1855 Kansas Territory elections

The 1855 Kansas Territory elections were a series of pivotal moments in the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict between pro-slavery individuals and "Free-Staters" in Kansas Territory. The initial elections for territorial legislature, held on March 30, 1855, were marred by widespread voter fraud, intimidation, and violence, as pro-slavery forces from neighboring Missouri crossed the border to cast ballots and suppress anti-slavery voters. In response, Kansas Territorial governor, Andrew H. Reeder, ordered new elections to be held on May 22 in certain districts. But even after the corrective elections, pro-slavery candidates still managed to win a majority of seats in the territorial legislature. When the legislature convened in July, it promptly ejected all the Free-State candidates who had won seats in the May elections. This act led to many Kansans lambasting the body as the "Bogus Legislature."

In October 1855, elections were held for a Congressional delegate to represent Kansas Territory in the House of Representatives. Pro-slavers held their elections on October 1 and choose John Wilkins Whitfield, whereas Free-Staters held theirs on October 8 and selected Reeder. Whitfield was initially seated as the lawful delegate, but after Reeder petitioned the House, the seat was vacated on August 1, 1856 and a new election was ordered.

Outcome


Initial returns suggested that voters had chosen 13 pro-slavery councilmen and 25 pro-slavery representatives. Free-state settlers immediately cried foul, citing demonstrable voting irregularities, and so the governor of Kansas Territory, Andrew Horatio Reeder, scrutinized the results: On April 6, 1855, he declared Martin F. Conway the winner of the sixth district, and he also called for new elections for Council Districts 23 and House Districts 24, and 14. These elections, held on May 22, were all won by Free-Staters with the exception of the House District 14 race. After the governor granted election certificates, the Council was consequently left with 10 pro-slavery and 3 Free-state members, whereas the House was left with 18 pro-slavery and 8 Free-state members. However, when the territorial legislature met for the first time on July 2, 1855, it expelled all the Free-state men who had been elected in May. The remaining Free-State representative, S. D. Houston, would resign in protest on July 23. The legislature's decision to eject most of its Free-State members led to many in Kansas denouncing it as the "Bogus Legislature".

On March 19, 1856, the US House of Representatives tasked a special committee, comprising William A. Howard (O-Michigan), John Sherman (O-Ohio), and Mordecai Oliver (O-Missouri), with investigating "the troubles in the Territory of Kansas." Their report, "Report of the Special Committee Appointed to Investigate the Troubles in Kansas", was published later in 1856. In this document, the committee's majority contended that "each election in the Territory, held under the organic or alleged Territorial law, has been carried by organized invasion from the State of Missouri by which the people of the Territory have been prevented from exercising the rights secured to them by the organic law." The majority also argued that, in their opinion, "the alleged Territorial legislature was an illegally constituted body, and had no power to pass valid laws, and their enactments are therefore null and void." Finally, the committee majority argued that "in the present condition of the Territory a fair election cannot be held without a new census, a stringent and well-guarded election law, the selection of impartial judges, and the presence of United States troops at every place of election."

Outcome
Following the two elections, Whitfield (the incumbent who had last been elected in 1854) presented his election credentials to the 34th United States Congress and was subsequently seated as the delegate from Kansas Territory. Following this, Reeder petitioned Congress to eject Whitfield and install himself as the valid delegate. In response to this conflict, the House of Representatives issued the "Report of the Special Committee Appointed to Investigate the Troubles in Kansas", penned by a special committee tasked with analyzing the territory's elections. In this document, the majority agreed that "the election under which the sitting delegate, John Whitfield, holds his seat, was not held in pursuance of any valid law and that it should be regarded only as the expression of the voice of those resident citizens who voted for him." However, the committee majority also argued that "the election, under which the contesting delegate, Andrew H. Reeder, claims his seat, was not held in pursuance of law, and that it should be regarded only as the expression of the resident citizens who voted for him."

As a result, the House voted on August 1, 1856 to vacate Whitfield's seat and hold a new election. In the subsequent election, Whitfield would again be elected, and Reeder would again contest the results. In 1857, the Committee on Elections once again recommended that Whitfield be declared not entitled to the seat because non-residents had voted and because many Kansans had been disenfranchised in the 1856 election, but the House narrowly decided to table the resolution. Whitfield served provisionally from December 9, 1856, to March 3, 1857.