Similarities Between Andrew Johnson's Impeachment And Acquittal

During his presidency, Congress ratified the 13th-Amendment that abolished slavery in 1865. In addition, President Johnson made contributions to the black people by vetoing bills that increased protection offered by Freedman Bureau. His vetoes also nullified the Black Codes and guaranteed full citizenship and equal rights to black people. This brought up the Civil Rights Act of 1866, an act that granted citizenships and same rights that both black and white enjoyed. As a result, the Civil Rights Act set up the basis for the 14th amendments that was also later ratified in 1866.

Andrew Johnson Jense Mercado Andrew Johnson was born in december 29,1808 in Raleigh,NC.He later then died in July 31, 1875 in Elizabethton TN.His political party was democratic, his presidential term was from April 15, 1864 to March 4 ,1868.Bill Clinton was the only other president to get impeached, he was impeached by the House Of Representative but acquitted by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached. Bill Clinton was impeached on two charges perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton lied under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky but that was not the ground of the impeachment. Impeachment is a formal process in wich an official are accused of unlawful activity,the outcome of which depending on the country.

Before the impeachment, there had been tension between President Andrew Johnson and republicans in Congress over the implementation of the Reconstruction Act. In 1868, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson for his “high crimes and misdemeanors”. Explicitly, the House claimed that President Johnson had violated the Tenure of Office Act by replacing the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton with Ulysses Grant. In the Senate trial, Johnson escaped conviction by just one vote. Tulis argues that Congress had difficulty finding a strictly legal violation, although Johnson’s misconduct has violated his presidential duty multiple times by abusing his power and ignoring the legislature.

With Caesar gone, Rome was on the tip of absolute havoc. Angry citizens resulted in cycles of civil wars in Rome and caused a ravage in the Roman Empire (Selwood). With Lincoln resting in peace, the assassination paved the way for Vice-President Andrew Johnson to fill Lincoln’s position. Although another civil war didn’t break out, Johnson, a white supremacist, rewrote over what Lincoln had planned to have implemented (Strauss). Johnson carried out the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, but his lack of proposals towards helping minorities still haunts us today (Strauss).

Johnson was impeached in 1868, near the end of his term, for violating a congressional law. Nixon faced impeachment in 1974, in his second term, for his role in the Watergate scandal. Clinton was impeached in 1998, in his second term, for his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Which, was due to the veto from President Jonson against Freedmen’s Bureau bill and the Civil Rights bill the radical republicans retaliated by passing through congress the Reconstruction Acts. These Acts were set up in two part fist the 14th Amendment and second the 15th Amendment. The 14th Amendment was written by Senator Jacob M. Howard of Michigan on July 9, 1868. The 14th Amendment gave equal rights and protect to all citizens and to all who were born in the United States along with all the slaves who emancipated after the Civil War. The 15th Amendment was passed 1870 this assured any person of color or from previous condition of servitude the right to vote.

Johnson was a democrat and a previous slave owner, which didn’t make him an avid supporter of Lincoln’s plan of Southern Reconstruction. What Lincoln had previously intended on doing was have criminal amnesty to Confederates who pledged allegiance to the Union and allowed states to hold a constitutional convention along with setting up their state government. Though Johnson kept some of the plan intact, he called for there to be no limits on voter allegiance for the Southern states. This sparked opposition from the Radical Republicans, a group of congressmen who believed black southerners should be guaranteed equality with whites. They deduced that Johnson shouldn’t set legislative policy for reconstruction as it wouldn’t lead to a country of tolerance that they worked to achieve.

The Reconstruction era of 1865 was an attempted unify the states of the United States of America after the Civil War. This proved to be terribly difficult and contentious process. The three main issues the federal government had to deal with included how to deal with states as they re-joined the Union, how Southern whites should be treated, and how to deal with the freed slaves. Furthermore, President Lincoln’s reconstruction plan included that states never truly seceded from the Union as this was not legally possible, and therefore they should not necessarily be punished. The plan had two major provisions: Pardons of Southerners who participated in the war if the took an oath of allegiance to the United States and Readmission of a state if 10% of white voters in that state took

African Americans played a major role in the causes and effects of the Civil War. Between 1861 and 1870, African American slaves went from being the reason why the war started to changing the nation to allow more rights for blacks. Before the war, African Americans were treated horribly whether they were free or enslaved. There were many occurrences that diminished the rights of blacks. Due to the fact that African American slaves were running away from their owners to the North, the Fugitive Slave Act was established in the Compromise of 1850.

Therefore, the party could easily implement its policies with little opposition. In 1868 President Andrew Johnson survived an impeachment attempt. This was after the senate failed to ratify the impeachment motion passed by the House of Representatives. The rationale behind the impeachment attempt was attributable to the fact that he acted in contravention of the Tenure of Office Act (Baggett, 2004). His role in influencing reconstruction policies was curtailed by Congress.

April 14th he was assassinated by John Wilkes booth that agreed with the southerners. The north believed that southerners had something to do with Lincoln’s death. After his death, Andrew Johnson became president. He came up with a plan called "Johnson’s Reconstruction

Introduction “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose. ”(“LBJ Quotes.”). Johnson was a man who didn 't focus on the past but spent his life to make the future better. He didn 't want power for himself but to empower the people that were poor and discriminated. Lyndon B. Johnson was a great leader and person who grew through all his struggles, and left a lasting positive impact on civil rights in this country.

Impeachment of President Johnson and Failure of Reconstruction After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson became president on April 15, 1865. The end of Civil War had given freedom to many slaves. However, the progression of reforming the South during the Reconstruction period brought completely new challenges. On May 29, 1865, Johnson announced his plans for Reconstruction which was a huge disappointment for the Radical Republicans. When it came to Johnson, it was clear for Radical Republicans that he clearly favored for the former slaveholders rather than the former slaves.

President Lyndon B. Johnson once used the phrase, “we shall overcome”, in response to a violent racial uproar in Salma Alabama. This deadly uproar was in response to the African American struggle for equal rights in the 1960s. I found Johnson’s speech to be one of great significance because it is a declaration that still pertains to America, today. Johnson’s request of the American people to come together, and stand for our neighbors when freedom is denied to them, is a request that still holds true today. While we have come a long way since the violent racial discrimination of the 1960s, it is still in existence today, and many are still denied freedom.

Once Johnson was no longer in charge congress put into place the Civil Rights Act, an act that declared everyone who was born in the United states to be granted a citizen no matter their race or previous conditions. This meant all former slaves could become true legal citizens. Similarly, the 14th amendment made it so that each state was to give equal protection of the laws to everyone because it too declared all citizens were equal. This amendment also would not allow for confederate political leaders to hold positions and it would not forgive any debts of the confederacy. Following the civil rights act and the 14th amendment the 15th amendment and then another civil rights act were also put into effect.