the territory or out of it ; and felony, punish- able with imprisonment at hard labor from two to five years, to conceal or aid escaping slaves, to circulate anti-slavery publications, or to deny the right to hold slaves in the terri- tory ; also an act requiring all voters to swear to sustain the fugitive slave law ; and they also adopted in a body the laws of Missouri, and passed an act making Lecompton the capital of the territory. Wilson Shannon of Ohio was appointed governor in place of Mr. Reeder, and assumed office Sept. 1. A few days later a convention of the free-state party was held at Big Springs, and, after protesting against the acts of the legislature, nominated ex-Gov- ernor Reeder as delegate to congress, and ap- pointed Oct. 9 as the time for holding the elec- tion, when Gov. Reeder received about 2,400 votes. Delegates were subsequently chosen to a constitutional convention, which assem- bled at Topeka Oct. 23, and sat till Nov. 12, when they promulgated a constitution for the state of Kansas in which slavery was pro- hibited. The contest between the free-state and pro-slavery parties now grew to such a pitch of violence that several men were killed on each side, and the people of Lawrence be- gan to arm for self-defence. The governor called out the militia. A large number of Mis- sourians enrolled themselves as Kansas militia, and Lawrence for some days was in a state of siege ; but the difficulty was temporarily ad- justed by negotiation, and the Missourians re- tired to their own state. On Dec. 15 the peo- ple voted upon the question of accepting the Topeka constitution, and the pro-slavery men abstaining from participation, it was accepted with only 45 votes against it, exclusive of Leavenworth, where the polling was prevented by an inroad from Missouri. On Jan. 15, 1856, an election was held for state officers and a legislature under the Topeka constitution, and Charles Robinson was chosen governor. The legislature met at Topeka March 4, and, after organizing and inaugurating the governor and other officers, adjourned to July 4. Early in April a considerable body of armed men from Georgia, Alabama, and other southern states, led by Major Buford, arrived in Kansas. On the 17th of the same month a special commit- tee of the United States house of representa- tives, appointed about a month before, and charged to investigate the troubles in the ter- ritory of Kansas, arrived at Lawrence. The result of their investigations was a report by the majority of the committee, Messrs. How- ard of Michigan and Sherman of Ohio, in which they said : " Every election has been controlled, not by the actual settlers, but by citizens of Missouri ; and, as a consequence, every officer in the territory from constable to legislators, except those appointed by the pres- ident, owe their positions to non-resident vo- ters. None have been elected by the settlers, and your committee have been unable to find that any political power whatever, however unimportant, has been exercised by the people of the territory." Mr. Oliver of Missouri, the third member of the committee, made a mi- nority report, in which he said that there was no evidence that any violence was resorted to, or force employed, by which men were pre- vented from voting. On May 5 the grand jury of Douglas county found indictments against Reeder, Robinson, Lane, and other free-state leaders, for high treason, on the ground of their participation in the organization of a state government under the Topeka constitution. Reeder and Lane escaped from the terri- tory, but Robinson was arrested and kept in prison for four months. The United States marshal took Buford's men into pay, and armed them with government muskets. Law- rence was again besieged by a large force, and on May 21, under a promise of safety to persons and protection to property, the inhabitants gave up their arms to the sheriff. The invaders immediately entered the town, blew up and burned the hotel, burned Mr. Rob- inson's house, destroyed two printing presses, and plundered several stores and houses. A state of civil war now spread through the ter- ritory, the free-state party being furnished with contributions of arms and money from non- slaveholding states. On May 26 a fight, in which five men were killed, occurred at Pot- tawattamie, where John Brown with a band of free-state men was encamped ; and on June 2 there was another at Black Jack, which re- sulted in the capture of Capt. Pate togeth- er with 30 of his men. Similar affairs, at- tended with loss of life, continued to occur for three or four months. Parties of emi- grants from the free states on their way through Missouri were in many cases stopped and turned back. The free-state legislature met at the appointed time (July 4) at Topeka, and was forcibly dispersed by United States troops under Col. Sumner. On Aug. 14 the free-state men assailed and took a fortified post near Lecompton, occupied by Col. Titus with a party of pro-slavery men, and captured Titus and 20 other prisoners. On Aug. 17 a trea- ty was agreed to between Gov. Shannon and the free-state men, by which Shannon restored the cannon taken at Lawrence, and received in exchange Titus and the other prisoners. A few days later Shannon received notice of his removal from office, John "W. Geary of Penn-