Category Archives: Postbellum Politics

Butler for the prosecution

On March 23, 1868 President Andrew Johnson’s defense lawyers answered impeachment charges in the United States Senate – the trial court. The next day “the replication of the House was filed by the Managers of Impeachment. The House simply reasserted … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Impeachment, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Where’s Andy?

Friday, March the 13th in 1868 was a dramatic day in Washington, D.C. Having been summoned by the impeachment court on March 8th, President Andrew Johnson was expected to appear in the United States Senate 150 years ago today. Things … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Impeachment, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

summons served

On March 6, 1868 Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase completed organizing the impeachment court by swearing in the rest of the United States senators, including President Pro Tempore Benjamin F. Wade. The Senate notified the House of Representatives and it … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Impeachment, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“kill the beast”

During Washington Birthday remarks in 1866 President Andrew Johnson identified Northerners Wendell Phillips, Senator Charles Sumner, and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens as being just as much traitors to their country as the rebels who fought against the Union for four bloody … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

anti-siesta

150 years ago today the United States Congress got so riled up that the House even canceled its intended Washington’s birthday holiday. Congress would be taking care of business the next day, but it wouldn’t exactly be business as usual. … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

unfunded mandate

In November 1867 the state of Georgia conducted an election to choose delegates for a convention that would rewrite the state constitution. The convention convened in early December 1867 in Atlanta; one of the first issues it faced was the … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Month, Aftermath, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction, Southern Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

happy bleak year

Duties evaded in the past press with increasing urgency in the future. On Christmas Day 1867 an editorial in The New-York Times lamented the terrible condition of the American South: “the Christmas Day of 1867 will be a black day … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Politics, Postbellum Society, Reconstruction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

bipartisan hoopla

Harold Holzer called Abraham Lincoln’s speech at the the Cooper Institute in New York City on February 27, 1860 his “watershed, the event that transformed him from a regional leader into a national phenomenon. Here the politician known as frontier … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction, The election of 1868 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

still in veto mode

In late November 1867 the 40th United States Congress reconvened after about a four months’ absence. In his Third Annual Message, which he sent over to the Capitol on December 3rd, the president didn’t exactly welcome Congress back to town. … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Politics, Postbellum Society, Reconstruction, Southern Society | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“a sorry exhibit”

On November 21, 1867 the Fortieth U.S. Congress reassembled amid a great deal of curiosity about the possible impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. The spectator section in the House was packed an hour before the start time, but the Judiciary … Continue reading

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Impeachment, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment