CH. VIII.] KANSAS LEGISLATURE AND THE ELECTION. exclude it. On the 22d of May, the election for the first legislature took place, and the slavery ticket was carried. The legislature met, on the 2d of July, at Pawnee, under the summons of the governor, the Council consisting of sixteen, and the House of Representatives of twenty-six members. A good deal of work was done, which we need not particularize here, except that from the first the legislature showed its hostility to Governor Reeder and his views. The governor was written to by the secretary of state respecting certain charges against his official integrity, to which he replied, but not satisfactorily to President Pierce. At the close of July he was removed from his post, and Daniel Woodson, secretary of the territory, succeeded to the discharge of the governor's duties. The legislature seemed disposed to make thorough work of the matter in hand, and effectually to put down all anti-slavery sentiment and power in the territory. A number of stringent measures to this effect were carried. One act gave the right of voting to any man, without regard to residence, on payment of one dollar and 1855. taking certain oaths, viz., to support the Kansas bill, and enforce the fugitive slave law. Acts were passed which forbade the teaching of negroes to read, and the holding of religious meetings of negroes, unless a sheriff, constable, or county justice should be present. Another act forbade any person who was conscientiously opposed to holding slaves, or who did not admit the right to hold slaves in the territory, from acting as a juror 515 in any case connected with slavery; and still another prescribed the penalty of death for inciting rebellion among the slaves, by speaking, writing, or printing; or for enticing or assisting any slave to escape from his master Following upon legislation of this kind, there were several cases of "lynching" persons on suspicion of holding antislavery opinions. On the 14th of August, a large convention of settlers was held at Lawrence, attended by over six hundred persons, at which the present alarming condition of the territory was taken into serious consideration. Resolutions were adopted, were adopted, declaring that they would utterly repudiate the action of the legislature, which had been imposed upon them by the people of Missouri, and calling a convention of representa tives of the people of the territory for the 5th of September. The convention met, on the day appointed, at Big Springs. Vigorous resolutions were adopted, declaring that the true interests of Kansas consisted in her being a free state, repudiating the action of the legislature, and calling upon the people to prepare for resistance to usurpation, even by force of arms, if necessary. Ex-governor Reeder was nominated for delegate to Congress, and the election was to take place early in October. Reeder was voted for by the free-soilers on the 9th of October, and it was claimed that he received a larger vote than had been given for Whitfield, who obtained two thousand seven hundred and sixty suffrages from the pro-slavery men, on the 1st of October, the day fixed by the legislature for the election. This state of things, of course, put the matter in such shape that the House of Representatives, at the next session, would be compelled to decide on the claims of the respective contestants, Reeder and Whitfield. The free-soil party called a convention, which met at Topeka, on the 27th of October, and closed its session on the 11th of November, after having formed a state constitution, which was to be submitted to the people on the 15th of December following, and the principal feature in which was, that slavery was not to exist in the territory after the 4th of July, 1857. The opponents of the freesoilers held what was termed a "law and order" convention at Leavenworth, on the 14th of November. Governor Shannon was appointed president, and the main business which occupied the convention was, the expressing decided disapprobation of the course pursued by the anti-slavery men, and declaring that, if it were persisted in and sanctioned by Congress, it would lead to civil war. 1855. The movements of Colonel or General Walker in Central America require some notice in this place, although the results of his "filibustering" efforts have not been as favorable as he and his advisers and supporters hoped and expected. At the close of the month of August, Walker landed with his party at San Juan del Sur. On the 3d of September, his force, numbering one hundred and fifty, was attack1855. ed at Virgin Bay by some four hundred government troops. After a brief but fierce contest, Walker defeat ed his opponents. Granada, the capital, was attacked in October; taken by surprise, but little resistance was made; General Corral surrendered; and a treaty of peace was signed. Walker was elected president of the republic, but declined in favor of General Rivas; Corral, tried by court martial, was condemned and shot; and Colonel Wheeler, the American minister, formally recog nized the government as now constituted. Reinforcements flowed in, principally from California, and the Rivas and Walker government seemed to be gaining