Soon after, the family had to migrate again to Macon County, Illinois, and again to Coles County. At this time, 22-year-old Lincoln set out on his own to make a living. For a short while, he made his living doing manual labor in Coles County, but had to move again to New Salem, Illinois. His activities and hobbies made him popular with the locals there. Later on, when the Black Hawk War broke out between the US and the Native Americans in 1832, the volunteers fighting in the war wanted Lincoln to be their captain. This was the first experience he had with politics. After the war, he set out to pursue a new career - law. He applied for the legislature of Illinois and was elected in as a member of the Whig Party. His support of Whig politics led him to develop his first views of slavery - not as a moral wrongdoing, but as a “hindrance to economic development.” As his career in the Illinois legislature went on, he decided to become a lawyer, teaching himself the law. He moved to Springfield, Illinois to practice law in the John T. Stuart law …show more content…
From there, he ascended in politics. He served a single term in the House of Representatives from 1847 to 1849, being the only member of the Whig party. During his term, he protested against the Mexican-American War and supported Zachary Taylor for president. However, he became unpopular at home because his views of the war. This led him to return back to Springfield, Illinois to resume his career in law. Back home (in the 1850s), he served as a lobbyist for a railroad company and actively participated in local trials. During this time, he met Mary Todd, who was 5 foot 2 inches, compared to Lincoln’s astounding height of 6 foot 4 inches. They fell in love, and finally married on November 4, 1842. They had four children, but only one survived to adulthood.12 years later, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and established the democratic system of popular sovereignty. As a result of the compromise, the Republican Party was formed. Lincoln, having been revived into politics by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, joined the Republican Party, hoping to defend his position on slavery. The Scott v. Sanford decision gave him that opportunity. Although Lincoln did not support the fact that African Americans were equal to whites, he did believe that the Founding Fathers supported the right of all American people to have certain inalienable rights. To make his point,