ANDREW JOHNSON. 1865. — April 15. Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, takes the oath as President. Gen. Johnston surrenders to Sherman. The assassin Booth, captured in a barn, refuses to surrender, and is shot. Other conspirators are hanged or imprisoned. Three hundred thousand Union men, and as many more Confederates, have been sacrificed to the Rebellion; hundreds of thousands are wounded; and the four-years' war is closed. Number of men furnished on both sides, from April, 1861, to June, 1865, 2,666,999. NATIONAL DEBT, $2,750,000,000. Disagreements between Congress and the new President respecting the reconstruction of States recently in rebellion. Congress is pronounced by the President an illegal body, and its measures are repeatedly vetoed. Slavery is declared abolished by a threefourths vote of the States. A Freedman's Bureau is established at Washington, under the charge of Gen. Howard. Jefferson Davis is captured, disguised in a woman's cloak and shawl, and sent to Fortress Monroe. The Southern Confederacy is at an end. 1866. -The Republican President affiliates with the Democratic party. Cabinet officers resign. Second Freedman's-Bureau Bill Tennessee returns to the Union passed over the President's veto. July 23. Emperor Louis Napoleon advises the United States that the French troops in Mexico, under Emperor Maximilian, are to be immediately withdrawn. Cyrus W. Field succeeds in laying the Atlantic cable between Europe and America. Telegraphic communication established. 1867. By a two-thirds vote of both houses, Congress overrules the President's veto of the Reconstruction Bill, also the Tenure-of-office Bill and the District-of-Columbia Elective-Franchise Bill. All persons are now permitted to vote, without distinction of race or color. The loyal people sustain Congress, and denounce the President. In consequence of further vetoes of important measures, Mr. Ashley of Ohio moves the immediate impeachment of the President. The resolution is adopted, 137 to 38; forty-five not voting. Nebraska is admitted as a State. A national bankruptcy-law is passed. Alaska is purchased of Russia for seven million two hundred thousand dollars, gold. 1868.- Jan. 13. By vote of the Senate, Mr. Stanton returns to the Department of War, after temporary suspension by the President. Feb. 21.-The President removes Mr. Stanton, and appoints Gen. Lorenzo Thomas ad interim. Congress objects, and Mr. Stanton remains. Feb. 22, the House votes, 126 to 47, that " Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors;" and articles of impeachment are accepted March 2. The Senate is convened as a court for the trial of the President, March 5; Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding. Postponements follow. The trial commences March 30, and the case is submitted to the Senate May 6. On the 26th, the President is acquitted Mr. Stanton resigns as Secretary of War. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is adopted by the necessary number of State legislatures, and the Fifteenth is suggested. The Pacific Railroad is in course of completion. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated President of the United States, and Schuyler Colfax Vice-President, March 4, 1869. THE CABINET. PRESIDENT: ULYSSES S. GRANT, ILLINOIS. VICE-PRESIDENT: SCHUYLER COLFAX, INDIANA. SECRETARY OF STATE: 1869.- HAMILTON FISH, New York. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: 1869.- GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, Massachusetts. SECRETARIES OF WAR: 1869. JOHN A. RAWLINS, Illinois. SECRETARIES OF THE NAVY: 1869. ADOLPHE E. BORIE, Pennsylvania. SECRETARIES OF THE INTERIOR: 1869.-J. D. Cox, Ohio. 1870.-COLUMBUS Delano, Ohio. POSTMASTER-GENERAL: 1869. JOHN A. J. CRESWELL, Maryland. 1869. ATTORNEYS-GENERAL: - EBENEZER R. HOAR, Massachusetts. CONTEMPORANEOUS ENGLISH HISTORY. Reign. Victoria. Premier. Mr. Gladstone. Death of Lord Derby, Oct. 23, and George Peabody, Nov. 4, 1869. Charles Dickens died June 9, 1870. War between France and Prussia from July, 1870, to March, 1871. |