Andrew Johnson and Slavery
Before being chosen as Abraham Lincoln's running mate in the election of 1864, Andre Johnson was elected governor of Tennessee, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was then elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate, serving from October 8, 1857 – March 4, 1862. As a politician, Johnson tried to straddle the fence when it came to the issue pf slavery. He opposed the antislavery Republican Party because he believed the Constitution guaranteed the right to own slaves. He supported President Buchanan's administration because it sought to preserve the union while upholding the constitutional right to own slaves. He also approved the Lecompton Constitution proposed by pro-slavery settlers in Kansas. In all of his political rhetoric, he clearly stated that his devotion to the Union exceeded his devotion to the right to own slaves. But although he was first and foremost a union man, he was, as the famous abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass would say of Johnson, "no friend of the black man."
Johnson's stand in favor of both the Union and the right to own slaves might have made him a logical compromise candidate for president and in fact in 1860, the Tennessee delegation nominated Johnson for president at the Democratic National Convention, but when the convention and the party broke up, he withdrew from the race.
When Tennessee voted on secession, Johnson toured the state speaking in opposition to it. When Tennessee seceded, Johnson was the only Senator from the seceded states to continue participation in Congress. He is quoted as saying "Damn the negroes, I am fighting those traitorous aristocrats, their masters." It was a theme that would continue throughout his life: his despising of the wealthy.
When the Union Army occupied Tennessee, Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of occupied Tennessee in March 1862 with the rank of brigadier general. Johnson's pro-union stance while still maintaining his identity as a sourthernor was a significant factor in his choice as vice president by Lincoln.
Believe it or not, Jackson actually spoke out in favor of suffrage for African-Americans. In patronizing fashion, he argued that "the better class of them will go to work and sustain themselves, and that class ought to be allowed to vote, on the ground that a loyal negro is more worthy than a disloyal white man." Before the war Johnson had been a slaveholder, but when the war broke out and Jackson maintained his support for the Union, the Confederacy seized his slaves.
Johnson became President following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's death and the immense human cost of the war led to demands from northerners for harsh policies against the south. As Vice President, Johnson had taken a hard line and had spoken of hanging rebel Confederates. But when he succeeded Lincoln as president, Johnson took a much softer line, commenting, "I say, as to the leaders, punishment. I also say leniency, reconciliation and amnesty to the thousands whom they have misled and deceived."He ended up pardoning many Confederate leaders, although he refused to pardon either Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee.
Johnson displayed a strong resentment against rich southernors. He said "I intend to confiscate the lands of these rich men whom I have excluded from pardon by my proclamation, and divide the proceeds thereof among the families of the wool hat boys, the Confederate soldiers, whom these men forced into battle to protect their property in slaves." He allowed the Southern states to hold elections in 1865.
Many historians have denounced Johnson as a fervent white supremacist" who foiled Reconstruction. Historian Sean Wilentz wrote that Johnson "actively sided with former Confederates" in his attempts to derail Reconstruction. Johnson's biographer AnnetteGordon-Reid writes:
"Johnson was no friend to black people, at a time when blacks needed all the friends they could get. Because he believed that Lincoln would be the one to guide the United States to victory in the still-raging war, and help bring blacks to a new day, Frederick Douglass could afford to remark calmly to his companion when he came face-to-face with Johnson's true nature. He would have wailed (and probably did when it happened) had he any inkling that just a few weeks after that telling moment, an assassin's bullet would place the political fate of African Americans into the hands of a man who despised them."
Articles of Impeachment were brought against Johnson, but he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote. One of Johnson's last significant acts was granting unconditional amnesty to all Confederates on Christmas Day, December 25, 1868, after the election of Ulysses S. Grant to succeed him, but before Grant took office the following March. Johnson ran unsuccessfully for election to the United States Senate from Tennessee in 1868 and the House of Representatives in 1872. In 1874 the Tennessee legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. Johnson served from March 4, 1875, until his death from a stroke near Elizabethton, Tennessee, on July 31 that year.
Johnson's stand in favor of both the Union and the right to own slaves might have made him a logical compromise candidate for president and in fact in 1860, the Tennessee delegation nominated Johnson for president at the Democratic National Convention, but when the convention and the party broke up, he withdrew from the race.
When Tennessee voted on secession, Johnson toured the state speaking in opposition to it. When Tennessee seceded, Johnson was the only Senator from the seceded states to continue participation in Congress. He is quoted as saying "Damn the negroes, I am fighting those traitorous aristocrats, their masters." It was a theme that would continue throughout his life: his despising of the wealthy.
When the Union Army occupied Tennessee, Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of occupied Tennessee in March 1862 with the rank of brigadier general. Johnson's pro-union stance while still maintaining his identity as a sourthernor was a significant factor in his choice as vice president by Lincoln.
Believe it or not, Jackson actually spoke out in favor of suffrage for African-Americans. In patronizing fashion, he argued that "the better class of them will go to work and sustain themselves, and that class ought to be allowed to vote, on the ground that a loyal negro is more worthy than a disloyal white man." Before the war Johnson had been a slaveholder, but when the war broke out and Jackson maintained his support for the Union, the Confederacy seized his slaves.
Johnson became President following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's death and the immense human cost of the war led to demands from northerners for harsh policies against the south. As Vice President, Johnson had taken a hard line and had spoken of hanging rebel Confederates. But when he succeeded Lincoln as president, Johnson took a much softer line, commenting, "I say, as to the leaders, punishment. I also say leniency, reconciliation and amnesty to the thousands whom they have misled and deceived."He ended up pardoning many Confederate leaders, although he refused to pardon either Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee.
Johnson displayed a strong resentment against rich southernors. He said "I intend to confiscate the lands of these rich men whom I have excluded from pardon by my proclamation, and divide the proceeds thereof among the families of the wool hat boys, the Confederate soldiers, whom these men forced into battle to protect their property in slaves." He allowed the Southern states to hold elections in 1865.
Many historians have denounced Johnson as a fervent white supremacist" who foiled Reconstruction. Historian Sean Wilentz wrote that Johnson "actively sided with former Confederates" in his attempts to derail Reconstruction. Johnson's biographer AnnetteGordon-Reid writes:
"Johnson was no friend to black people, at a time when blacks needed all the friends they could get. Because he believed that Lincoln would be the one to guide the United States to victory in the still-raging war, and help bring blacks to a new day, Frederick Douglass could afford to remark calmly to his companion when he came face-to-face with Johnson's true nature. He would have wailed (and probably did when it happened) had he any inkling that just a few weeks after that telling moment, an assassin's bullet would place the political fate of African Americans into the hands of a man who despised them."
Articles of Impeachment were brought against Johnson, but he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote. One of Johnson's last significant acts was granting unconditional amnesty to all Confederates on Christmas Day, December 25, 1868, after the election of Ulysses S. Grant to succeed him, but before Grant took office the following March. Johnson ran unsuccessfully for election to the United States Senate from Tennessee in 1868 and the House of Representatives in 1872. In 1874 the Tennessee legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. Johnson served from March 4, 1875, until his death from a stroke near Elizabethton, Tennessee, on July 31 that year.