Category Archives: Postbellum Politics

proclaiming president

150 years ago today President Andrew Johnson proclaimed an amnesty to cover almost all former Confederates. As recorded at Project Gutenberg: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas in the month of July, A.D. 1861, … Continue reading

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Sickles sacked

President Andrew Johnson made some changes in August 1867. He suspended Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and named General Ulysses Grant the ad interim War Secretary. The president then ordered the acting secretary to remove Phil Sheridan as commander of … Continue reading

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leaving New Orleans

On August 12th President Andrew Johnson suspended Edwin M. Stanton and named General U.S. Grant as acting Secretary of War. 150 years ago today the president ordered the general to make some changes. Philip Sheridan was to be removed from … Continue reading

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suspended from office

A week earlier President Andrew Johnson tried to get around the strictures of the Tenure of Office Act by asking the most radical member of his cabinet secretaries to resign. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton refused. On August 12, 1867 … Continue reading

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tethered in office?

Back in March 1867 the United States Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act over President Andrew Johnson’s veto. The act required that any federal officeholder whose appointment required the advice and consent of the Senate could only be removed … Continue reading

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odds-making

150 years ago today black men voted for the first time in Tennessee. Ex-Confederates were still prohibited from voting. Republican Governor William G. Brownlow (Parson Brownlow) was re-elected by a large majority. From The New-York Times August 2, 1867: THE … Continue reading

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summer schooled

During the mid-nineteenth century the United States Congress was not in session as much as it is today. In general, Congress did not meet from March until the following December. 1867 was a different kind of year. In March legislation … Continue reading

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battle in Franklin

Another riot in the South. This one occurred 150 years ago this week in Franklin, Tennessee at something like a political rally ahead of state-wide elections on August 1st. This would be the first Tennessee election in which black men … Continue reading

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the three wise men denigrated

150 years ago earlier this month Wendell Phillips seemed a bit miffed that Jefferson Davis had been bailed out back in May. From The New-York Times June 7, 1867: Jefferson Davis and His Friends. From the Anti-Slavery Standard of This … Continue reading

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pre-dawn queues

150 years ago today recently enfranchised black men in the District of Columbia once again took advantage of their new right to vote in large numbers at a local election. The presumably more progressive Republicans won  all the city-wide races … Continue reading

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