in New Orleans from 1833 to 1835, then returned to Oswego, where he continued to practice law. Duer served in the Assembly in 1840 and 1841. In 1842 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. Duer was a Delegate to the 1844 Whig National Convention. He served as Oswego County District Attorney from 1845 to 1847. Congressman In 1846 Duer was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Whig. He was reelected in 1848 and served in the 30th and 31st Congresses, March 4, 1847 to March 3, 1851. In Congress, Duer pursued a moderate course on slavery and was willing to allow it to continue where it already existed, but not to expand to new territories unless approved by the voters. He supported both the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850. During the protracted struggle to elect a Speaker of the House in 1849, Duer's name was one of those brought forth as a compromise choice. During a discussion about the Speakership election, Duer stated that Richard Kidder Meade, a Virginia Democrat, was a dis-unionist who favored secession. Meade denied it, which prompted Duer to accuse him of lying. A near-riot ensued, with Democrats attacking Whig and Free Soil Party legislators, and the Sergeant at Arms unable to immediately restore order. Meade and Duer were separated by other House members, and the issue was resolved without further violence when Meade stated that he had not meant to impugn Duer's integrity in his reply to Duer's claim that Meade was a secessionist, and Duer withdrew the word "liar" to describe Meade's reply. Later career After leaving Congress Duer was appointed Consul in Valparaíso, Chile, and he served from 1851 to 1853. In 1854, Duer began to reside in San Francisco, California and founded a law firm in partnership with Balie Peyton, Delos Lake, and Julius K. Rose. He served as San Francisco's County Clerk from October 1857 to October 1859. In 1859, Duer returned to Oswego. During the 1860 presidential election, Duer was opposed to secession and civil war, so he attempted to rally support for a moderate course that made concessions on slavery in order to prevent the slave holding states from leaving the Union. To that end, he supported the Constitutional Union Party ticket of John Bell for president and Edward Everett for vice president. Later that year, Duer sent a widely reprinted letter