The rigged 1855 election that set Kansas on fire and sparked the Civil War

The Fraudulent 1855 Election in Shawnee Building

Kansas had a fake election that changed America forever.

On March 30, 1855, some 5,000 armed Missourians stormed across the border to stuff ballot boxes. Free-staters fought back and soon Kansas was bleeding.

A pro-slavery “Bogus Legislature” that met at Shawnee Indian Mission and passed laws making it a crime to even speak against slavery.

The East Building at Shawnee Indian Mission still stands as a stark reminder of the fraud that helped push America toward Civil War.

Missouri Gunmen Stormed Kansas Polls in 1855

About 5,000 armed Missouri “Border Ruffians” crossed into Kansas Territory on March 30, 1855.

They came ready to fight, led by former U.S. Senator David Atchison who told his men to vote “peacefully if possible, by force if needed.”

They wanted to stuff ballot boxes in the first territorial election that would decide if Kansas allowed slavery. The census counted only 2,905 eligible voters in the entire territory.

In Lawrence, 1,000 armed Missourians showed up with two cannons.

Ballot Boxes Overflowed with Fake Votes

Pro-slavery candidates got 5,427 votes against just 791 anti-slavery votes, though most Kansas residents opposed slavery.

The numbers made no sense.

Leavenworth reported five times more votes than its entire population. Election judges faced death threats if they questioned voters.

One judge who refused to allow illegal voting got dragged from his seat and replaced. Pro-slavery candidates won 37 of 39 legislative seats through this massive cheating.

Governor Tried to Fix Only a Few Races

Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder saw the clear cheating but had few options.

President Franklin Pierce’s pro-southern administration pressured him to accept the results. Reeder threw out only 11 races where people filed formal complaints.

Free-State candidates won 8 of those 11 seats in special elections held on May 22, 1855. But the pro-slavery group still held a strong 29-10 advantage in the legislature.

The Five-Day Capital at Pawnee

The fraudulently elected legislature met at the capital of Pawnee near Fort Riley on July 2, 1855.

Their first action? Kick out the newly elected Free-State members and put back the original fraudulent winners.

The pro-slavery lawmakers complained about Pawnee’s distance from Missouri and claimed a cholera outbreak made staying dangerous.

On July 4, 1855, they passed a bill to move the capital to Shawnee Mission, close to the Missouri border.

Lawmakers Moved Next to Missouri Border

Governor Reeder vetoed the bill to relocate on July 6, 1855, arguing the legislature couldn’t move the capital.

The pro-slavery majority simply overrode his veto and left after just five days in Pawnee. They met again at the Methodist Shawnee Mission’s East Building on July 16, 1855.

The mission, started by pro-slavery Methodist minister Thomas Johnson, welcomed them warmly. The location sat just two miles from Missouri.

Brutal Slave Laws Copied from Missouri

The “Bogus Legislature” copied Missouri’s entire legal code as Kansas law during their Shawnee Mission session. They added harsh new slavery laws that made owning anti-slavery books punishable by death.

Anyone caught speaking against slavery faced two years of hard labor. Helping slaves escape carried the death penalty.

These laws went beyond what even most southern states had, shocking northerners across America.

President Fired the Governor Who Objected

While at Shawnee Mission, Governor Reeder learned President Franklin Pierce had fired him. Pierce replaced Reeder with Wilson Shannon, a pro-slavery supporter from Ohio who backed the legislature’s actions.

The lawmakers had pushed for Reeder’s removal after he challenged them. Acting secretary Daniel Woodson briefly served as governor and happily approved them.

The federal government officially sided with the fraudulently elected body.

Free-State Settlers Created Their Own Government

Free-State Kansans refused to follow laws passed by what they called the “Bogus Legislature.”

They organized their own competing government based in Topeka in late 1855.

Charles Robinson, a doctor from Massachusetts, won election as governor of this Free-State government in January 1856.

Kansas now had two governments: the federally recognized pro-slavery government and the popular Free-State government supported by most actual Kansas settlers.

Two Governments Fought for Control in Topeka

President Pierce called the Topeka Free-State government an illegal “insurrection” on January 24, 1856.

He recognized only the pro-slavery Lecompton government. A Congressional investigation later confirmed the massive fraud in the March 1855 elections.

The investigators concluded the legislature “illegally formed” with “no power to pass valid laws,” but the federal government ignored these findings.

Guns Replaced Ballots in Kansas Territory

The political crisis turned into open warfare between pro-slavery and Free-State groups by 1856.

Border Ruffians attacked Lawrence twice, burning the Free State Hotel and destroying printing presses that opposed slavery.

Abolitionist John Brown struck back with the Pottawatomie Massacre, killing five pro-slavery settlers with broadswords.

Armed conflicts like the battles of Black Jack and Osawatomie followed throughout 1856-1859. Kansas was bleeding as over 200 people died in the fighting.

Kansas Conflict Pushed America Toward War

The “Bleeding Kansas” violence became a national crisis that deepened divisions between North and South.

The fraudulent elections and resulting bloodshed convinced many northerners that the “Slave Power” would use any means to expand slavery.

Kansas became a symbol of how the slavery debate couldn’t be settled through normal politics. It destroyed the Whig Party and led to the rise of the Republican Party.

When Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860, southern states seceded rather than risk losing control over slavery’s future.

Visiting Shawnee Indian Mission, Kansas

You can visit Shawnee Indian Mission at 3403 W 53rd St in Fairway to learn about the 1855 “Bogus Legislature” that passed pro-slavery laws sparking Bleeding Kansas.

Admission is free and you can explore two historic buildings – the East Building and North Building – on self-guided tours.

The site is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Group tours cost $2. 50 per student with advance booking.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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