What Vision Did Andrew Johnson Have For The Us ?
Andrew Johnson was born to Jacob and Mary Johnson on December 29, 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina. When Johnson was three, his died, leaving the family in abject poverty. His mother put as an apprentice to a tailor when he was 10 years old. He continued with his apprenticeship until he was 16, after which he ran away with his brother to Greeneville, Tennessee. Here, he worked as a tailor to make money. Johnson had never had any formal education, and he taught himself how to read and write. |
It was in Greeneville that Johnson became interested in politics. He started out as an alderman for a worker's party. His rise in politics was swift and fast. He was also the governor of the state, and then the military governor of Tennessee after the Civil War.
He was the Vice President of the United States when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and this tragic incident automatically paved the way to presidency for Johnson.
Andrew Johnson’s presidency was full of ups and downs. There was a lot of strife during his rule. He totally disagreed with the reconstruction of politics which made him very unpopular among the colleagues and masses. While in the office, he passed the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, which were meant to end slavery and give extended rights to the slaves.
After becoming the President, Andrew Johnson tried to walk on the footsteps of Lincoln. He was more forgiving towards people who belonged to the Union. If his Reconstruction Plan had been accepted as it was supposed to be, then people from the south would have been given citizenship by swearing on oath to the federal government. However, this never became a reality as South did not want to give voting rights to the blacks and the Republicans wanted to get back at the south. Due to these problems Johnson’s actual vision never came true.
On of his biggest and best decisions made with an extremely futuristic view was purchasing Alaska from the Russians. It is called Seward’s Folly because Andrew Johnson invested seven point two million dollars on the advice of the then Secretary of the State, William Seward. Today, his investment is worth a lot more due to the oil reserves present in the region. It also expanded the size of the country and removed Russian supremacy from the country.
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