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Andrew Johnson: United States
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After his presidency, Johnson maintained an interest in politics and in 1875 was again elected to the Senate. He died near Carter Station, Tenn., on July 31, 1875. He married Eliza McCardle in 1827.
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In 1829 Johnson ran successfully for alderman on a platform that appealed to Greeneville’s working class. In 1834 he was elected mayor of Greeneville. Johnson then served in the Tennessee house of representatives from 1835 to 1837 and from 1839 to 1843, when he was elected to the state senate.
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Under Stevens' leadership, Congress passed a reconstruction law, described at the time as "written with a steel pen made out of a bayonet." The law abolished all Southern state governments set up under Johnson's program. In their place, Congress created five military districts, each commanded by an army officer. The army commanders were authorized to rule by martial law, using federal troops and military courts to maintain order. President Johnson vetoed the law, saying that it would create an "absolute despotism" over the South. But Congress voted to override his veto.
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The stunned nation expectantly awaited Johnson's leadership. He did not disappoint; indeed, the next several months constituted his "finest hour." With Congress adjourned, Johnson had a free hand, and he took advantage of the situation. In May, for example, he extended amnesty and pardon to all ex-Confederates who took an oath of allegiance (except for those who fell under fourteen different exemptions). Moreover, he appointed provisional governors for seven of the former Rebel states. Throughout the summer and fall months, these states went about the business of holding elections and constitutional conventions.
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The 13th amendment became a law, 18 December, 1865, with Johnson's concurrence. The Republicans held that slavery had been the cause of the war; that only by giving the freedman the right to vote could he be protected, and the results of the war secured; and that no state should be admitted until it had granted the right of suffrage to the Negroes within its borders. Johnson held this to be a matter of internal regulation, beyond the control of congress. From 9 Nay till 13 July he appointed provisional governors for seven states, whose duties were to reorganize the governments. The state governments were organized, but passed such stringent laws in reference to the Negroes that the Republicans declared it was a worse form of slavery than the old. When congress met in December, 1865, it was overwhelmingly Republican and firmly determined to protect the Negro against outrage and oppression.
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Johnson now began to argue that African American men should only be given the vote when they were able to pass some type of literacy test. He advised William Sharkey, the governor of Mississippi, that he should only "extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read the Constitution of the United States in English and write their names, and to all persons of color who own real estate valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars."
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