Sketches of Lecomptonism [no. 2]

Four designs for magic lantern slides, images 2, 3, and two unnumbered showing men standing on a platform before a crowd, the flag of the United States and a devil behind them, as a man below approaches them wielding a knife. Two African Americans are lynched before the same crowd. The scene of a large outdoor feast in a newly cleared area, perhaps a depiction of the first celebration of Thanksgiving is the subject of an unnumbered slide. Lecomptonism became the rallying cry of the People's Party in the 1860 election. The pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution was formulated and ratified in 1857 in the territorial capitol of Kansas after an election in which voters were given a choice only between limited or unlimited slavery; free state men refused to cast their ballots. The issue of admitting Kansas as a slave state split the Democratic Party, and in 1858 Kansas voters rejected the Lecompton Constitution. Kansas was admitted as a free state in 1861.The story continues from DRWG/US - Unattributed, no. 44 (B size).Matted with DRWG/US - Unattributed, no. 44 (B size)