Mid-Term Elections: 1866
On the night that Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth, two other assassinations had also been planed. Members of Booth's conspiracy planned to kill Vice-President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State Seward the same night. Seward survived his attack, while Johnson was the luckiest of the three, His would-be assassin, George Atzerodt, chickened out and got drunk instead of killing Johnson. The vice president learned of Lincoln's situation when Leonard J. Farwell, a fellow boarder at the Kirkwood House, awoke Johnson with the news. Johnson rushed to the Lincoln's deathbed, where he stayed for a short time, and said of the conspirators, "They shall suffer for this. They shall suffer for this."
Lincoln died at 7:22 am the next morning and Johnson was sworn in as the 17th President of the United States sometime after 10 a.m. with Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase administering the oath of office. Johnson was described by newspapers as "solemn and dignified," a change from his inauguration as Vice-President when many claimed that he was quite drunk. At noon, Johnson conducted his first Cabinet meeting in the Treasury Secretary's office, and asked all members to remain in their positions.
Lincoln's funeral ceremonies were held in Washington, before his body was sent home to Springfield, Illinois, for interment. Shortly after Lincoln's death, Union General William T. Sherman reported he had reached an armistice agreement with Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston for the surrender of Confederate forces in North Carolina. The terms of surrender were similar to those that Lincoln had approved when Robert E. Lee had surrendered his army to Ulysses Grant earlier that month, but they were not acceptable to Johnson. Johnson placed a $100,000 bounty (equivalent to $1.69 million in 2020) on Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who was then a fugitive. From this, many assumed that Johnson planned to be tough on the secessionists. Johnson also refused to prevent the execution of Mary Surratt for her part in Lincoln's assassination. Surratt was hanged with three others, including Atzerodt, on July 7, 1865.
Upon taking office, Johnson faced the question of what to do with former Confederates. Lincoln had authorized loyalist governments in Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee as the Union came to control large parts of those states. Lincoln had proposed a "ten percent plan" allowing elections in those states after ten percent of the voters in the state took an oath of future loyalty to the Union. But Congress thought that this was too generous and its plan was to require a majority of voters to take the loyalty oath. That plan had passed both houses in 1864, but Lincoln never signed the bill and Congress adjourned before the next legislative step could be taken.
Johnson, like Lincoln, considered the confederate states to have never truly left the Union. But Johnson also had no vision of African-American suffrage and he considered it a state responsibility to decide who should vote. Johnson also has a long standing resentment against the planter class and he believed that political power there should rest in the hands of the common people that he referred to as "plebeians." He was concerned that freedmen would feel economically bound to their former masters and would vote accordingly.
The Republicans had formed into a number of factions. The Radical Republicans were the most virulent anti-confederates and they wanted voting and other civil rights for African Americans. They believed that the freedmen would vote Republican in gratitude for their emancipation, and that this would keep the Republican Party in power for decades. They also wanted to see Confederate leaders punished.
Moderate Republicans wanted to keep the Democrats out of power at a national level, and prevent former rebels from resuming power, but they did not want to see African-Americans getting the vote.
Northern Democrats called for the unconditional restoration of the Southern states and were opposed to African-American suffrage.
When Johnson became President, Congress was not scheduled to meet again until December of that year. But Radical Republicans tried to convince him to insist on rights for freedmen as a condition of restoration to the Union. But Johnson maintained that the franchise was a state, not a federal matter. The Cabinet was divided on the issue. One of Johnson's first actions was to offer amnesty to all ex-rebels except those holding property valued at $20,000 or more. Northerners were upset with this decision, as many of them believed that iy was necessary to ensure that the war had not been fought for nothing. Northern public opinion demanded that the South acknowledge its defeat, and that slavery be ended. Voting rights for the freedmen did not have widespread support and at the time only a handful of Northern states (mostly in New England) gave African-American men the right to vote. In late 1865, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Minnesota all defeated a proposal for African-American suffrage by large margins.
Johnson's actions seemed to embolden white Southerners, and a number of Southern states passed "Black Codes" which bound African-American laborers to farms on annual contracts they could not get out of. These codes also permitted law enforcement arrest African-Americans for vagrancy and to rent out the labor of those arrested. Many of the Southerners elected to Congress were former Confederates, the most prominent being the former Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens, who was elected to the US Senate from Georgia.
