Andrew Johnson Research Paper

The amendment granted the right to vote to all males twenty-one and older. Johnson opposed the amendment on the grounds it did not apply to Southerners who were without any representation in Congress. Tennessee was the only Southern state to ratify the amendment. The others, encouraged in part by Johnson, refused. Moderate voters in the North began leaning toward the Radicals. The Radicals swept the elections of November 1866, resulting in a two-thirds anti-Johnson majority in both the House and Senate. With this majority, three consecutive vetoes by Johnson were overridden by Congress in 1867, thus passing the Military Reconstruction Act, Command of the Army Act, and Tenure of Office Act against his wishes, (Les Benedict 18).

After the conclusion of America’s Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln pitched the idea of “Reconstruction,” which would bring the southern states back into the Union. President Lincoln, according to many radical Republicans, was too gentle on the south. The government was divided on how to solve the issue of readmitting the southern states back into the Union. In addition to that, the government was not certain on what rights to enumerate to the newly emancipated slaves. These issues became more difficult to solve after President Lincoln was murdered. Lincoln’s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee Democrat that lacked respect of the Republican Congress. The legislative and executive branches of the American government

Congress comes in to play in December 1865. The Congress was made up mostly of Republicans and they refused to let past Confederates to take their seats in Congress at this time. This marked the beginning of Radical Reconstruction or sometimes known as Congressional Reconstruction. The president and the congress did not agree on many issues. Congress overrode President Johnson on the Civil Rights Act of 1866, The Fourteenth Amendment, and the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill. The Fourteenth Amendment spelled out rights of both black and white citizens as equal. It prolonged Federal powers for the enforcement of civil rights. States that approved the Fourteenth Amendment were considered reconstructed, and Tennessee did so. President Johnson advised other southern states to oppose doing this. Congress passed many laws to limit President Johnson’s powers. They passed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 which set new

The president and Congress have a history of conflict. An early example of this was Andrew Johnson’s actions soon after taking office. He vetoed two bills, both of which benefitted blacks. Congress responded to this by overriding his veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Congressmen also passed the 14th Amendment and three Reconstruction acts. Johnson and the Radical Republicans strongly disagreed about the path that Reconstruction in the South should take. In November of 1867, the House Committee on the Judiciary voted to send articles of impeachment to the House, but the report was rejected. However, in February of 1868 Johnson dismissed Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War. This violated the Tenure of Office Act, which would have required

Andrew Johnson, who was in office from 1865, shared similar views to Woodrow Wilson. They favoured the Southern Democratic elite, however took a different approach and attempted to pass more legislation. Johnson was in office at the point of when the civil war had ended, and the Southern states had been defeated, although refusing to admit defeat. Johnson was left with the question of what to do with these states, and unusually for a democrat, believed they needed to join the union. The motive behind these beliefs are unknown, however the likelihood is that he believed this due to the laws on slavery in union

Andrew Jackson was a significant person in the American history but dimly recalled. Jackson was a hard nut to crack, battle-hardened, warrior and the founder of the Democratic Party. His story is one of sex, tragedy, violence, and courage. With his bravery, connection to the people and powerful personality, he moved and shaped the White House from being an ordinary government house to the center of national activities with well-articulated visions for

After Lincoln was assassinated, vise president Andrew Johnson stepped into office with a goal to change some of the things he believed in. In the article Andrew Johnson it states, “Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the legislation. The Radicals mustered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto--the first time that

When Johnson let the South back into the Union he helped to make all the people who had died for the right to equality for all worthless. President Johnson was from the south originally. He had been a poor white living in Kentucky, and so had learned to hate the rich, white Plantation owners. But he always felt above the slaves which later influenced his decision to let the very people he had grown up hating back in to the Union. When congress passed the 13th Amendment banning slavery many of the people in the south feared what would happen to them. Johnson, who related to the poor white folk, knew that they needed someone who they could say "at least I'm better than you" about. The only way he saw to do that was by letting the South have their lands and rights back so that they could do something about their former slaves. So the pardons started rolling out of the Round Office like a printing press. The Radical Republicans weren't happy about it but at that point they couldn't stop him. The south began to return to the way it was.

ohnson's' succession and the following actions he does prove he was of the worst person to be president during the reconstruction era. As a southern, Andrew Johnson was already hated by the majority party in congress, the Radical Republicans. He also lacked the leadership and negotiating skills his predecessor had; so he was a poor politician as well. His inability to make compromises with congress due to his stubborn personality had led to several poor events. Firstly, with the lack of a strong leader in the beginning; southern states passed laws dubbed the "black codes" to restrict the newly freely slaves under the guise of giving rights. Subsequently this angered all the Radical Republicans in congress leading them to create legislation

his plan for Reconstruction was based on forgiveness. So he issued the Proclamation of Amnesty. The goal for the Reconstruction Era was for President Lincoln and his supporters, to rejoin all of the states to the Union and to help rebuild the south. Lincoln was going to grant amnesty to all that rejoined the Union without fear of punishment, but since he was assassinated he couldn’t follow through with his plan. It was all up to Andrew johnson and he was nothing like Lincoln. Lincoln was a Republican that passed important bills, protected freedmen, and wanted to give the states that succeeded punishment. Andrew did none of that when Lincoln was assassinated . Andrew was basically

After Lincoln’s death, Andrew Johnson became president and was at odds with Congress because he often opposed their decisions. They were angered by his actions to the point where they attempted to impeach him. Congress favored the Freedmen’s Bureau bill and the Civil rights bill of 1866. By passing the bills instead of vetoing them like Johnson did, Lincoln would have been brought into Congress’s favor. Johnson also opposed the 14th amendment because it gave the idea that since slavery was then illegal, African americans could be considered citizens. The amendment overturned the decision made in the Dred Scott case. Lincoln on the other hand, supported citizenship for African

Surprisingly on April 14, 1856, Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater, and died the next morning on April 15th. In addition, Andrew Johnson became the President of the United States all in the same day.

Andrew Johnson announced plans of the Reconstruction which was referred his stanch unionism and his firm belief of states’ rights. President Johnson was an inept politician who lost all his advantages by his clumsy moves. He broke with Congress in early 1866 and then became defiant and tried to block enforcement of Reconstruction laws.

As the dispute on how to handle the South continued, Lincoln was unexpectedly assassinated and Andrew Johnson was brought into presidency. Johnson turned out to be a much different president than Lincoln. Johnson himself was, “openly hostile to the freed slave and unwilling to support any plans that guaranteed them civil equality or enfranchisement” (Brinkley 415). However, since he was now President, Reconstruction and how to go about it was left up to Johnson, no matter how unpleasant he was. His Reconstruction plan turned out to be quite similar to Lincoln. He decided to, “offer amnesty to those Southerners who would take an oath of allegiance (high ranking Confederated officials and any white Southerner with land worth $20,000 or more would have to apply

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has many areas that serve the country. They provide care to better their communities. The RWJF also connects with physicians, educators, case workers, nurses, caregivers, and anyone else who has a connection within the public; which will provide help to increase the well-being of their neighbors (“Our Focus Areas”, n.d.).