6 Chapter 3 A Member of Congress

Chapter 3 A Member of Congress In 1837, Lincoln moved to Springfield, the new state capital. Springfield was still a frontier town with log cabins. Pigs ran loose on the dirt roads. But it was the biggest place Lincoln had ever lived in. It even had a bookstore. He worked at a friend's law firm, where he kept track of the paperwork. He wasn't very good at this. He had a habit of carrying important papers around inside his tall stovepipe hat. Sometimes he lost them.

The state government was only in session for part of the year. And there wasn't enough business in Springfield for a lawyer to live on. So like most Western lawyers, Lincoln had to travel to towns all around the state. Twice a year, a judge visited

all the towns that were too small to have their own courts. Lincoln joined the group of lawyers who followed the judge's route. Everyone traveled together. At night they all crowded into small rough inns. Sometimes twenty men had to squeeze into one room. Lincoln often slept on the floor. After a few days, the group would move on. Sometimes the roads were so bad, they had to walk. Because Lincoln had such long legs, his companions made him wade across streams first to find out how deep they were.

WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS

THE UNITED STATES HAS HAD MANY DIFFERENT POLITICAL PARTIES In ITS HISTORY, OFTEN WITH CONFUSINGLY SIMILAR NAMES. (THERE WAS EVEN A PARTY CALLED THE DEMOC-RATICREPUBLICANS.) WHEN LINCOLN WAS STARTING OUT, THE MAIN PARTIES WERE THE WHIGS And THE DEMOCRATS. THE DEMOCRATS SUPPORTED STATES' RIGHTS. THEY THOUGHT EACH STATE SHOULD HAVE THE POWER TO RULE ITSELF. THE WHIGS WANTEd A STRONGER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT. THEY SAID THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ENCOURAGE And PAY FOR IMPROVEMENTS THAT WOULD MAKE THE COUNTRY WORK BETTER. LINCOLN WAS A WHIG. In HIS EARLY CAREER HE SUPPORTED THE BUILdING OF CANALS And RAILROADS THAT WOULD HELP

MAKE TRADE And TRANSPORTATION EASIER. Lincoln didn't mind the bad food or the rough life. He liked meeting people. He impressed them with his funny stories, his friendliness, his skill, and his honesty. "If . . . you cannot be an honest lawyer," he said, "resolve to be honest without being a lawyer." Lincoln was a strong supporter of the Whig Party. Soon he became one of the most important