When Congress met in early December 1865, Johnson's annual message was a conciliatory one. But Congress refused to seat the Southern legislators and established a committee to recommend Reconstruction legislation. Many northerners were outraged at the notion of Confederate leaders, such as Stephens, rejoining the federal government. They also saw the Black Codes as not much different from slavery. Republicans also feared that restoration of the Southern states would return the Democrats to power.
At first Congress was sympathetic to Johnson, given the circumstances that led to his Presidency and because of his support for the Union during the war, while being a southerner. Johnson himself was unhappy about the control being exercised in the south by the elite there, but he believed that Southerners had a right to do what they were doing. A showdown between Johnson and the Radical Republicans was brewing.
Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull, a leader of the Moderate Republicans, sponsored a bill that would extend the Freedmen's Bureau beyond its scheduled abolition in 1867, and grant citizenship to the freedmen. Johnson opposed both bills, seeing the as an infringements on state sovereignty. Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau bill on February 18, 1866, something which delighted white Southerners. He was pleased when a move to override his veto failed in the Senate the next day.
On February 22, 1866, Washington's Birthday, Johnson gave an impromptu speech to supporters at the White House, in which he disparaged Radical Republican leaders such as Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, and abolitionist Wendell Phillips. He went so far as to accuse them of plotting his assassination. Republicans from both the Radical and the Moderate wings were outraged. Democrats were pleased, but southerners were not ready to forgive Johnson for backing the Union during the war.
On March 27 Johnson also vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which had given African-American freedmen citizenship. In his veto message, he objected to the bill because it conferred citizenship on the freedmen at a time when 11 out of 36 states were unrepresented in the Congress. He also claimed that it discriminated in favor of African Americans and against white Americans. Congress had enough and overrode his veto, the first time that this had been done on a major bill in American history.
Congress also proposed the Fourteenth Amendment to the states. It was sent for ratification by state legislatures. The amendment was designed to extended citizenship to every person born in the United States (except for indigenous Americans on reservations), and it penalized states that did not give the vote to freedmen. It also created new federal civil rights that could be protected by federal courts. It also forbade repayment of Confederate war debts, it disqualified many former Confederates from office unless the disability was removed by Congress. Both houses also passed the Freedmen's Bureau Act a second time, and once again Johnson vetoed it. This time, the veto was overridden. By the summer of 1866, Johnson's home state of Tennessee had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment despite Johnson's opposition. When Tennessee did so, Congress immediately seated its proposed delegation.
Johnson stubbornly resisted efforts at compromise and a political war took place between the united Republicans on one side, and on the other, Johnson and allies in the Democratic Party. Johnson called a convention of the National Union Party. He intended to use the Party to unite his supporters and run for election for a full term, in 1868. He would test his support in the mid-term elections of 1866.
Johnson campaigned vigorously, undertaking a public speaking tour, known as the "Swing Around the Circle" tour. He spoke in a number of cities including Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus. The tour was a disaster. Johnson gave a number of bizarre speeches including one comparing himself and Christ, and in others engaging in arguments with hecklers.
The election was a disaster for Johnson. Republicans not only held the seats they had, but gained another 23 seats in the House, increasing their majority from 150 seats to 173. The Democrats held just 47 seats. This was the first election after the Civil War, many ex-Confederates were barred from voting, and several Southern states did not take part in the election. These Senate elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, so Senators were chosen by state legislatures. The Republicans gained two seats in the Senate and held a majority of 39 seats, compared with 10 for Democrats and 3 for other parties.
Johnson blamed the loss on Democrats for giving only lukewarm support to the National Union movement. When the House reconvened in December 1866, Congress began passing legislation, often over a presidential veto, including a bill giving African-American men the right to vote in the District of Columbia. Congress admitted Nebraska to the Union over a veto, and the Republicans gained two more senators. Nebraska promptly ratified the Fourteenth amendment. In January 1867, Congressman Stevens introduced legislation to dissolve the Southern state governments and reconstitute them into five military districts, under martial law. The states would begin again by holding constitutional conventions. African Americans could vote for or become delegates, while former Confederates could not. The bill also provided that restoration to the Union would require the state's ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Johnson and the Southerners attempted a compromise, but the deal fell through. Johnson vetoed the bill on March 2, 1867 and Congress overruled him the same day.
