Joseph Duncan (February 22, 1794 – January 15, 1844) was a U.S. politician. He served as governor of Illinois from 1834 to 1838. He was a Democrat and a two-term U.S. Representative.
Duncan lived in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois. He was born in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky. He served in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War as a soldier. Before becoming governor, he had a notable political career, serving in the Illinois House of Repr...
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Joseph Duncan (February 22, 1794 – January 15, 1844) was a U.S. politician. He served as governor of Illinois from 1834 to 1838. He was a Democrat and a two-term U.S. Representative.
Duncan lived in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois. He was born in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky. He served in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War as a soldier. Before becoming governor, he had a notable political career, serving in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1825 to 1829, and later as a U.S. Congressman.
Duncan was the governor who requested the legislature create an Internal Improvements Act, which paved the way for numerous roads, state highways, bridges and canals across the state. He later changed his mind, deciding the costs would be too high, but the legislature ignored this plea. The improvements were made, often by building roads between small towns that had little need of such monumental structures, and it forced the state into near-perpetual bankruptcy that guided...
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