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The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution of James H. Lane and other free-state advocates.Ibid. The territorial legislature, consisting mostly of slave-owners, met at the designated capital of Lecompton in September 1857 to produce a rival document.Ibid. The gathering was declared legal by governor Robert J. Walker , himself an anti-slavery advocate, though it was boycotted by the other free-state supporters in the legislature.Thomas Valentine Cooper and Hector Tyndale Fenton, ''American Politics (non-partisan) from the Beginning to Date'', Fireside Publishing Co., 1892, p. 78 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. Both the Topeka and Lecompton constitutions were placed before the people of the Kansas Territory for a vote, and both votes were boycotted by supporters of the opposing faction. In the case of Lecompton, however, the vote was boiled down to a single issue, expressed on the ballot as "Constitution with Slavery" v. "Constitution with no Slavery."Ibid. Boycotted by free-soilers, the referendum suffered from serious voting irregularities, with over half the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent.Flanagan, Mike, ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Old West'', Alpha Books, 1999, p. 180. ISBN 0028629450 Nevertheless, both it and the Topeka Constitution were sent to Washington for approval by Congress. A vocal supporter of slaveholder rights, President 's Election In 1860 . Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861 . ''See also'': Historical Background Of Lecompton, Kansas EXTERNAL LINKS
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