The Free-State city of Lawrence, Kansas attempts to obtain an official charter from the legally unrecognized Topeka Legislature, and then it drafts its own charter. Acting in accordance with the existing Lecompton legislature, Territorial Governor Robert J. Walker declares the charter legally invalid and the city of Lawrence to be in rebellion. He places the city under martial law, even though he personally opposes the Lecompton Constitution and later supports the Union during the Civil War.