John Pettit

John Pettit (* June 24, 1807 in Sackets Harbor, New York, † 17 January 1877 in Lafayette, Indiana ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He represented the State of Indiana in both chambers of Congress.

After completing his legal education, John Pettit was admitted to the bar in 1831. He moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where he began to work in 1838 in his new profession. He also was active politically for the first time and was from 1838 to 1839 deputy in the House of Representatives from Indiana. Then he practiced until 1843 from the office of a federal prosecutor.

On March 4, 1843 Pettit went for the Democrats, a House of Representatives of the United States. He represented the interests of the eighth electoral district of Indiana there after multiple re-election until March 3, 1849; in 1848 he was not re-nominated by his party. 1850 Pettit took part in the Constitutional Convention of Indiana, two years later, he sat as a Democrat in the Electoral College, Franklin Pierce elected as U.S. president. Finally, he was elected following the death of U.S. Senator James Whitcomb as his successor and served from 18 January 1853 to 3 March 1855. During the attempted re-election, he was unsuccessful.

In the Senate, John Pettit was one of the Chairmen of the Committee on Private Land Claims. During the Senate debate on the Kansas - Nebraska Act in 1854, he spoke out in favor of extending slavery in Kansas. With reference to the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson of the United States, he declared, Jeffersons idea that were " created all men equal," was not - as it says in the document - established truth, but rather a foregone lie. Pettit's now famous speech and the discussion about the return of Abraham Lincoln on the political stage is attributed.

After his time in Congress Pettit was from 1859 to 1861 by the federal judge in Kansas Territory. From 1870 to 1877 he was a member of a judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana.