Category Archives: Reconstruction

polite disagreement

150 years ago Andrew Johnson’s Swing Around the Circle was rolling and floating along. Unlike Cleveland and St. Louis, President Johnson didn’t care to make a stand against the hecklers who confronted him in Indianapolis on September 10th. As some … Continue reading

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“A Terbulent Crowd”

150 years ago today Andrew Johnson’s Swing Around the Circle tour rode the rails from St. Louis to Indianapolis. According to the September 11, 1866 issue of The New-York Times crowds were enthusiastic and polite along the way, especially enthusiastic … Continue reading

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Judas and Saint Louis

150 years ago today Andrew Johnson’s Swing Around the Circle proceeded from Springfield, Illinois to St. Louis. According to the September 10, 1866 issue of The New-York Times everything went well as the people of Alton, Illinois gave the president … Continue reading

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radical convention

During the 1866 campaign season a “radical convention” met in Philadelphia from September 3-7. Southern “loyalists” participated; it seems they were loyal to Congress and the radical Republican approach to Reconstruction. Here is Charles Ernest Chadsey’s 1896 take on President … Continue reading

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cornerstone ceremonies

150 years ago today Andrew Johnson’s “Swing Around the Circle” made it to Chicago for the ostensible purpose of the tour – to participate in the ceremonies laying the cornerstone of the Stephen A. Douglas monument. The actual laying of … Continue reading

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“first low point”

On September 3, 1866 Andrew Johnson’s Swing Around the Circle stopped in Cleveland, Ohio. William Stahr referred to President Johnson’s Cleveland speech as the “first low point” of the tour. The crowd was full of hecklers, and the president responded … Continue reading

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short stop

On September 1, 1866 President Andrew Johnson’s swing around the circle tour stopped at a small town in the Finger Lakes region of New York. It was just a six minute stop as the train slowly progressed across the Empire … Continue reading

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train trip

150 years ago today President Andrew Johnson and a group of federal dignitaries began what would become known as the Swing Around the Circle, an eighteen day or so speaking tour in which President Johnson took his case to audiences … Continue reading

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brotherly love again?

On August 14-17 a National Union Convention was held in Philadelphia. Although a new mega-party of Democrats and moderate Republicans was not achieved, it was hoped that the convention would stir up public support for President Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction policy … Continue reading

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“wholesale slaughter”

On July 30, 1866 a riot broke out in New Orleans. Louisiana Governor James Madison Wells had called for a convention to “enfranchise blacks, prohibit ‘rebels’ from voting, and establish a new state government.” Opponents, including members of the city … Continue reading

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