Andrew Johnson believed that the right to own slaves was guaranteed by the Constitution. He was also a Democrat. In the Senate, he voted with the South on almost every issue. As the states seceded, every southerner left Congress except one. "I voted against Lincoln," Johnson said, "I spoke against him. I spent my money to defeat him. But still I love my country." He became something of a hero in the North. In the election of 1864, the Republicans wanted to be a "Union" party, not one representing only part of the country, so they nominated Johnson for Vice President. They never expected him to be President, but when Lincoln was murdered that's what he became.
Like Lincoln, Johnson didn't want to take revenge on the southern states. He wanted them brought back into the Union as quickly and easily as possible. Although some of the former leaders of the Confederacy were not pardoned, he gave a pardon to all southerners who would promise loyalty to the Union. That had been Lincoln's plan. However, there were a number of men in the U.S. Congress called Radical Republicans, who opposed it. They believed the South had to be punished for having left the Union. They refused to admit the newly elected southerners to Congress. The South was also partly to blame for the trouble that followed. Although slavery had been abolished, they passed cruel laws against black people that stripped them of their rights. This did not help Johnson in his efforts to help the South. Instead they made more people in the North agree with the Radical Republicans, and so more were elected to Congress. They passed equally extreme laws against the white southerners. There were a number of reasons for this. Some Congressmen honestly wanted to help the blacks. Some of them simply wanted to punish the South, but many of them voted for purely political reasons because most white southerners had been Democrats. The Radical Republicans even wanted the Constitution to be changed to make sure the Republican party would always be in power.
Johnson didn't have Lincoln's great power to persuade and lead the people. He made speeches asking for moderate treatment of the South. However, his own speeches weren't moderate. They were so violent that he lost voters rather than gained them. Finally Congress decided to impeach him. There were no lawful grounds for the charges brought against him. They were based on anger rather than reason. It was a time when anger, not reason, ruled much of the nation. Johnson missed being put out of office by one vote, and his term ended soon after his impeachment hearing.
Ulysses S. Grant's victories brought an end to the Civil War and made him a national hero. The Republicans nominated him for President in 1868. He had never been interested in politics, but he was elected easily. As a general, he had given the southern army very generous terms of surrender, but as President he left the South to Congress. Under the control of the Radical Republicans, Congress passed one harsh law after another against the South. Grant wanted to be a good President, but often he seemed to know very little of what was going on around him. Outside the army, Grant proved to be a very poor judge of men. Many of those he appointed to office turned out to be crooks and thieves. Completely honest himself, he could not see what was happening, and even when he was told, he wouldn't believe it. He was re-elected by a large majority, and the scandals continued.
As the presidential election of 1876 drew near, most people thought the Democrats were sure to win. The Republican administration under Grant was in disgrace. The party itself was divided. Some hoped they could keep on just as they were. Others thought the only chance to win was to have a candidate known for his honesty. The Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes. The Democrats agreed to accept a decision made by a committee. The committee was to have eight Republicans and seven Democrats. Naturally, the committee voted eight to seven to give the votes from all the contested states to the Republicans, making Hayes President. In return, the Republicans promised that federal troops would be withdrawn from the South.
The age of immigration was just beginning. Their vast numbers helped change the United States from an agricultural nation to an industrial one. They crowded into cities, competing for houses and jobs with more established Americans. Factory owners took advantage of this vast increase in cheap labor to lower wages and lengthen working hours. This paved the way for the strikes and the rise of labor unions in the 1880s.
Hayes tried hard to run an honest administration. He appointed honest men to office, tried to get rid of the crooks, and ordered that no government employee should take part in politics. Many of the professional politicians in Hayes' own party did not like some of the reforms he tried to make. Congress wouldn't pass some of the laws he wanted for honest government. Some laws that he didn't want were passed by Congress over his veto. Because of Congress, Hayes couldn't make all the reforms he would've liked, but on the whole he left the federal government more honest than he found it.
During much of this time, the American people didn't demand very honest government from their representatives in Congress. As a result, they didn't get very honest government. Many politicians came to believe the purpose of government was to make the politicians and their friends rich. This was especially true during the administration of President Grant. As a congressman, James Garfield was accused of taking bribes. He denied the charges, and they were never proved. During his presidential campaign the Democrats talked a lot about the bribes, but they couldn't prove anything and Garfield won easily. He began his term by fighting some of the powerful congressmen who wanted to run the government their way. He said he was going to prove that the President was not just a clerk for Congress.
Several Presidents had asked Congress for good civil service laws, but Congress wouldn't pass them. With every new administration, many government workers got fired and were replaced with ones who had voted for the administration. Each new President had to spend much of his time handing out jobs. President Garfield was no exception. Then on July 2, 1881, he was shot by Charles Giteau, a man whom he had denied a job. As a result of the President's murder, people began to demand more honest government. They demanded better civil service laws that would keep honest government workers on the job. Because the people demanded it, Congress finally did improve the civil service laws.
Chester A. Arthur worked with political "bosses." These men tried to control elections by giving jobs and money to people who would vote the way the bosses wanted. He used to give jobs to people who would vote and work for the Republican party. Then people had to give back part of their pay to the Republican party. They also had to vote the way they were told. It was a common practice under President Grant, and Arthur himself didn't believe it was wrong. President Hayes said that men who held important government jobs should not take part in the management of political parties, but Arthur refused to obey. He seemed to believe that his first duty was to his party, not to his country. As a result, Hayes forced him out of his job.
In 1880 the Republican party was split into two groups. The Stalwarts wanted to nominate Grant again, and the Mugwumps wanted a candidate who would insist on reform and more honest government. Arthur was a Stalwart, and he worked hard to have Grant nominated. However, Garfield won the nomination, and Arthur himself was nominated for Vice President as a compromise. Together the two of them won the election. When Giteau shot President Garfield, he shouted, "I am a Stalwart! Arthur is now President!" Later he said he had killed Garfield because he'd refused to give him a job. Arthur couldn't forget that Garfield had been murdered by a man who had shouted that. He couldn't forget that it was the kind of politics that he and other Stalwarts had stood for that had caused such a thing to happen. He realized that, as President, his duty was to all the people, not just to one party. The very size of his job made him feel humble. He tried to carry on Garfield's work and asked Congress for a new civil service law. However, the Stalwarts didn't forgive him. They refused to nominate him for President in 1884.
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