Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/282

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JOHNSON. 236 before in rebellion, and he prepared the way for them to send members to Congress. These acts put him in opposition to the majority of the Kejiublieans in Congre.ss. Congress ajjpointed a tomniittec on reeonstrnetion and ou the admis- sion of Southern members to the House, and adopted the Civil Rights Act, adding an act to increase the power and edicicncy o£ the Krecd- men"s Bureau. These last two bills were vcto<'cl by President Johnson, but they were reaibi|)tod and passed. This action was severely deMciuiiccd by the President, who characterized the course of Congress as another rebellion. Disall'ection began to work in the Cabinet, and three members resigned in consequence of differences with the President. When Congress declared that the Fourteenth Amendment, giving the negroes citizenship, sliould be ratified l)y every seceding State as a preliminary to readmission to the Union, the President vetoed the resolution. During tha next .session acts were passed requiring the right of voting to be granted without regard to color in Territories applying for admission as States. These, too, were vetoed; but in all cases the bills were repassed and became laws. In March. 1807, in s])ite of the veto, an act was passed dividing the Southern States, save Tennessee, into militiiry districts, and trouble immediately arose over the appointments of the generals to command and their functions, Johnson's Cabinet, with the exception of Secretai-y Stanton, sup- porting him in his obstruction of the legisla- tion of the radicals in Congress. In August Stanton was displaced as Secretary of War, and General Grant was given the position. Stanton protested that his removal was in violation of the Tenure-of-Office Law, and at the meeting of Congress in September the Senate refused to ratify the suspension, whereupon Grant resigned and Stanton resumed his post. Five months afterwards .Johnson again removed Stanton, and put Gen. Lorenzo Thomas in his place. The Sen- ate immediately resolved that '"the President has no power to remove the Secretary of War and des- ignate any other person to pcrfonn the duties of that ofliee." The day after the adoption of the resolutions of the Senate, the House of Repre- sentatives determined upon the President's im- peachment. The articles of imjieachnient recited many offenses, the principal of which were llie removal of the Secretary of War; the public expression of disregard of and contempt for the legislative branch of the Government ; the decla- ration that the one in session was not a constitu- tional Congress; and particularly his obstruction to the execution of Congressional acts. The main point of the defense was that .Johnson's course in the work of reconstruction ^^as merely the continuation of a plan resolved upon by President Lincoln and the members of his Cabinet. In the Senate, sitting as the court of impeachment, the test vote was: guilty, 35; not guilty, 19. The requisite two-thirds vote not having been ob- tained, .Johnson was acquitted — a result which is now considered just and fortunate by temperate historians. As soon as the trial was over Stan- ton voluntarily gave up bis office, and was suc- ceeded by General Sehofield. At the Democratic National Convention in New York. .July 4. l.'ffiS. 'Nfr. .Johnson's name was among the list of candidates for President. On the first ballot he had 0.5 votes, standing second JOHNSON. on Uie list, George 11. Pendleton having 105; but Johnson's vote diminished rajiidly until, on the nineteenth ballot, his name did not ajjyicar. On Christinas Day, 1808, he proclaimed complete pardon to all who had been directly or indirectly concerned in secession. This was his la.st im- jiortanl ollicial act. He was succeeded, Jlareh 4, ISO!), by (Icneral Grant, and at once repaired to his home in Cireenville. He was not satislied with retirement, and sought unsuccessfully to be sent to the Senate, and also failed as an in- tlcijendent candidate for Congress. At last, in January, 1875, he was chosen L'nited States Sen- ator, and was in his seat during the short extra session in March. I5ut his triuni])h was not for long, for he died on July 31, 1875. He was buried at (ireenville, and the memory of his stormy career faded from the [lublic mind. .Johnson sliowed great ability, courage, and po- litical acumen, and his loyalty was never doubt- ed. His messages, which represent his views, whether or not he was their author in the full- est sense, are documents of great jiower, and will serve some future biograiiher to make a strenuous defense of a man who, with grave faults, was [lerhaps oftener in the right than were his partisan opponents. Consult Muore, f^pecch'?s of Andreir ■lohiisuii, with a Biofimiihi- cal Introduction (Boston, 1805) ; The Trinl of Andrew Johnson (3 vols., Washington, 1808) ; Dunning, Esxai/s on the Civil War opirf Uecon- struction (1S08), and Dewitt, The Impcuehment and Trial of Andror Johnson (New York, 1903). JOHNSON, Bradley Tyler (1829-19()3). An American soldier and lawyer, born at Frederick City, ]Md. He graduated at Princeton in 1849, studied law at Harvard, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He was a delegate to the Na- tional Democratic Convention at Baltimore in ISGO. and joined the majority of his delegation wlien they withdrew from the convention and united with the Southern wing of the party, which supjiorted Breckenridge and Lane. When the Civil War began, .Johnson organized and equipped a company at his own expense and joined the Confederate forces. He saw service in the seven days' battles around Richmond in 1862, and was advanced to the rank of brigadier- general of cavalry in 1804. As commander of the post at Salisbury, N. C. he used his influence to lessen the suffering among the prisoners, and finally obtained their parole. At the close of the war he practiced law in Richmond until 1879, wJien he removed to Baltimore. His writings in- clude: Reports of Chase's Decisions on the Fourth Circuit (1875) ; an examination of the Founda- tion of Mart/land and the Mnriilnnd Act Con- cerninri Reliainn : Life of General Washinfrlon (Great Commanders Series. 1894) : Memoir of Jo- seph E. Jolinston (1891); and the Confederate nistonj of Maryland. JOHNSON, BrsiTRon Rf.ST (1817-80). An American soldier in the Confederate service, born in Belmont County. Ohio. He graduated at West Point, in 1840, and served in the Seminole War and in the war with Mexico. In 1847 he resigned and became professor of natural philosophy and chemistry, and later superintendent, at the West- ern ^lilitary Institute. Georgetown. Ky.. where he remained until 1855. when he became superin- tendent of the Jlilitarv College of the Univer- sitv of Nashville. In 1861 he entered the Con- federate Armv, in which he rose to the rank of