The English Bill was drafted on April 23, 1858, it was an offer made by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

. Kansas was offered some millions of acres of

public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Commonwealth realms). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. ...

s in exchange for accepting the

Lecompton Constitution The Lecompton Constitution (1858) was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas. Named for the city of Lecompton, Kansas where it was drafted, it was strongly pro-slavery. It never went into effect. History Purpose The Lecompton ...

. The English Bill was introduced by

William Hayden English William Hayden English (August 27, 1822 – February 7, 1896) was an American politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1853 to 1861 and was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States ...

(1822–1896), a Democratic representative in Congress from 1853 to 1861. The bill itself was not a

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

to the degree that it is usually considered to be, as it reduced the grant of land demanded by the Lecompton Ordinance from , and offered only the normal cession to new states. This grant, however, was conditioned on the acceptance of the Lecompton Constitution, and Congress made no promise of any grant if that Constitution were not adopted. On August 21, 1858, by a vote of 11,812 to 1,926, Kansans rejected the offer.

References

United States proposed federal legislation 1858 in Kansas Territory Bleeding Kansas {{Kansas-stub