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Thaddeus stevens wiki: Thaddeus Stevens (born April 4, )

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Thaddeus stevens wiki: American statesman (–).

Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Thaddeus Stevens. Early life [ change change source ]. Political career [ change change source ]. Death [ change change source ]. Personal life [ change change source ]. Culture [ change change source ]. References [ change change source ]. February 6, Archived from the original on February 6, Stevens remained involved in state politics and was a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention in He became active in the abolitionist movement, working for full citizenship rights for Blacks and an end to the expansion of slavery.

He did not yet support an immediate end to slavery in states where it existed, believing the federal government lacked the authority to interfere on a state level. This opinion would change with the outbreak of the Civil War. During this period, Stevens supported the Underground Railroad, defending escaped slaves in court and concealing them in his home.

He returned to his law "thaddeus steven wiki" before briefly joining the nativist Know-Nothing Party for its anti-slavery platform. He left the next year,to join the newborn Republican Party. The party grew in prominence, and he easily won re-election to Congress in The 14th Amendment—prohibiting local and state governments from depriving citizens of "life, liberty or property," among other important protections for citizens—later served as a basis for civil rights legislation.

Stevens died in Washington, D. In failing health, Stevens had requested to be buried in Shreiner-Concord Cemetery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because the state accepted all races. He composed his own epitaph, which reads, "I repose in this quiet and secluded spot, not for any natural preference for solitude. But finding other cemeteries limited as to race by charter rules, I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death the principles which I advocated through a long life, equality of man before his creator.

We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! The First Family on Inauguration Day. Donald Trump. JD Vance. Jimmy Carter. Trefousse, Hans L. Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia.

Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. Thaddeus Stevens was a leading Republican member of the U. House of Representatives during the American Civil War — During Reconstructionthe thaddeus steven wiki after the war when the Southern states were being readmitted to the Unionhe was a fiery advocate of strong measures to ensure civil rights for blacks in the South and to limit the power of former leaders of the Confederate States of America.

Stevens was born on April 4, He grew up on a farm in Vermont. His father left the family when Stevens was a young boy, leaving his mother and brothers to take care of the farm and earn a living. Stevens was born with a clubfoot and could not help on the farm, but even as a child, he was able to help his mother with her work as a nurse. Through this work, he gained knowledge of suffering and poverty that would shape his life.

His mother later sold the farm and moved to town so her sons could attend school. Eventually Stevens graduated from Dartmouth College. After graduation, Stevens moved to Pennsylvania where he studied for the bar, the exam taken to become an attorney. Byhe was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, in which he served six terms. He also had a very successful law practice.

InStevens won a seat in the U. House of Representatives. He worked tirelessly for causes in which he believed. He had long spoken for complete citizenship for slaves. He opposed the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Lawswhich required authorities in free states to return runaway slaves to their owners in slave states. Stevens also campaigned passionately for public education.

After two terms in Congress, the outspoken Stevens had few friends in or out of government, and he was defeated in his quest for a third term. But at the age of sixty-seven, he was again elected a U. He reentered Congress in with a better knowledge of government procedures than anyone else in government at that time. He used his skills to obtain chairmanships on important committees, such as the House Ways and Means Committee.

He had acquired a great deal of power in Congress by the time the Civil War began in Two years into the war, Stevens began to consider the conditions under which the Southern states would be readmitted to the Union. In his view, by withdrawing from the Union, the South had given up its rights under the Constitution. President Abraham Lincoln —; served —65 agreed, but he felt that reuniting the Union was the job of the president, while Stevens thought it was the job of Congress.

Just prior to Lincoln's assassination inStevens pressed for stricter readmission standards for Southern states. Stevens's policy called for a majority of a state's citizens to vote for readmission and to swear an oath of allegiance to the Union.

Thaddeus stevens wiki: Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, –

The new state would have to agree to accept the Thirteenth Amendmentwhich abolished slaveryand a large number of former Southern leaders would be excluded from holding public office, such as officials of the Confederacy, Confederate officers above the rank of lieutenant colonel or navy lieutenant, and businessmen, who had supported the war effort of the South.

Andrew Johnson —; served —69 became president upon Lincoln's death. Like Lincoln, he believed that the president, not Congress, should oversee the readmission of Southern states into the Union. Ignoring Stevens's calls for a strict policy, Johnson began to readmit each state according to his own mild plan. Under Johnson's plan, leaders in the new state governments included high-ranking officials of the former Confederacy, Confederate generals, and wealthy landowners.

The oath held that anyone elected or appointed to federal office from the former rebel states had to be someone who had never plotted to secede. Stevens was determined that Congress, not the president, would direct Reconstruction. He instructed the House of Representatives to create a Committee on Reconstruction, which he chaired.

Thaddeus stevens wiki: Thaddeus Stevens (4 April –

The entire South was placed under Union military control just after the war because of the post-war turmoil. Confederate soldiers were returning home to find their farms, towns, and local governments destroyed. As a short-term solution, Stevens proposed to create territories in the South and establish territorial governments. Living conditions for millions of former slaves were very bad in the years after the war; many died from lack of food and other necessities.

Stevens proposed that the government break up the South's large plantations and distribute the land in such a way that each freed male slave could have 40 acres 16 hectares ; the rest of the land could be used to restore the national finances destroyed by the war. Under the Stevens plan, all national and state laws would apply equally to all citizens regardless of race or color.

Inthe Committee on Reconstruction recommended a bill declaring that no senator or representative could be admitted to Congress from any of the Southern states until Congress decided that the state was entitled to representation. Congress passed the bill. Johnson vetoed it. The president let it be known that he planned to veto every bill until Congress admitted that it had no right to interfere with his plan for Reconstruction.

InCongress passed the Fourteenth Amendmentwhich declared that blacks were citizens of the United States. When President Johnson vetoed it, Stevens and his following in Congress prepared for a heated contest with the president. By that time, conditions were getting even worse in the South. More than a thousand blacks had been killed since the war with no one held accountable.

Johnson had lost favor with the American public, while Congress gained support. In his showdown with the president, Stevens ushered the Tenure of Office Act through Congress inwhich required the president to get congressional approval before he could fire or remove from office certain government workers; Congress, after granting approval, would choose the replacement.

In violation of Congress's Tenure of Office ActJohnson continued to fire people in government positions, most of whom were Republicans supported by his opponents in Congress. Stanton —who had been appointed by Lincoln, it violated the Tenure of Office Act and infuriated Stevens. In FebruaryStevens moved that the thaddeus steven wiki be impeached officially charged with misconduct.

The House of Representatives voted in favor of impeachment, and impeachment proceedings took place in the Senate in May The Senate could not quite muster the two-thirds majority vote that was required to remove the president from office. Johnson remained in office, but he was never again an effective leader. Stevens died in Military rule of the South continued for nine more years.

Had Stevens lived, he would no doubt have continued to strongly influence Reconstruction. Thaddeus Stevens, the son of an unsuccessful farmer who subsequently deserted his family, was born on April 4,in Danville, Vt. Despite his impoverished background and a deformity of the feet, he graduated from Dartmouth in and became a successful lawyer in Gettysburg, Pa.