It took Kansas four tries to write up a constitution that the voters as well as the U.S. House, Senate, and President would approve, thus allowing it to finally become a state.

The Wyandotte Constitution is that document. Its predecessors, the Topeka, Lecompton, and Leavenworth Constitutions (named for where they were written), all failed.

So what made Wyandotte so successful?

Well, by 1859, when this puppy was drafted, most of the pro-slavery folks had been driven out of the state, and it was kind of a foregone conclusion that Kansas would be free. So 1861's Congress didn't have to hem and haw over that whole mess. (The fact that the Confederacy's Representatives and Senators had seceded and thus weren't involved in the proceedings probably helped too.)

In addition to prohibiting slavery, this Constitution, which is still the Constitution of Kansas today (with a few tweaks), also did some other interesting and neato stuff.

Like what, you say? Check this out: It gave women the right to own property and limited voting rights, both of which were pretty much unheard of back then. It also changed Kansas' western border from its location along the Continental Divide in what we now call Colorado to its present-day location.

It was a combo of coolness that the voters and elected officials could get behind, it's still around today, and it's definitely worth a read.