Andrew Johnson Dbq

Andrew Johnson was born on December 29, 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina to his father, Jacob Johnson, and mother, Mary McDonough. His parents were of Irish and English ancestry. He had a brother and an older sister Elizabeth, who unfortunately died in childhood. The Johnsons grew up in poverty and was sent to a tailor shop as a boy but ran away. He later opened up his own tailor shop in Greeneville, Tennessee, married his sweetheart, Eliza McCardle, and participated in debates at the Greenville College.
Johnson gained a strong interest in politics, and his tailor shop became a hotspot for political discussion. As Johnson was a gifted political speaker, he climbed the political ladder. In 1829, he became a councilman. Later on, he was elected as mayor of Greenville, then a member of the Tennessee state legislature, eventually as U.S. congressman, then a governor of Tennessee, and lastly a U.S. senator. Johnson was the only Southerner in Congress who was a firm supporter for the Union throughout the secession incident and the Civil War. After
Most Northern Republicans thought Johnson’s policies toward the South were not harsh enough. It became apparent that Johnson would not force Southern states to grant full equality to blacks, which then setted up a confrontation with Republicans who were for black suffrage as essential to furthering their political influence in the South. In Johnson’s first 8 months of presidency, Congress was in recess, and he took full advantage of the their absence by passing his own Reconstruction policies. Johnson fervently issued pardons and amnesty to any Southern insurgents who would take an oath of allegiance. This resulted in many former Confederates being elected to office in Southern states and instituting "black codes," codes that maintained slavery. Later, he expanded his pardons to include Confederate officials of the highest