Instead of uniting the nation, he only kept them divided through the discriminatory laws he attempted to pass and his foul plans that deeply affected the African American community. As a matter of fact, President Johnson believed that America was a white nation, which adds on to the idea that his racism and personal beliefs got into the way of helping the nation succeed. For instance, President Johnson was against the Freedman’s Bureau, which provided supplies to former slaves and citizens who had to rebuild their life again. After that ordeal, he made an effort to veto several laws reinforcing the rights of African Americans, ignore the bigoted laws being passed, and even faced multiple back-and-forth “fights” with Congress. For example, Johnson did not attempt to stop the Black Codes from being enforced, however when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, he vetoed that as it nullified . According to William Deverell and Deborah Gray White, “He [President Johnson] argued that the act gave too much power to the federal government. He also rejected the principle of equal rights for African Americans.” However, President Johnson was just grasping at straws because the Civil Rights Act provided equal rights to both African Americans and white Americans. It wasn’t federal government gaining power, yet it was the federal government …show more content…
The first eight articles involved President Johnson removing Stanton from office by himself, which was illegal because the Tenure of Office Act said that removing a person from political office had to be reviewed by Senate. The ninth article pressed charges against Johnson for violation of disobeying the Command of Army Act. Finally, the last two articles accused Johnson with “libeling Congress through ‘inflammatory and scandalous harangues’.” Not even two weeks after pressing charges against President Johnson, the trial in Senate began even when Johnson didn’t show up, as shown on the cover. To get into the impeachment trial, one needed a ticket, as shown above, to get in. Finally, when it came down to it, one man who had to make the grand decision if Johnson was guilty or not and due to his choice Johnson stayed in office. Two years later, when out of presidency Johnson ends up running for Senate and