Andrew Johnson Papers
The first document in this collection is a reproduction of an 1835 contract of indentured servitude establishing that Alexander Morehead will work in Johnson's Greeneville, Tennessee tailor shop while Johnson is in Nashville. The second document is an 1866 letter from the Secretary of the Navy requesting money to defray travel expenses that Johnson has incurred. The final document is an 1867 letter from Johnson's office to the Secretary of State transmitting a proposed itinerary for the President.
Dates
- 1835, 1866-1867
Conditions Governing Access
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Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
0.1 Linear Feet
Abstract
The first document in this collection is a reproduction of an 1835 contract of indentured servitude establishing that Alexander Morehead will work in Johnson's Greeneville, Tennessee tailor shop while Johnson is in Nashville. The second document is an 1866 letter from the Secretary of the Navy requesting money to defray travel expenses that Johnson has incurred. The final document is an 1867 letter from Johnson's office to the Secretary of State transmitting a proposed itinerary for the President.
Biographical/Historical Note
Born December 29, 1808, Andrew Johnson began his political career in Greeneville, Tenn. After serving as both alderman and mayor of Greeneville, Johnson successfully ran for a seat in the lower house of the state legislature in 1835. After serving three terms in the state Senate, Johnson moved to the United States House of Representatives, where he served for ten years, 1843-1853. He also served as Governor of Tennessee from 1853-1857. In the fall of 1857, he was chosen as a United States Senator.
In 1861, Johnson returned to East Tennessee to fight the surging secessionist movement, joining former political opponents such as William G. Brownlow, Thomas A. R. Nelson, Horace Maynard, and others in his support of the Union. After a June 8 referendum in which Tennesseeans voted for secession, Johnson returned to Washington to escape physical harm.
After the Federal capture of Forts Henry and Donelson and the occupation of Nashville in February 1862, however, President Lincoln sent Johnson back to Tennessee to serve as military governor, a position in which he was charged to restore civil government and bring the state back to the Union. In 1864, the Republicans nominated Johnson as Lincoln's running mate because of his staunch Unionism as a War Democrat. After Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865, Johnson was sworn in as the seventeenth President of the United States.
Johnson faced the difficult task of reconstructing the nation in the wake of the Civil War as he assumed the presidency. Johnson and Congress clashed over control of Reconstruction, and in 1868, the House Republicans in Congress impeached Johnson, the first president to face impeachment. Johnson's presidency was spared by a single vote in the Senate.
Following his tumultuous presidency, Johnson returned to Greeneville, eager for vindication. In 1874, he became the first former President of the United States to win a seat in the United States Senate. However, four months after taking his seat in the Senate, Johnson suffered a stroke and died on July 31, 1875. He was buried wrapped in a American flag with his head resting on a copy of the Constitution.
Arrangement
This collection consists of three folders.
Acquisition Note
Patricia Clark donated these papers to the University of Tennessee's Special Collections Library in 2008.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository