Annotation
[1] Quincy Whig, March 15, 1843. The meeting was held in the hall of representatives in the Statehouse (see letter to John Bennett, March 7, 1843). Although Lincoln specifies the printing of the resolutions in the Journal, no files of the Journal are available for the specified date (March 9).
[2] Henry Clay's distribution bill, first introduced in 1832, provided that 10 per cent of the net proceeds of the sale of public lands be distributed to the states in which they were located. Before the bill was adopted a provision was added for pre-emption---a policy sponsored by Thomas H. Benton for the protection of so-called ``squatters.'' A further provision made distribution contingent upon maintenance of tariff rates at a level below 20 per cent. When the 20 per cent level was reached in 1841, Clay's measure was automatically suspended. See Lincoln's discussion in the ``Campaign Circular from Whig Committee,'' March 4, 1843.
[3] Albert Taylor Bledsoe, whose law office adjoined Lincoln's, and whose later varied career included the ministry, a professorship at the University of Virginia, and the position of assistant secretary of war in the Confederacy.
[4] Of these, two perhaps require initial identification: John Caldwell Doremus and James Cook Conkling were Springfield attorneys active in Whig politics. Conkling married Mercy Levering, close friend of Mary Todd Lincoln, and was among Lincoln's closest associates.