it was nicknamed bleeding kansas. from 1854 until kansas became a free state, 1861, warfare was going on in kansas territory over who would control this new territory. this was ground zero for the slave issue in this country. once you are designated as a territory by the united states government, the next step is to create a legislature create loss for the territory. then write the constitution that is approved by the voters of the territory, and then it will be sent to washington for ratification by congress. and finally, signed by the president of the united states. and in the 6 1/2 years that kansas was the territory there were four attempts at constitution writing. the free state government wrote themselves a free state constitution, a topeka constitution. it was sent to washington for approval and it was rejected. by the way, most people thought that the constitution had been lost forever. in 2013 in the national archives, they rediscovered the topeka constitution, so it is in washington, d.c., at the national arc