This thesis looks at the public career of Walter March. A native of Massachusetts, March moved to Muncie, Indiana, in 1841. A lawyer, March would serve as a delegate to the state's Constitutional Convention of 1850-51 and would later recodify the laws of the state to comply with its newly drafted constitution. March's life mirrored the political turbulence of the 1850s in Indiana. Originally a Democrat, he would switch political affiliations in the mid 1850s and eventually serve as one of the founders of the Republican Party in Indiana. While this study looks at the entirety of March's life, its focus is one March's contributions to Indiana's political life from 1850-1864.Historian Richard Jensen's modernization theory as spelled out in Illinois:Bicentennial History is utilized to assess March's contributions to the state's political life. / Department of History