Citizen Lincoln and His Neighbors Call for the Construction of a Road

Sangamon County, Illinois, June, 1855. Manuscript petition, signed by Abraham Lincoln in pencil ("A. Lincoln") and by over 180 Sangamon County citizens. Five joined sheets, together 46 x 8 1/2 in. (1,168 x 216 mm); comprised of one sheet of blue bond paper, with four white lined and unlined sheets attached at bottom edge; creasing from old folds, separations and repairs along same; scattered smudging and soiling.

A petition signed by Abraham Lincoln and over 180 of his fellow citizens, calling on the County Court of Sangamon County for "the relocation of so much of the State Road from Springfield to Peoria as lies between the Northern limits of the City of Springfield and Henry Converse's house on said road..."

An ardent Whig and admirer of Henry Clay, in his public life Lincoln supported the call for internal improvements, or infrastructure projects, as a means of bringing economic prosperity throughout America’s far-flung towns and cities. In his first bid for political office, in 1832, the 23-year-old Lincoln summarized his political principles thusly, “My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman’s dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor of the internal improvement system, and a high protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles.” These principles matured over the course of Lincoln's life, but they reflected his larger view of seeing the government as an active, and positive, agent in American life--its role stated by him as “to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all or can not, so well do, for themselves.'”

Provenance:

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California