1
Whereas, Congress originally, in providing for the construction of the National Road, designed that it should pass the several permanent seats of government in the Western
States, to wit: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri; and whereas said road has been located from the seat of government of the State of Indiana, to Vandalia, in the State of Illinois, with reference to the former and temporary seat of government of this State; and whereas said seat of government has been permanently relocated in the city of
Springfield, in said State, and the best interest of the Union would be promoted by diverging the location and
construction of said road from the seat of government of the State of Indiana, (via) the City of Springfield, and thence on the most eligible route to the seat of government of Missouri; therefore,
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Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested to use their best exertions to procure
the passage of a law for the continuation of the Cumberland road to the Mississippi river, agreeably to the wishes of the people of the State of Illinois, heretofore expressed through the General Assembly.2
1William Ross introduced the resolution in the Senate on January 12, 1841. The Senate tabled the resolution. On February 8, the Senate
took up the resolution and adopted it by a vote of 18 yeas to 15 nays. On February
13, the House of Representatives tabled the resolution. On February 27, the House amended the resolution, by a vote
of 43 yeas and 23 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea, by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting substitute
language. The House tabled the resolution as amended by a vote of 34 yeas to 27 nays,
with Lincoln voting nay.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, At Their Second Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 355-56, 394, 562-63; Journal of the Senate of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, At
Their Second Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 155-56, 272-73.
2On February 27, 1841, the House of Representatives amended the resolution by striking the following language: “Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their exertions and influence
for the passage of a law providing for such changes and location.” The House substituted
this language with new text.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, At Their Second Session 562.
Printed Transcription, 2 page(s), Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, At Their Second Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 355, 562