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THE MAKING OF A NATION - Andrew Johnson: The Story of Americ

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THE MAKING OF A NATION - Andrew Johnson: The Story of America's Seventeenth President
By Frank Beardsley

Broadcast: Thursday, June 30, 2005

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

(MUSIC)

In the spring of eighteen sixty five, America's Civil War was over. The man who had led the Union during the war, Abraham Lincoln, was dead. He had been assassinated1 before the final surrender of Confederate forces.

Now, the re-united nation had a new president, Andrew Johnson. He had been Lincoln's vice2 president.

 
Andrew Johnson
The chief justice of the United States swore-in Johnson a few hours after Lincoln's death. Most of Lincoln's cabinet was there, together with leading members of Congress. They looked to the new president with a mixture of shock and hope. I'm Tony Riggs. Today, Shep O'Neal and I begin the story of America's seventeenth president.

VOICE TWO:

Andrew Johnson was -- like Abraham Lincoln -- a man of the people. He was born in North Carolina. His family was poor. There was no money, or time, for young Andrew to go to school.

When he was fourteen years old, his mother sent him to work for a tailor to learn to Make clothes. Andrew worked hard. He opened his own tailoring business in the eastern part of the state of Tennessee. When he was eighteen, he married. His wife, Eliza, taught him to read and write.

VOICE ONE:

Andrew became active in politics.

At the age of twenty-one, he was elected to the town council. Two years later, he became mayor of the town. At thirty-five, he won a seat in Congress, in Washington. Next, he became governor of Tennessee. Then the state made him one of its two senators. The poor tailor boy was a success.

VOICE TWO:

Andrew Johnson was a member of the Democratic Party. In the presidential election of eighteen-sixty, he supported his party's candidate, not the candidate of the Republican Party: Abraham Lincoln. But Lincoln won the election.

And, as a result, southern states carried out their earlier threat. They began leaving the Union to form their own nation.

Johnson opposed this secession. He believed the South should remain part of the United States. He decided3 he had no choice but to support the Republican president.

Most of the other citizens in Tennessee disagreed with him. They decided to leave the Union. Andrew Johnson had to flee his home to save his life. He returned only after Union forces took control of Tennessee and made him military governor.

VOICE ONE:

President Lincoln noticed the man from Tennessee who supported the Union over the opposition4 of others. In eighteen sixty-four, Lincoln decided to run for re-election. He chose Johnson to be his vice presidential candidate.

Lincoln hoped Johnson would win the support of Union-loving Democrats5. He hoped Johnson would help heal the wounds between North and South.

Now, Lincoln was dead. And Johnson was president. It was up to this little-known former tailor to make the decisions on reconstruction6 -- on rebuilding the Union.

Johnson, not Lincoln, would decide if reconstruction would be easy or hard. Johnson would choose if the North would punish the defeated rebel states or be merciful to them.

VOICE TWO:

The radicals8 of Lincoln's Republican Party wanted severe reconstruction. They said the South was a defeated enemy. They demanded strong punishment for all southerners who took part in the rebellion.

These radicals had disliked Lincoln's plans for reconstruction. They felt he was too weak. Now, they hoped Johnson would share their ideas. They urged him to call a special session of Congress to pass strong legislation against the South.

The radicals had reason to believe the new president agreed with them. He had called the rebels traitors9. He had demanded strong action against them when the war ended.

"The time has come," Johnson had said, "when the American people should understand what crime is. And that it should be punished."

VOICE ONE:

But Andrew Johnson surprised the radicals. He did not call the special session of Congress. Instead, he announced his own program for the southern states.

Johnson declared a pardon for all former confederates who promised to support the Union and obey laws against slavery. Then, he permitted former officials of the confederacy to run for office in their states' new elections. Many of these former rebels were elected.

The radical7 Republicans were angry. They saw these elections as proof that the South had not really changed. They accused Johnson of being too soft. They urged him to punish the rebels.

One radical newspaper wrote: "There is only one sure and safe policy for the immediate10 future. The North must remain the dictator of the republic until the spirit of the North shall become the spirit of the whole country. The South's treason is still unpunished. Southerners cannot be trusted. "

VOICE TWO:

The radicals also worried about what would happen to the recently freed slaves. They said the new state governments of the south would not treat blacks as free and equal citizens. As proof, they pointed11 to new laws the southern legislatures passed.

For example, the state legislature in Mississippi said no black person could rent farmland. It said a black person needed special permission to work at any job except farming.

Mississippi also passed a law saying a black person could be forced to work for a white man -- usually his former owner -- if he had no other job.

Another way the state governments in the South acted against blacks was by refusing to give them the right to vote.

VOICE ONE:

The radical Republicans decided that President Johnson's reconstruction program must be stopped. They began working to get control of Congress to pass their own program. Only by gaining political power could they punish the South and guarantee full political rights to former slaves.

The radicals tried to take control in two ways.

First, they refused to let many of the recently elected southern congressmen take their seats when Congress opened.

Then they formed their own joint12 committee on reconstruction. This committee -- not the Senate or the House of Representatives -- would make many of the decisions about reconstruction.

VOICE TWO:

Radical lawmakers took other steps to seize control of reconstruction efforts in the South.

Congress had established a government agency to take care of black refugees in the South. The agency gave food and clothing to former slaves who had no food, money, or jobs. It began to teach them to read and write.

Republicans in Congress moved to extend the life of the agency and increase its powers. They passed a bill and sent it to the White House for the president's approval.

President Johnson vetoed the bill. He said it would create false hopes among former slaves. He also said it was unconstitutional. The radicals tried to overturn Johnson's veto. However, they failed to get the necessary votes.

VOICE ONE:

Congress passed several other bills giving the federal government power to protect the rights of blacks in the southern states. President Johnson vetoed these bills, too. He said they interfered13 with the rights of the states.

These defeats made the radicals even more angry. Their newspapers began a steady attack against the president and his policy toward the South. Some even accused him of treason.

VOICE TWO:

Many Americans agreed with this criticism of President Johnson. They gave the radicals a big victory in congressional elections of eighteen sixty-six.

Radical leaders gained the power to pass any bill they wished, even over the president's veto. And they wasted no time doing just that. Time after time, they voted to overturn Andrew Johnson's vetoes.

The atmosphere in Washington became very tense. Relations between Congress and the White House sank to their lowest level in history. The political skies darkened. Soon, the storm broke. The radicals tried something that had never been tried before. They tried to remove the president from office.

The conflict between the radicals and Andrew Johnson would provide some of the most historic and intense moments in American history. That will be our story in the next program of THE MAKING OF A NATION.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Tony Riggs and Shep O'Neal. Our program was written by David Jarmul and Frank Beardsley.


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1 assassinated 0c3415de7f33014bd40a19b41ce568df     
v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 );中伤;诋毁;破坏
参考例句:
  • The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
  • Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后,肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句
2 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
3 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
4 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
5 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 reconstruction 3U6xb     
n.重建,再现,复原
参考例句:
  • The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后,该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
  • In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期,技术决定一切。
7 radical hA8zu     
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的
参考例句:
  • The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
  • She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。
8 radicals 5c853925d2a610c29b107b916c89076e     
n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 );根基;基本原理;[数学]根数
参考例句:
  • Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句
9 traitors 123f90461d74091a96637955d14a1401     
卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 ); 叛徒; 背叛者; 背信弃义的人
参考例句:
  • Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
  • Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。
10 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
11 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
12 joint m3lx4     
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合
参考例句:
  • I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤,肩膀脫臼了。
  • We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
13 interfered 71b7e795becf1adbddfab2cd6c5f0cff     
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉
参考例句:
  • Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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