Editing Thomas A. Hendricks (section)

===U.S. Congressman===
Hendricks represented Indiana as a [[United States Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] (1851–1855) in the [[Thirty-second United States Congress|Thirty-second]] and [[Thirty-third United States Congress|Thirty-third]] Congresses from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1855.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=160, 164}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=21}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=127}} Hendricks was chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Mileage|U.S. Committee on Mileage]] (Thirty-second Congress) and served on the [[United States House Committee on Invalid Pensions|U.S. Committee on Invalid Pensions]] (Thirty-third Congress). He supported the principle of [[popular sovereignty]] and voted in favor of the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]] of 1854, which expanded slavery into the western territories of the United States. Both positions were unpopular in Hendricks's home district in Indiana and led to defeat in his re-election bid to Congress in 1854.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=127–28}}