Election of Territorial Legislature
On March 30, 1855 "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invaded Kansas during the territory's first legislative election and forced the election of a pro-slavery Territorial Legislature. The general facts concerning the Missouri invasion of the ballot boxes at the election were known throughout Kansas from the day after the election. The pro-slavery residents, with their allies in Missouri, considered it a fair victory, fairly won. The Missourians went to various precincts in Kansas in overwhelming numbers, and elected a pro-slavery Legislature. Antislavery candidates prevailed in only one election district, in the future Riley County, where Manhattan had just been established.
The first session of the legislature was held in Pawnee, Kansas (within the boundary of modern-day Fort Riley) at the request of Governor Reeder. The two-story stone building still stands and is open to the public as the first Territorial Capitol of Kansas. The building remained as the seat for the legislature for only five days, from July 2–6, 1855; pro-slavery forces voted to move east to be nearer to Missouri, with the next session to be held at the Shawnee Methodist Mission.
The last legislative act of the Territorial Legislature was the approval of the charter for the College of the Sisters of Bethany. The act was approved by the legislature on February 2, 1861--four days after James Buchanan signed the act of Congress that officially brought Kansas into the Union.
Read more about this topic: Kansas Territory
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