Constitution Hall (Topeka, Kansas)

Constitution Hall, in Topeka, Kansas, is a significant building in the history of Kansas Territory and the state of Kansas. The two-story native stone building, with basement, was begun by Loring and John Farnsworth in the spring of 1855. By summer, the Topeka Town Association had agreed to complete the building in exchange for holding the Topeka Constitutional Convention there in the fall. From October 23 to November 11, 1855, the Topeka Constitutional Convention met in the building and produced the antislavery Topeka Constitution.

The proposed Topeka Constitution would have brought Kansas into the Union as a free state. The United States House of Representatives approved this constitution in July 1856, but the Southern-dominated Senate refused to fully consider the document. Parts of the Topeka Constitution were incorporated in the Constitution of Kansas (the Wyandotte Constitution) drafted in 1859.^[1][2][3]

Constitution Hall became the Free State, Kansas Territorial-era capitol. The Topeka Legislature that occupied the building drew the wrath of Southerners in Congress. On July 4, 1856, President Franklin Pierce allowed federal troops led by Col. Edwin V. Sumner to disperse the Topeka Legislature. ^[4][5]

The Free State Kansas Territorial government continued to meet at Constitution Hall, which basement was also used as a storehouse for supplies to sustain antislavery settlement during pro-slavery enforced trade embargo, and for Underground Railroad operations on the Jim Lane Trail.