Constitution Hall is Topeka's oldest building and served as the Free State Capitol of Kansas Territory from 1855 to 1861 and as the Kansas Capitol from 1864 to 1869. In October 1855, Free Staters held Topeka's first convention there to organize a free state government and ratify the Topeka Constitution, the first of four constitutions leading to Kansas statehood. Far reaching for its time, the Topeka Constitution proclaimed, "There shall be no slavery in this state." The Topeka Legislature opposed the proslavery territorial "bogus" government in Lecompton, 17 miles northeast of Topeka, while proslavery forces terrorized Free State citizens and cut off their supplies from Kansas City. Constitution Hall-Topeka played a nationally significant role in Bleeding Kansas. On the Fourth of July in 1856, Col. Edwin V. Summer and federal troops dispersed the Free State legislature there.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: Unknown

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Topeka, Kansas · USA