History of the United States I / Unit 16 USH1 2283 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Impeachment
The idea
Congress passed two constitutionally questionable laws to constrain Johnson: the Command of the Army Act and the Tenure of Office Act of eighteen sixty-seven, requiring Senate approval for presidential appointments and removals. In August eighteen sixty-seven Johnson removed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a Radical ally, without Senate approval, replacing him with Ulysses S. Grant, who resigned and sided with the Republicans. The House drafted the first impeachment resolution in American history, eleven counts, all alleging encroachment on the powers of Congress.
In practice
The Senate acquitting by one vote, thirty-five to nineteen, with seven Republicans crossing to join the Democrats and independents.
Where people slip
Note what he was actually tried for. Not for opposing Black citizenship, but for firing a cabinet officer. The substantive dispute could not be impeached, so a procedural statute was written to manufacture a chargeable offence. One vote decided it, Radicals abandoned impeachment afterwards, and Johnson was effectively silenced for the rest of his term.
Your place on the trail
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Builds on
Unlocks
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