Sunday, February 23, 2014

What was the outcome of the impeachment trial with President Johnson?

Andrew Johnson became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  While Johnson was a Republican who had served as the Vice President of the Union, he was a Southern sympathizer.  As President, he disagree with many aspects of Reconstruction.  


Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act by dismissing his Secretary of War.  This angered many people, especially those who already opposed Johnson's Southern sympathy.  The House of Representatives impeached Johnson over the Tenure of Office Act incident, and his case was sent to the Senate.  In the Senate, they tried Johnson over a period of nearly three months.  In an attempt to appeal to the senators trying him, Johnson promised that he would stop opposing the Reconstruction Acts.  Despite these promised changes, he was saved from conviction by the Senate by a single vote.

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Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800 is sometimes called the Revolution of 1800. Why could it be described in this way?

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