The Wyandotte Constitution is the constitution of the U.S. state of Kansas. Background The Kansas Territory was created in 1854. The largest issue by far in territorial Kansas was whether slavery was to be permitted or prohibited; aside from the moral question, which at the time was seen as a religious question, the admission of Kansas to the highly polarized Union would help either the pro- or anti-slavery faction in Congress. As a procedure for resolving the issue, Congress accepted the proposal of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, that the question be settled by popular sovereignty: the residents of the territory would decide the question by vote. This did not work, because there was no accepted definition of who was a resident of the territory and could therefore vote. Hoping to make Kansas a slave state, thousands of "Border Ruffians" from the neighboring slave state of Missouri poured into Kansas, some with the intent to live in Kansas, but more planning to return to Missouri as soon as they had voted. The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and similar groups sponsored free-state farmers who would move to Kansas. The most famous of these was John Brown, who told the free-state Kansans that violence was unfortunately necessary if Kansas were to be a free state. He put this into practice himself at the Pottawatomie massacre of 1856. As it was put later by his son John Brown, Jr., "only force and fire-arms kept slavery out of Kansas". The upshot was that there were sizeable pro- and anti-slavery factions in Kansas, although the former were more numerous, if one accepted at face value their claim to be genuine Kansas residents. The result was duelling constitutions: for several years Kansas had two governments, in two different cities (Lecompton and Lawrence), with two constitutions, one pro- and one anti-slavery, each claiming to be the only legitimate government of the entire territory. Duelling constitutions The convention drafting the Wyandotte Constitution was held between July 5, 1859 and on July 29, 1859, at Lipman Meyer's Hall just north of Kaw Point in the former community of Wyandotte (which is now part of Kansas City, Kansas, in Wyandotte County, Kansas). However, there were also three other constitutions made for Kansans to vote on: the Topeka Constitution, the Leavenworth Constitution, and the Lecompton Constitution. After voting took place in a climate of intimidation and open violence, the Lecompton Constitution was voted