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From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
Title
From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
Description
This unsigned May 20, 1858 letter is presumably from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to his father in Massachusetts. Fitch criticizes the Lecompton Constitution and the English Bill due to their proslavery stance. He fears that those in the Kansas territory will accept the English Bill since it offers large amount of public lands to Kansas settlers. Though Fitch fears Kansas' entrance into the Union as a slave state, he ends his letter in an optimistic tone, remarking that it would be as impossible to make Kansas into a slave state “as it would be to make Hell out of Heaven.”
Object Type
Letter
Date
May 20, 1858
Constitution Hall, Lecompton, Kansas
Title
Constitution Hall, Lecompton, Kansas
Description
Photograph of Constitution Hall, site of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention on January 12, 1857. Constitution Hall was built in 1856 and restored in 1991.
Object Type
Image
Date
1933
Jesse Connell
Title
Jesse Connell
Description
This undated portrait depicts Jesse Connell, a Kentuckian who moved to Leavenworth, Kansas in 1855. Connell, a slave-owner, served as a delegate to the Lecompton Constitutional Convention in 1857, and was later elected to the Senate of the first Kansas State Legislature.
Object Type
Image
Date
n.d.
From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Title
From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description
Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas, writes a letter to his parents in Massachusetts on August 9, 1857, announcing that Kansas has voted to ratify the Topeka Constitution. He adds that Free State supporters appear to comprise a majority in Kansas. Fitch complains about a recent Herald of Freedom article on the apportionment of the Kansas Legislature, and claims that it is “the most damning piece of villany ever perpetrated by any men or set of men.”
Date
August 9, 1857