Also on March 2, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act over the President's veto. It would form the basis for Johnson's subsequent impeachment.
Lincoln died at 7:22 am the next morning and Johnson was sworn in as the 17th President of the United States sometime after 10 a.m. with Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase administering the oath of office. Johnson was described by newspapers as "solemn and dignified," a change from his inauguration as Vice-President when many claimed that he was quite drunk. At noon, Johnson conducted his first Cabinet meeting in the Treasury Secretary's office, and asked all members to remain in their positions.
Lincoln's funeral ceremonies were held in Washington, before his body was sent home to Springfield, Illinois, for interment. Shortly after Lincoln's death, Union General William T. Sherman reported he had reached an armistice agreement with Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston for the surrender of Confederate forces in North Carolina. The terms of surrender were similar to those that Lincoln had approved when Robert E. Lee had surrendered his army to Ulysses Grant earlier that month, but they were not acceptable to Johnson. Johnson placed a $100,000 bounty (equivalent to $1.69 million in 2020) on Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who was then a fugitive. From this, many assumed that Johnson planned to be tough on the secessionists. Johnson also refused to prevent the execution of Mary Surratt for her part in Lincoln's assassination. Surratt was hanged with three others, including Atzerodt, on July 7, 1865.
Upon taking office, Johnson faced the question of what to do with former Confederates. Lincoln had authorized loyalist governments in Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee as the Union came to control large parts of those states. Lincoln had proposed a "ten percent plan" allowing elections in those states after ten percent of the voters in the state took an oath of future loyalty to the Union. But Congress thought that this was too generous and its plan was to require a majority of voters to take the loyalty oath. That plan had passed both houses in 1864, but Lincoln never signed the bill and Congress adjourned before the next legislative step could be taken.
Johnson, like Lincoln, considered the confederate states to have never truly left the Union. But Johnson also had no vision of African-American suffrage and he considered it a state responsibility to decide who should vote. Johnson also has a long standing resentment against the planter class and he believed that political power there should rest in the hands of the common people that he referred to as "plebeians." He was concerned that freedmen would feel economically bound to their former masters and would vote accordingly.
The Republicans had formed into a number of factions. The Radical Republicans were the most virulent anti-confederates and they wanted voting and other civil rights for African Americans. They believed that the freedmen would vote Republican in gratitude for their emancipation, and that this would keep the Republican Party in power for decades. They also wanted to see Confederate leaders punished.
Moderate Republicans wanted to keep the Democrats out of power at a national level, and prevent former rebels from resuming power, but they did not want to see African-Americans getting the vote.
Northern Democrats called for the unconditional restoration of the Southern states and were opposed to African-American suffrage.
When Johnson became President, Congress was not scheduled to meet again until December of that year. But Radical Republicans tried to convince him to insist on rights for freedmen as a condition of restoration to the Union. But Johnson maintained that the franchise was a state, not a federal matter. The Cabinet was divided on the issue. One of Johnson's first actions was to offer amnesty to all ex-rebels except those holding property valued at $20,000 or more. Northerners were upset with this decision, as many of them believed that iy was necessary to ensure that the war had not been fought for nothing. Northern public opinion demanded that the South acknowledge its defeat, and that slavery be ended. Voting rights for the freedmen did not have widespread support and at the time only a handful of Northern states (mostly in New England) gave African-American men the right to vote. In late 1865, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Minnesota all defeated a proposal for African-American suffrage by large margins.
Johnson's actions seemed to embolden white Southerners, and a number of Southern states passed "Black Codes" which bound African-American laborers to farms on annual contracts they could not get out of. These codes also permitted law enforcement arrest African-Americans for vagrancy and to rent out the labor of those arrested. Many of the Southerners elected to Congress were former Confederates, the most prominent being the former Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens, who was elected to the US Senate from Georgia.
