Question

Congress wanted to impeach President Andrew Johnson because

Question 1 options:

of his conciliatory policies toward southern states.


he supported the southern Black Codes.


he threatened to wage war against Spain.


he violated the Tenure of Office Act (broke federal law by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without senate approval).

Answer 1

Congress wanted to impeach President Andrew Jackson for the following reasons: his lenient and conciliatory policies toward the defeated southern states to aid them in reconstruction after their secession, he supported southern Black Codes, and he violated the Tenure of Office Act (by breaking Federal Law through the firing of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, without Senate approval).

Answer 2

- The answer to this question is complex. The correct answer should be:

- He violated the Tenure of Office Act (broke federal law by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without senate approval).

That was the official reason for the impeachment but it is also true that Johnson did apply conciliatory policies toward southern states and that although he did not explicitly support Black Codes, he decided to not oppose them and even vetoed Republican bills that were presented in order to nullify them.