Lincoln entered the House of Representatives in 1847, but lost his seat in 1849. Returning to politics in 1854, he got the endorsement of the Know-Nothings,* which he rejected by saying:
"Who are the native Americans? Do they not wear the breech clout and carry the tomahawk? We pushed them from their homes, and now turn upon others not fortunate enough to come over as early as we or our forefathers. Gentlemen, your party is wrong in principle. I had an Irishman named Patrick cultivating my garden. One morning I went out to see how he was getting along. 'Mr Lincoln, what do yez think of these Know-Nothings?' he asked. I explained what they were trying to do, and asked Pat why he had not been born in America. 'Faith,' he replied, 'I wanted to but my mother wouldn't let me.'"
林肯一八四七年獲選入眾議院，一八四七年失卻席位，一八五四年重返政壇，得到一無所知黨*支持，卻拒而不受，說道：
「誰是本土美國人？他們不是身穿纏腰布，手執戰斧的嗎？我輩把他們驅離家園之後，現在怎麼又轉而對付未能像我們或我們祖先那樣幸運，及早來美洲者。各位，貴黨原則上錯了。我曾經雇用一位愛爾蘭人，給我種園。他叫派屈克。一天早上，我去看他工作進展怎樣，他問：『林肯先生，你怎麼看一無所知黨？』我給他解釋其黨人的主張，又問他為什麼不在美國出世。他說：『我是要在美國出世的，只是家母不答應。』」
*一無所知黨敵視新移民及天主教徒，其黨員奉命以「一無所知」回答問題，故名。