When Congress met in early December 1865, Johnson's annual message was a conciliatory one. But Congress refused to seat the Southern legislators and established a committee to recommend Reconstruction legislation. Many northerners were outraged at the notion of Confederate leaders, such as Stephens, rejoining the federal government. They also saw the Black Codes as not much different from slavery. Republicans also feared that restoration of the Southern states would return the Democrats to power.
At first Congress was sympathetic to Johnson, given the circumstances that led to his Presidency and because of his support for the Union during the war, while being a southerner. Johnson himself was unhappy about the control being exercised in the south by the elite there, but he believed that Southerners had a right to do what they were doing. A showdown between Johnson and the Radical Republicans was brewing.
Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull, a leader of the Moderate Republicans, sponsored a bill that would extend the Freedmen's Bureau beyond its scheduled abolition in 1867, and grant citizenship to the freedmen. Johnson opposed both bills, seeing the as an infringements on state sovereignty. Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau bill on February 18, 1866, something which delighted white Southerners. He was pleased when a move to override his veto failed in the Senate the next day.
On February 22, 1866, Washington's Birthday, Johnson gave an impromptu speech to supporters at the White House, in which he disparaged Radical Republican leaders such as Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, and abolitionist Wendell Phillips. He went so far as to accuse them of plotting his assassination. Republicans from both the Radical and the Moderate wings were outraged. Democrats were pleased, but southerners were not ready to forgive Johnson for backing the Union during the war.
On March 27 Johnson also vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which had given African-American freedmen citizenship. In his veto message, he objected to the bill because it conferred citizenship on the freedmen at a time when 11 out of 36 states were unrepresented in the Congress. He also claimed that it discriminated in favor of African Americans and against white Americans. Congress had enough and overrode his veto, the first time that this had been done on a major bill in American history.
Congress also proposed the Fourteenth Amendment to the states. It was sent for ratification by state legislatures. The amendment was designed to extended citizenship to every person born in the United States (except for indigenous Americans on reservations), and it penalized states that did not give the vote to freedmen. It also created new federal civil rights that could be protected by federal courts. It also forbade repayment of Confederate war debts, it disqualified many former Confederates from office unless the disability was removed by Congress. Both houses also passed the Freedmen's Bureau Act a second time, and once again Johnson vetoed it. This time, the veto was overridden. By the summer of 1866, Johnson's home state of Tennessee had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment despite Johnson's opposition. When Tennessee did so, Congress immediately seated its proposed delegation.
Johnson stubbornly resisted efforts at compromise and a political war took place between the united Republicans on one side, and on the other, Johnson and allies in the Democratic Party. Johnson called a convention of the National Union Party. He intended to use the Party to unite his supporters and run for election for a full term, in 1868. He would test his support in the mid-term elections of 1866.
Johnson campaigned vigorously, undertaking a public speaking tour, known as the "Swing Around the Circle" tour. He spoke in a number of cities including Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus. The tour was a disaster. Johnson gave a number of bizarre speeches including one comparing himself and Christ, and in others engaging in arguments with hecklers.
The election was a disaster for Johnson. Republicans not only held the seats they had, but gained another 23 seats in the House, increasing their majority from 150 seats to 173. The Democrats held just 47 seats. This was the first election after the Civil War, many ex-Confederates were barred from voting, and several Southern states did not take part in the election. These Senate elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, so Senators were chosen by state legislatures. The Republicans gained two seats in the Senate and held a majority of 39 seats, compared with 10 for Democrats and 3 for other parties.
Johnson blamed the loss on Democrats for giving only lukewarm support to the National Union movement. When the House reconvened in December 1866, Congress began passing legislation, often over a presidential veto, including a bill giving African-American men the right to vote in the District of Columbia. Congress admitted Nebraska to the Union over a veto, and the Republicans gained two more senators. Nebraska promptly ratified the Fourteenth amendment. In January 1867, Congressman Stevens introduced legislation to dissolve the Southern state governments and reconstitute them into five military districts, under martial law. The states would begin again by holding constitutional conventions. African Americans could vote for or become delegates, while former Confederates could not. The bill also provided that restoration to the Union would require the state's ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Johnson and the Southerners attempted a compromise, but the deal fell through. Johnson vetoed the bill on March 2, 1867 and Congress overruled him the same day.
Also on March 2, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act over the President's veto. It would form the basis for Johnson's subsequent impeachment.