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Constitution Hall, in Topeka, Kansas, is one of the most famous buildings dating from the history of early Kansas. It was a two-story building constructed between April and October 1855 of native limestone with a flat roof on the 400 block of Kansas Avenue, then in the center of Topeka's downtown, by brothers Loring and John Farnsworth. It remained uncompleted for a period. After its walls were plastered in October, those opposed to introducing slavery into Kansas Territory met in what became the Topeka Constitutional Convention which opened October 23, 1855. Almost forty delegates, who all opposed slavery and the southern element in Kansas, met. At the time, the southerners controlled the legal government of the territory which committed many illegal acts. The element controlled by the northern immigrants into Kansas established their own government, which had no legal standing. The convention produced what became known as the Topeka Constitution which the United States House of Representatives adopted in July 1856, but failed in the Senate by two votes. Parts were incorporated into the Kansas state constitution drafted in 1861.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/192 )〕 Constitution Hall became the meeting place of the northern element's government and legislature. This legislature drew the wrath of the southerners in Congress, who asked President Franklin Pierce, a southerner, to intervene. In July 1856, Pierce dispatched federal troops led by Col. Edwin V. Sumner to disperse the Topeka legislature. The troops arrived at Constitution Hall on July 4. Facing soldiers with rifles, bayonets and a cannon, the members of the Topeka legislature were forced to disperse.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.washburn.edu/cas/art/cyoho/archive/Events/150dispersion/index.html )〕 The government of the northern element continued to meet at Constitution Hall, sometimes storing supplies seized in southern communities in the basement of the building. By the early 1860s abutting buildings were constructed to the north and south of Constitution Hall making it part of a contiguous row of buildings. When Kansas became a state in 1861,Topeka became the capital. ==Capitol of Kansas, 1863-1869== The new government planned a permanent capitol building but constructed a temporary facility in 1863 by remodeling Constitution Hall and some of the adjacent structures to create what became known as State Row. In an 1870s photo in the archives of the Kansas Historical Society, State Row occupies bays 11 through 21 and is easily distinguishable from other nearby structures. While State Row served as the Kansas capitol, the east wing of the current State Capitol was under construction. It was completed in 1869 and the State offices occupied the new space.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Constitution Hall (Topeka, Kansas)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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