Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions.

In 1830, Abraham Lincoln’s father moved the family to Illinois following fears of another milk sickness outbreak. After enduring several plagues and one of the worst winters on record, Abraham Lincoln decided to leave his father’s homestead and set off on his own at the age of 22. His experience, intelligence, and ingenuity would serve him well. His first job required him to steer a flatboat from Illinois to New Orleans, Louisiana. After leading the construction of the flatboat with two other boys, Abraham Lincoln gained a reputation among the residents of New Salem when he figured out how to float the stuck flatboat over Rutledge’s Dam by drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat. After successfully unloading the goods in New Orleans, Abe took a steamer to St. Louis and walked home the remainder of the way. The owner of the flatboat was so impressed with Abraham Lincoln that he hired him to work as a clerk in his store in New Salem.

In New Salem, Abraham Lincoln made many friends, mastered grammar, and gained a reputation as a master storyteller. In August of 1832, he decided to become a candidate for one of the four seats reserved for Sangamon County in the Illinois legislature, despite having been a resident of the county for only nine months. His campaign platform centred on improvements to the navigation of the Sangamon River that he would initiate. During this time, however, Lincoln was made captain of a company of men from New Salem to volunteer their service in the Black Hawk War. The company would become the Fourth Illinois Mounted Volunteers. Lincoln himself served for about three months on the frontier of Illinois but was never engaged in any real combat. When he returned to New Salem, it was election time. By this time, however, there were thirteen candidates, and he finished eighth on the ballot (though over 90% of the residents of New Salem voted for him). Discouraged, Abraham Lincoln decided to enter a partnership to purchase goods on credit from the store he clerked at. Thinking that New Salem was an up-and-coming town, Lincoln believed the purchase would earn him great profits. Unfortunately, his partner abandoned him, subsequent attempts to sell the store were unsuccessful, and Lincoln was saddled with a debt that would take him seventeen years to pay off.

On May 7, 1833, Abraham Lincoln was appointed postmaster of New Salem. As the population of New Salem declined over the next few years, it became too small for a post office, and Abraham Lincoln was out of a job. That same year, Lincoln was hired to survey new lands acquired by Sangamon County, despite the fact that he had no training as a surveyor. According to legend, it took Abraham Lincoln only six weeks to learn the trade, and from that point on, he was considered an excellent surveyor. In 1834, Abraham Lincoln would campaign again for representative in the Illinois state legislature. Now that he was well known in a larger portion of Sangamon County, Abraham Lincoln travelled from village to village giving speeches and attending shooting matches, horse races, and other community events. Again, there were thirteen candidates, but this time Abraham Lincoln won.