Did the Presidency of Andrew Johnson set the United States back politically almost a century?
Born December 29, 1808; Andrew Johnson embarked on a political campaign that watched him rise from absolute destitution to the heights of President of the United States. Andrew Johnson was born in a log cabin in Raleigh North Carolina.(1) His parents Jacob and Polly were both illiterate, hence, Andrew had basically no education during his youth. Jacob Johnson, Andrew’s father, passed away when Andrew was quite young, leaving Polly to take care of Andrew and his brother William four years his senior.(2) With next to no money, Polly Johnson did the only thing she could to make ends meet.
Sending Andrew and William to work for James Selby, owner of a local tailor shop, turned out to benefit Andrew quite well. While working as an apprentice Andrew would listen to the local patrons discussing politics, this peaked his curiosity, and sent him on a quest for self-improvement. After about five years working as an apprentice Andrew and his brother William, ran away from Selby’s shop.(3)
Andrew went town to town; on foot I might add, to start a new life. He worked at a local tailor shop in both Carthage, North Carolina, and Laurens, South Carolina, before finally calling Greenville, Tennessee home for some time. There he married Eliza McCardle age sixteen, and he eighteen, the man who married them was Mordecai Lincoln, first cousin of Thomas Lincoln, the father of Abraham Lincoln, small world.(4) It was here in Greenville, that Johnson would win his first elected position as Alderman. A young Johnson now began to realize his true abilities in politics. Understanding that he was illiterate until his early twenties, it is amazing the accolades he ach...
... middle of paper ...
...son. New York, NY: Times /Henry Holt, 2011. Print.,p.40
8. Ibid.p.40.
9. Trefousse, Hans L. Andrew Johnson: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1989. Print.,p.120
10. Gordon-Reed, Annette. Andrew Johnson. New York, NY: Times /Henry Holt, 2011. Print.,p.75
11. Ibid.p.83-85.
12. Ibid.p.88.
13. Ibid.p.95.
14. Ibid.p.101
15. Trefousse, Hans L. Andrew Johnson: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1989. Print.,p.19
16. Ibid.p.177
17. Ibid.p.188-189
18. Ibid.p.189
19. Gordon-Reed, Annette. Andrew Johnson. New York, NY: Times /Henry Holt, 2011. Print.,p.97
20. Ibid.p.101
21. Ibid.p.115-116
22. Ibid.p.132-134
23. Ibid.p.135
24. Ibid.p.139
"Andrew Johnson Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
Gordon-Reed, Annette. Andrew Johnson. New York, NY: Times /Henry Holt, 2011. Print.
Trefousse, Hans L. Andrew Johnson: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1989. Print.
Andrew Johnson took office shortly after the Civil War. He was the 17th president of the United States. Throughout Johnson’s presidency his power and influence steadily declined. Two things that really made people upset were Johnson’s veto on the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill and his veto on the Civil Rights Bill. Both bills
Throughout the course of American political history rarely has there ever been a rivalry as fierce and contested as that of the one between Tennessee’s Andrew Jackson, and Kentucky’s Henry Clay. During their extensive political careers the two constantly seemed to cross paths differing in terms philosophically and ideologically. Simply put, these two men profoundly shaped the American Antebellum period, specifically involving the 1820’s to the 1840’s. Their notions of what was best for the country became the basis for their respective parties and consequently their differences in methodology facilitated countless battles in the American political atmosphere. The most significant issues that centered on these types of political skirmishes involved
In “The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln,” Phillip Shaw Paludan argues that even though Abraham Lincoln faced unparalleled challenges, Lincoln was America’s greatest president as he preserved the Union and freed the slaves. According to Paludan, Lincoln’s greatness exceeds that of all other American presidents as Lincoln’s presidential service was remarkable in both the obstacles he faced as well as the ways in which he overcame them. Before accepting the distinguished chair in Lincoln studies at the University of Illinois, Springfield, Paludan was a professor of history at the University of Kansas for over 30 years. Paludan has authored several books including Victims: A True Story of the Civil War and A People’s Contest: The Union and Civil
James Oakes gave a brilliant and unique perspective to a relationship between two well known historical figures of their time. Abraham Lincoln is a well-admired president for the United States because as Americans culture teaches that he was an honest and well-respected man. He heard about a young African American man, who had high aspirations for his life and the blossoming United States. This man’s name was Frederick Douglass. James Oakes demonstrates how both Douglass and Lincoln worked towards the abolishment of slavery and effectively producing better outcomes within antislavery politics.
Before Andrew Jackson became president, he had a rough life. His parents died when he was young, so he grew up without guidance. Jackson was in all the fights he could pick and to many, a wild child. By age 17, he calmed down and began planning his life. It wasn’t until after he had enrolled in the war of 1813 and showed great leadership and strength, that he was in the spot for presidency.
Andrew Jackson was born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1776. His parents, who were Scotch-Irish people. They came to America two years before Andrew was born. His mother was widowed while pregnant with him. At age thirteen, Andrew joined the patriotic cause and volunteered to fight the British. He and his brother were both captured and imprisoned together by the British. Their mother got them released by a prisoner exchange, but his brother died on the long trip home from smallpox. During his independent days, he lived in a tavern with other students.
