Existing comment:
Andrew Johnson's Beliefs:
Constitutionalist:
Johnson considered the U.S. Constitution a sacred blueprint for government in America. He strongly--some say stubbornly--believed in it and felt it his duty to honor and uphold its provisions.
Johnson consistently opposed legislation designed to expand the federal government's role in state governments' affairs, whether it was a question of voting qualifications, slaveholding, or federal assistance for roads or harbors. He believed these and many other enterprises and decisions belonged in state hands in accordance with a Constitution that reserved to the states jurisdiction over all matters not specifically delegated to the federal government.
Johnson's staunch defense of states' rights and limited federal government suited his Southern constituents and won their approval. Yet Johnson also believed that secession from the Union was unwise as well as unconstitutional. He thought that Southern interests, including that of slavery, were far safer in the Union and under the Constitution than they were outside them. The South disagreed and Johnson's pro-Union stance brought him into conflict with his own Democratic Party and his Southern constituents, particularly as Southern states began to withdraw from the Union. |