Andrew Johnson Dbq

Andrew Johnson was born on December 29, 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina to his father, Jacob Johnson, and mother, Mary McDonough. His parents were of Irish and English ancestry. He had a brother and an older sister Elizabeth, who unfortunately died in childhood. The Johnsons grew up in poverty and was sent to a tailor shop as a boy but ran away. He later opened up his own tailor shop in Greeneville, Tennessee, married his sweetheart, Eliza McCardle, and participated in debates at the Greenville College.
Johnson gained a strong interest in politics, and his tailor shop became a hotspot for political discussion. As Johnson was a gifted political speaker, he climbed the political ladder. In 1829, he became a councilman. Later on, he was elected as mayor of Greenville, then a member of the Tennessee state legislature, eventually as U.S. congressman, then a governor of Tennessee, and lastly a U.S. senator. Johnson was the only Southerner in Congress who was a firm supporter for the Union throughout the secession incident and the Civil War. After
federal forces captured portions of Tennessee, President Lincoln appointed Johnson as military governor of Tennessee. Johnson constantly faced lynch mobs and bullets from the Confederate armies.
Two years later, Johnson became Abraham Lincoln's vice president despite the fact that he was a Democrat while Lincoln was a Republican. After Lincoln's assassination in April 15, 1865, Johnson was promoted from vice president to president. Johnson handled foreign affairs smoothly. However, Johnson proved to be very ineffective when it came to the Reconstruction era.
Johnson trying to reconstruct the country after the Civil War proved himself very ineffective.
Most Northern Republicans thought Johnson’s policies toward the South were not harsh enough. It became apparent that Johnson would not force Southern states to grant full equality to blacks, which then setted up a confrontation with Republicans who were for black suffrage as essential to furthering their political influence in the South. In Johnson’s first 8 months of presidency, Congress was in recess, and he took full advantage of the their absence by passing his own Reconstruction policies. Johnson fervently issued pardons and amnesty to any Southern insurgents who would take an oath of allegiance. This resulted in many former Confederates being elected to office in Southern states and instituting "black codes," codes that maintained slavery. Later, he expanded his pardons to include Confederate officials of the highest
rank.
Congress approved the 14th Amendment, issued it to the states for ratification, and the 14th Amendment was accepted one month later. In a interpretation of the "advise and consent" clause of the Constitution, Congress also legalized the Tenure of Office Act, which denied the president the power to remove federal officials without the Senate's approval. In 1867, Congress established military Reconstruction in the former Confederate states to enforce political and social rights for Southern blacks. Johnson felt his position as president slowly deteriorating beneath him. During his term, he had lost the support of both the Congress and the public and felt that his only alternative was to challenge the Tenure of Office Act. In February 1868, the House voted to impeach President Johnson for violation of the Tenure of Office Act. He was tried in the Senate and acquitted by one vote. Johnson was still president, but his credibility as an effective president was shattered.