strength, early in 1856. Colonel P. H. French was dispatched as minister to the United States; but our government refused to receive him in that capacity. The other states of Central America determined to put Walker down, and joined together for that purpose. In March, Costa Rica formally declared war against Nicara gua, to which Walker replied, by announcing his purpose to carry the war into the enemy's country. Several battles ensued. Colonel Schlessinger, with three hundred men, was totally defeated at Santa Rosa. The Costa Ricans marched into the territory of Nicaragua, some three or four thousand in number; the city of Rivas fell into their hands; and on the 11th of April a bloody battle took place, in which Walker claimed a decisive victory. Much exasperation of feeling followed upon Walker's mode of endeavoring to recruit his languishing finances; the Costa Ricans retreated; and the action of the other states was hesitating and uncertain. Troubles soon after sprang up 1856. CH. VIII.] FURTHER TROUBLES IN KANSAS. between Rivas and Walker, owing apparently to jealousy on the part of the former against the Americans. Walker was elected president in June, and inaugurated on the 12th of July, and as the autumn approached, he had to make provision to meet, as best he could, the army by which the confederated states purposed to crush him or drive him out of the country. The further progress of Walker and his party we need not dwell upon here; his affairs his affairs grew worse and worse as the year advanced to its close; and finally, in April, 1857, he capitulated, in a state of great destitution, to Captain Davis of the sloop-ofwar St. Marys, and was conveyed, together with a part of his company, to the United States. Towards the close of 1855, the troubles in Kansas were on the increase. A quarrel took place between two men on opposite sides of the slavery question, which resulted in the death of one of them. Great excitement was produced, and the neighboring Missourians prepared to sustain the cause of the proslavery men. They entered Kansas in considerable numbers, and encamped near Lawrence, as if about to attack it. Governor Shannon exerted himself to prevent armed collision; and after a time the Missourians returned home again. A free-state convention was held at Lawrence, on the 22d of December, to nominate candidates for state affairs under the constitution. Some eighty delegates were present and took part in the business of the convention. The president, on the 24th of January, 1856, sent a message to the Sen 517 1856. ate, in respect to the existing state of affairs in Kansas; he censured the late Governor Reeder for having neglected his duty; he recognized the territorial legislature as, for all practical purposes, a lawful body; he disapproved entirely of the movement which led to the convention and forming a free-state constitution; and he recommended various measures in view of the present and the future of Kansas. On the 11th of February, the president issued a proclamation, stating that combinations had been formed in the territory to resist the execution of the laws; that persons outside the territory were contemplating armed interference; and declaring that he had taken the proper steps to repress all outbreaks and maintain the peace of the country. 1856. The Kansas question, as a matter of course, occupied a considerable share of the attention of Congress. Mr. Whit field and Mr. Reeder were the delegates elected to Congress by the two parties, and the committee on elections reported on the seat, which was claimed by each gentleman. The majority of the committee took ground against Mr. Whitfield and the authority of the territorial legislature, and asked to be empowered to send for persons and papers; the minority brought in a report of a different complexion, and thought it best to dispatch a commission to Kansas to take testimony, rather than send for persons and papers. After a long and tedious debate, the proposi tion of the majority was adopted by the House. In the Senate, Mr. Douglas, in behalf of the majority of the committee on territories, brought in a report, claiming that the course pursued by the territorial legislature was legal and to be sustained, and recommended, that when the population of Kansas shall amount to ninety-three thousand three hundred and forty, the number requisite to entitle her to a Representative in Congress, they be authorized to hold a convention and form a state government. The report also denounced the free-state convention at Topeka, and sharply censured the measures of the Emigrant Aid Societies. Mr. Collamer presented a minority report, taking the opposite ground, and recommending, as the easiest way to settle the difficulties, that Kansas be at once received into the Union with the present constitution.