This book follows Johnsons political career, from a eager hard-working congressional secretary to the landslide victor of the 1964 presidential election. It discusses his "liberal" political views, It seems as though Johnson thought he could help the American people single-handedly and he seemed determined to do it. Johnson is He is praised for his vast legislative record and his stand on poverty and eventually, civil rights. He is criticized for his methods and
President Andrew Johnson lifted himself out of extreme poverty to become President of the United States. He was a man with little education who climbed the political ladder and held many different high offices. As a strict constitutionalist, Johnson believed in limiting the powers of the federal government. President Johnson was one of the most bellicose Presidents who “fought” Congress, critics, and many others. President Andrew Johnson faced numerous problems post-Civil War Era including reconstructing the Southern states to combine peacefully with the Union, his battles with Congress, and his career ending impeachment.
. .’, concludes James Oakes’ book with the aftermath of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination. Oakes discussed the respect Douglass gathered for Lincoln over the years and the affect his assassination had on both himself and America as a whole. Oakes even brushed over Douglass’ relationship with Andrew Johnson, the president succeeding Lincoln. Analyzing his experience with the new president, it was safe to say that Andrew Johnson had no consideration as to what Douglass and Lincoln previously fought for. Johnson did not have the same political skills as Lincoln did, and he did not retain the same view for America that Lincoln did. It was obvious that Douglass held Lincoln at a higher standard than Andrew Johnson, stating that he was a “progressive man, a humane man, an honorable man, and at heart an anti-slavery man” (p. 269). Oakes even gave his own stance on Andrew Jackson, “It was a legacy that Andrew Johnson could ever match. When all of Lincoln’s attributes were taken into consideration - his ascent from the obscurity to greatness, his congenial temperament, his moral courage - it was easy for Douglass to imagine how much better things would be ‘had Mr. Lincoln been living today’.” (p. 262). It is hard to imagine the pre-war Douglass to have said something like that as opposed to an older, much more reserved Douglass. With the abolishment of slavery, so came much discrimination. Without
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaw settlement, a community of Scotch-Irish immigrants along the border between north and south Carolina. As far as I know they are still disputing his place of origin. he claimed that his place of origin was actually south Carolina though in my opinion if he said he was from there he was from that location. His father had died before his birth Andrew’s mother had three sons and was living with her Crawford relatives. Jackson was attending local schools and received an elementary education.
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in a log cabin on a poor farm (195). His father died before he was born, and he was forced to grow up fast (1). His mother wanted him to become a Presbyterian minister, so he read three chapters of scripture daily and was sent to study under a Presbyterian minister (5). Jackson became an orphan by the young age of fifteen (195). Jackson grew to be six feet tall and
Andrew Johnson was born on December 2, 1808 in a log cabin in Raleigh North Carolina. His dad was Jacob Johnson; unfortunately he died when Andrew Johnson was only three years old. His mother, Mary “Polly” McDonough was a constable of Raleigh North Carolina in 1801. When he was fourteen years old his brother William and himself apprenticed under a local tailor. Soon Andrew got tired of the constraints that were on him from the apprenticeship. Andrew and William decided to run away from their life. Later they decided to come home and the entire family moved to Greeneville, Tennessee. There Johnson decided to open his own tailor shop. On May 17, 1827 he married Eliza McCardle. At this time Jo...
John H. Johnson was born January 19, 1918 in rural Arkansas City, Arkansas. His parents were Leroy Johnson and Gertrude Jenkins Johnson. His father was killed in a sawmill accident when little John was eight years old. He attended the community's overcrowded, segregated elementary school. In the early 1930s, there was no public high school for African-Americans in Arkansas. His mother heard of better opportunities for African-Americans in Chicago and saved her meager earnings as a washerwoman and a cook and for years until she could afford to move her family to Chicago. This resulted in them becoming a part of the African-American Great Migration of 1933. There, Johnson was exposed to something he never knew existed, middle class black people.
Andrew Jackson, Southerner, by Mark Cheathem, is an in-depth book on President Jackson’s life and ideologies. Cheatham is a professor at Cumberland University, which is located thirty minutes away from the Hermitage, Jackson’s mansion. His knowledge of the period, lifestyle, and specifically Andrew Jackson’s life while at the Hermitage is astounding. The bulk of his works and article dove into the Jacksonian period and America’s early republic. From the rise of the Democrats to the life of Andrew Jackson’s nephew, Cheathem is a historian who studies ninteenth century history. However, bias was present in the book, since he depicted the South in a positive light. Perhaps, it is because he is from the South. At any rate, slight bias is present within the book, and should be noted when taking into account Jackson’s background, and its effect on Jackson’s
Presidents are usually looked up to and admired throughout the country they serve. Andrew Jackson, the six-foot two-inch seventh President of the United States of America, was born in South Carolina and later moved to Tennessee. He was elected president because of his military victories, such as the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson was by far one on the most controversial presidents because of his self-focused actions, along with his dictatorial style and tendency to get a job done by any means.