Frederick P. Leavenworth lived in Van Buren, Arkansas in May 1861, while preparing to join a company of Confederate men. Leavenworth’s wife and the other women of the town were secluded in the courthouse making uniforms for the troops. Leavenworth hoped to join the Engineer Corp and asked his father to send him a manual on field fortifications. Although Leavenworth was enthusiastic about serving the Confederacy, he was concerned about having enough provisions and for the safety of his wife while he was away.

In September 1857, the Kansas Constitutional convention met in Lecompton, determined to make Kansas a slave state. The Lecompton Constitution included a provisional article that guaranteed a slaveholder’s right to retain ownership of their slaves currently living in the territory, but it also prohibited future importation of slaves to Kansas. Heated debates took place in the Senate over the admission of Kansas, under the proslavery. This collection contains speeches from Missouri Senator, Trusten Polk and Illinois Senator, Steven A. Douglas on the admission of Kansas to the Union under the Lecompton Constitution.