* The state legislature (free-soil) met at Topeka, on the 14th of March, and subsequently adjourned to Lawrence. A memorial from this body was presented by Mr. Cass in the Senate, which gave rise to a protracted debate. It was finally referred to the com 1856. mittee on territories. An unusually caustic correspondence between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lane (Senator elect from Kansas) grew out of this paper, and certain statements which were made respecting it. In the territory itself, during April and May, difficulties increased, and a state of almost civil war existed. The excesses to which the controversy between the advocates and the opponents of slavery led, filled the journals of the day, and * On the 9th of April, Senator Seward, of New York, delivered an able speech in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a state. We commend it to the careful examination of the reader. gave rise to serious apprehension as to what might be the final issue. One disgraceful occurrence in Congress, we cannot fail to put on record here. The debates in the Senate Lad increased in acerbity, as was not unnatural. Mr. Douglas, Mr. Butler, Mr. Mason, and other Senators, had said much respecting Kansas and kindred matters. Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the 19th of May, delivered an elaborate speech on "the Crime against Kansas," in which he did not spare Mr. Butler and others, but, with a keenness of invective rarely excelled, poured upon them the well-filled vials of his indignation and contempt for the course they had pursued. Tart retorts followed, and an equally tart rejoinder came from Mr. Sumner. On the morning of the 22d, the Senate having ad journed, and while Mr. Sumner was seated at his desk, Mr. P. S. Brooks, a nephew of Mr. Butler, and a member of the House from South Carolina, came up to the Senator from Massachu setts, and pronouncing him a libeller of South Carolina, and a slanderer of his aged relative, said that he was going to chastise him. Immediately on this, he struck Mr. Sumner over the head with a gutta percha cane, and repeated the blows till he had nearly killed him. Considerable noise was made in Congress by this unmanly attack, and it was attempted to punish Mr. Brooks by expulsion; but those who felt the disgrace of a course of conduct such as his had been, and desired to purge our national legislature of all those persons who are willing to resort to these means of venting their CH. VIII.] PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. anger or overcoming their opponents, were not strong enough to accomplish this good end; and so Mr. Brooks and his coadjutors, Messrs. Keitt and Edmonson, remained at their posts. Mr. Keitt was censured by the House, and Mr. Brooks was fined three hundred dollars, by the criminal court at Washington, for his assault on Mr. Sumner. The Kansas investigation committee presented an elaborate report to the House, in which they entered into full details respecting the various matters submitted to them for examination. The committee believed, from the evidence before them, that the Missourians had illegally interfered in Kansas affairs, and they thought that Kansas would be a free state, if the will of the legal voters could be carried out. The committee also reported against admitting either Whitfield or Reeder to a seat as delegate, in the House; and that steps be taken to secure a free and fair election in the territory. Messrs. Howard and Sherman, a majority of the committee, signed the report; Mr. Oliver declined giving his signature, and soon after brought in a minority report. The committee on territories in the House, reported a bill for the immediate admis 519 expression of the will of the people of Kansas, and allowing the formation of a state constitution, preparatory to admission into the Union. Governor Shannon was removed by the president, and Mr. J. W. Geary appointed in his place. Mr. Geary reached the field of his labors early in September, and found his hands full of work at once; for the territory was in a state of virtual civil war, and no one could see what the end was to be. His energetic measures, however, seemed, in the course of a month or so, to promise somewhat of a respite from further outbreaks, and a restoration of peace and order. On the 2d of June, the national democratic convention assembled at Cincinnati, and after adopting various resolutions setting forth the views and principles of the party, pro- 1856. ceeded to nominate candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency. Messrs. Douglas, Pierce and Buchanan were prominent before the convention; on the seventeenth ballot James Buchanan received all the votes, and thus became the candidate of the democrats for the highest office in our country. J. C. Breckenridge, on the second ballot, received the nomination for the sion of Kansas as a state, with vice-presidency. Two weeks later, the the Topeka constitution. It was re- republican convention, at Pittsburg, jected, June 30th, by a vote of one nominated John C. Fremont for preshundred and six to one hundred and ident, and W. L. Dayton for vicefive. The next day, the vote was re- president. Mr. Fillmore was also nomconsidered, and on the 3d of July, the inated by the American party, and bill was passed by a vote of ninety-nine accepted the nomination. The whig to ninety seven. In the Senate, a bill national convention, in September, corwas passed, after discussion and amend-dially approved his nomination. The ment, for the purpose of securing a fair other gentlemen just named wrote let 1856. |