Cover of Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2 From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860 — Reading Companion

Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2 From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860 — Reading Companion

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Authors: Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2006 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: United States -- History -- 1865-1898; United States -- History Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 304,616

Reading time 1325 min

Text sections 25

For Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2 From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860 — Reading Companion, the stored edition analysis reports 304,616 words, 22 hr 5 min estimated reading time, and 25 detected text sections.

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Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “United States -- History -- 1865-1898,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #20065

Blaine's insider account of Reconstruction-era Congress, focusing on Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial with detailed legal arguments and political maneuvering, drawn from his perspective as a contemporary Republican leader.

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ANDREW JOHNSON INSTALLED AS PRESIDENT.--CABINET AND SENATORS WITNESSES TO THE CEREMONY.--RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE NEW PRESIDENT DELICATE IN CHARACTER.--REQUIRING THE HIGHEST ORDER OF STATESMANSHIP.--THE QUESTION OF RECONSTRUCTION.--ITS PECULIAR DIFFICULTIES.--NEW AND PERPLEXING QUESTIONS.--CHARACTER AND CAREER OF MR. JOHNSON.--BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA.--MIGRATES TO TENNESSEE.--HIS RAPID PROMOTION IN THAT STATE.-- A TAILOR BY TRADE.--WITHOUT EDUCATION--TAUGHT TO READ AT FIFTEEN.-- MAYOR OF TOWN AT TWENTY-TWO.--IN THE LEGISLATURE AT TWENTY-SEVEN.-- PRESIDENTIAL ELECTOR IN 1840 AT THIRTY-TWO.--IN CONGRESS AT THIRTY- FIVE.--GOVERNOR FROM 1853 TO 1857.--HIS HOMESTEAD POLICY.--NECESSARY ANTAGONISM WITH SLAVERY.--HIS IDEAL OF A RURAL POPULATION.--BOLDNESS OF HIS POLITICAL COURSE IN TENNESSEE.--HIS LOYALTY TO THE UNION.-- SEPARATES FROM THE DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRATORS.--HIS CAREER IN THE CIVIL WAR.--APPOINTED MILITARY GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE.--HIS ABLE ADMINISTRATION OF THE OFFICE.--FORESHADOWS A SEVERE POLICY AS PRESIDENT.--CONTRAST WITH MR. LINCOLN.--ANALYSIS OF JOHNSON'S POSITION. --HIS BRIEF INAUGURAL ADDRESS.--EFFECT PRODUCED BY IT.--HIS ADDRESS TO AN ILLINOIS DELEGATION.--SIGNIFICANT INDICATION OF A HARSH POLICY TOWARDS THE REBELS.--PRESTON KING'S INFLUENCE.--PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO A CHRISTIAN COMMISSION.--TO LOYAL SOUTHERNERS.--TO A PENNSYLVANIA DELEGATION.--PRESIDENT'S TONE GROWS STERNER TOWARDS "TRAITORS."-- STRIKING CONVERSATION WITH SENATOR WADE.--FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF THE LATE PRESIDENT.--REMAINS CARRIED TO ILLINOIS.--IMPRESSIVE SCENE IN BALTIMORE.--IN PHILADELPHIA.--BODY REPOSES IN INDEPENDENCE HALL.-- CONTRAST WITH FOUR YEARS BEFORE.--UNPARALLELED DISPLAY OF FEELING IN NEW YORK.--ORATION BY GEORGE BANCROFT.--ELEGIAC ODE BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.--INTERMENT IN ILLINOIS.--CEREMONIES COMPARED WITH THOSE OF ROYALTY.--PROFOUND FEELING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.--PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF MOURNING.

MILITARY REVIEW IN HONOR OF UNION VICTORY.--THE EASTERN AND WESTERN ARMIES.--THEIR GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS.--SPECIAL INTEREST.--NUMBER OF BATTLES DURING THE WAR.--NUMBER EACH YEAR.--STRUGGLE OF 1861-65.-- DISCIPLINE OF THE ARMY.--MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF CONTINUING THE CONTEST.--NEEDLESS SLAUGHTER OF MEN.--CONFEDERATE RESPONSIBILITY.-- SPEECH OF ROBERT M. T. HUNTER, FOLLOWED BY JUDAH P. BENJAMIN.-- EXTREME MEASURES ADVOCATED BY HIM.--HIS OVER-ZEAL.--MR. BENJAMIN SEEKS REFUGE IN ENGLAND.--HIS SUCCESS THERE DUE TO ENGLISH SYMPATHY WITH THE REBELLION.--HIS MALIGNITY TOWARDS THE UNION.--SOUTHERN CHARACTER.--ITS STRONG POINTS AND ITS WEAK POINTS.--CONDUCT OF CONFEDERATE CONGRESS.-- THEIR INFLAMMATORY ADDRESS.--ITS EXTRAVAGANCE AND ABSURDITY.--JEFFERSON DAVIS'S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS.--HIS LACK OF MORAL COURAGE.--DISBANDMENT OF UNION ARMY, 1,00,516 MEN.--ANOTHER MILLION GONE BEFORE.--SELF- SUPPORT AND SELF-ADJUSTMENT.--COMPARISON WITH THE ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION.--UNION OFFICERS ALL YOUNG MEN.--AGES OF OFFICERS IN OTHER WARS.--AGES OF REGULAR ARMY OFFICERS.--OF VOLUNTEER OFFICERS.--HARMONY OF THE TWO.--SPECIAL EFFICIENCY OF THE VOLUNTEERS.--MAGNITUDE OF THE UNION ARMY.--THE INFANTRY, CAVALRY, ARTILLERY.--NUMBER OF GENERALS.-- NUMBER OF REGIMENTS.--MILITARY RESOURCES OF THE REPUBLIC.--ITS SECURITY IN TIME OF DANGER.

