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This letter, written from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, by Samuel Tappan, begins with small talk about his personal life. Tappan quickly moves on, however, to the political affairs of the area. Apparently, Charles Robinson and James Lane are encouraging the free state population to vote in the next election regarding the Lecompton Constitution. They are planning on holding a free state convention in a couple of weeks to decide if this is the best course of action. Tappan believes that if free state men vote in the upcoming election, it would be a tacit acceptance of slavery (because proslavery supporters would most likely carry the election, to participate in the election was to legitimize its, possibly, proslavery results). He is also disappointed that the Topeka government has failed, blaming its collapse on the fact that it had been too concerned with weighing "the chances of success in Washington." The free state territorial legislature has just opened its session in Lecompton, Kansas Territory.
Creator: Tappan, S. F. (Samuel Forster), -1913
Date: December 14, 1857
Item Number: 90775
Call Number: Thomas W. Higginson Coll. #380 Box 1 Folder 6
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 90775
Collections - Manuscript - Higginson, Thomas W.
Date - 1854-1860 - 1857
Government and Politics - Elections
Government and Politics - Territorial Government - Constitution Making - Lecompton Constitution
Government and Politics - Territorial Government - Elections
Government and Politics - Territorial Government - Legislatures
Government and Politics - Territorial Government - Political parties - Free State
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - Notable Kansans - Tappan, Samuel Forster
People - Notable People - Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911
Places - Cities and towns - Lecompton
Places - Counties - Douglas
Thematic Time Period - Bleeding Kansas, 1854 - 1861
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/90775