THE RECONSTRUCTION PROBLEM.--THE PRESIDENT'S PUBLIC ADDRESSES.--TIME FOR ACTION ARRIVED.--PROCLAMATION DECLARING HOSTILITIES CEASED.--MANNER OF DEALING WITH INSURRECTIONARY STATES.--MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST EFFORTS AT RECONSTRUCTION.--ELECTION IN LOUISIANA.--FLANDERS AND HAHN.--MR. LINCOLN'S NOTE TO GENERAL SHEPLEY.--TO CUTHBERT BULLETT.--MR. LINCOLN'S DEFINITE PLAN.--"ONE-TENTH" OF VOTERS TO ORGANIZE LOYAL STATE GOVERNMENT.--FREE-STATE CONVENTION IN LOUISIANA.--MICHAEL HAHN ELECTED GOVERNOR.--CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.--MR. LINCOLN'S CONGRATULATIONS.-- SIMILAR ACTION IN ARKANSAS.--ISAAC MURPHY ELECTED GOVERNOR.-- REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS DENIED TO THESE STATES.--MR. SUMNER'S RESOLUTION.--ADOPTED BY SENATE.--SIMILAR ACTION IN HOUSE.--CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS.--CONGRESSIONAL PLAN OF RECONSTRUCTION.--THREE FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS.--BILL PASSED JULY 4, 1864.--NOT APPROVED BY THE PRESIDENT.--HIS REASONS GIVEN IN A PUBLIC PROCLAMATION.--SENATOR WADE AND H. WINTER DAVIS CRITICISE THE PROCLAMATION.--THEIR PROTEST.--SUBSEQUENT RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS.--THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY TO IT.--MR. LINCOLN'S PROBABLE COURSE ON THE SUBJECT OF RECONSTRUCTION.--RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TENNESSEE.--THE QUICK PROCESS OF DOING.--RATIFIED BY POPULAR VOTE, 25,293 TO 48.-- PARSON BROWNLOW CHOSEN GOVERNOR.--PATTERSON AND FOWLER ELECTED SENATORS.--JOHNSON'S INAUGURATION AS VICE-PRESIDENT.--HIS SPEECH.--WERE THE REBEL STATES OUT OF THE UNION?--JOHNSON'S VIEWS.--MR. LINCOLN'S VIEWS.--RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE.--EXTRA SESSION DEBATED.--ADVERSE DECISION.--ILL-LUCK OF EXTRA SESSIONS.

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James G. Blaine, a Republican Speaker of the House and later presidential candidate, wrote this second volume of congressional history from the vantage point of a participant. The excerpt centers on President Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial in 1868, offering a blow-by-blow account of the legal and political strategies employed by both sides. Blaine does not hide his partisan leanings, but he provides specific details about the arguments of the House managers, particularly General Benjamin Butler's emphasis on the Tenure-of-office Act violation. The text is dense with procedural steps, witness testimony, and the maneuvering of counsel, reflecting Blaine's belief that the trial was a constitutional crisis of the first order.

The Impeachment Machinery in Motion

Blaine devotes considerable space to the choreography of the trial. He notes that the House managers, led by Butler, submitted twenty-five witnesses, many of whom merely verified official papers. The prosecution relied heavily on the President's own speeches, which were "sworn to by the reporters who took the notes when the President delivered them." This emphasis on documentary evidence and stenographic records reveals a trial fought as much over the interpretation of words as over actions. Blaine also highlights the defense team's composition, praising William S. Groesbeck's final argument as "a surprise to the Senate and to his professional brethren," suggesting that even a relatively unknown lawyer could shift perceptions through oratorical skill.

Butler's Legal Tightrope

General Butler's opening argument, according to Blaine, was "very voluminous, prepared with great care in writing, and read to the Senate from printed slips." The key difficulty for the prosecution was the proviso in the Tenure-of-office Act that Cabinet members serve "during the term of the President by whom they were appointed, and for one month longer." Blaine quotes Butler's own rhetorical question: "Whose Presidential term is Mr. Johnson now serving out? His own or Mr. Lincoln's?" This legal puzzle—whether Johnson was serving his own term or finishing Lincoln's—became a central point of contention. Blaine presents Butler's argument as thorough but troubled, indicating that the managers were aware of the weakness in their case.

Blaine's Partisan Lens

Throughout the excerpt, Blaine's own political sympathies color his narrative. He refers to the President's speeches "defaming Congress" as evidence, using language that implies agreement with the House managers. Yet he also records the defense's counterarguments without overt condemnation, noting that Groesbeck's argument "did much to give him a high reputation as a lawyer." This tension between Blaine's role as historian and his identity as a Republican partisan is a recurring pattern. He does not fabricate events, but his selection of details—such as the careful preparation of Butler's printed slips—emphasizes the prosecution's diligence while leaving room for the reader to assess the defense's effectiveness.

Readers should approach Blaine's account as a primary source from a major political figure, not as an impartial history. His proximity to events gives him access to insider details—such as the substitution of counsel or the use of printed arguments—but also shapes his emphasis. Comparing his version with other contemporary records, such as the official trial transcripts or newspaper reports, can illuminate where Blaine's partisan commitments influence his narrative. The volume is most valuable for its granular view of congressional procedure and the personal dynamics among the era's leading politicians.

Reading Blaine’s careful accounting of Johnson’s trial, I remembered sitting in my grandfather’s study, turning pages of The New Book of Martyrs — A Reader’s Guide, feeling that same quiet weight of men convinced they were right, and the terrible cost of that certainty. Both books left me holding my breath, not for the outcome, but for the people caught inside it.