In 1860, Andrew Johnson (later 17th President of the United States) was a U.S. Senator from Tennessee. In December of that year and over the next few months, 11 state’s legislatures voted to leave the Union. As they did, the senators from those states resigned their seats in the U.S. Senate. The lone exception to that rule was Andrew Johnson, a Democrat who believed that the Union must be preserved.
My question is: Did Johnson serve out the rest of his term in effect as a senator representing no one (since Tennessee left the Union)?
Eastern Tennessee (where Johnson lived before the war) opposed secession, so he did have some people there who supported him throughout. He resigned from the Senate on March 4, 1862 and shortly afterward was appointed by Lincoln to be Military Governor of Tennessee.
Since it was the position of the U.S. government that secession was illegal, Johnson would have been considered the legitimate Senator from Tennessee, at least until his term was up, when it gets sticky.
Most Senators from seceded states did not resign. Rather, they took the position that secession terminated the existence of their seats, and simply left the Senate.
Andrew Johnson, of course, was an exception. He opposed secession, didn’t recognize its legality, and remained in his seat until, as noted, he resigned to become Military Governor of Tennessee. There was no chance that the Senate would have questioned his right to continue service. To do so would have conceded the validity of secession. Rather, Johnson was a hero for remaining in his seat and remaining loyal to the Union.
The Senate finally got around to declaring the seats of seceding members vacant on March 14, 1861. Four more states (and eight more Senators) left the Union after Fort Sumter, and this time the Senate took a harder line, expelling the withdrawn members on July 11, 1861.
Andrew Johnson’s term was due to expire on March 4, 1863. Obviously, he could not have won re-election, since the rebel legislature in Tennessee wasn’t about to send any Senator (much less Johnson) to Washington, and the Union didn’t control enough of Tennessee at the time to organize a Unionist rump. That was one reason Johnson finally resigned in March 1862.
A) We almost did, several decades earlier. Look up “State of Franklin.”
B) I assume you’re drawing a comparison with West Virginia. Looking at a map, I see West Virginia surrounded by two slave states and two Northern states (Kentucky never seceded, but as a practical matter, might as well have). “East Tennessee” would have been surrounded by hostile forces.
C) West Virginia is a very poor state, split off from a very rich state. Splitting Tennessee would have resulted in two non-viable states and (eventually) more Southern votes in the senate , a notion that could hardly have been met with enthusiasm in the North.
Eastern Tennessee, unlike western Virginia, remained behind Southern lines until late 1863. It’s hard to get a good counter-secession movement going under the guns of the enemy. (Western Virginia, in contrast, was taken easily by the North in the opening weeks of the war.)
And the person who was supposed to prevent this was Robert E. Lee. Organizing the coastal defense of Virginia and preventing the Western counties from seceding were Lee’s first two military missions for the Confederacy. Obviously, he failed in both missions (the Union’s naval superiority allowed them to land troops at will). Some Southern leaders decided Lee’s pre-war reputation was overrated and he might easily have been denied future commands. But more perceptive people realized the impossibility of the assignments Lee had been given and saw that he had done as well as anyone could have (he did organize an effective evacuation of pro-southerners from West Virginia and prevented the Union forces from breaking out of their landing sights).
Most people who lived in the mountainous areas of the American south had no slaves and had no vested interest in fighting the Civil War.
I heard from my high school history teacher that Tennessee seceded from the Union because the state governor was slighted by the American government for some reason. Enthusiasm for the Civil War was never strong in Tennessee, William Bedford Forrest notwithstanding. Many southern people fought for the north
Andrew Johnson was a Democrat, and was Lincoln’s running mate on the “Union” ticket in 1864. When Lincoln was killed the next year, Andy had no political friends and alot of enemies, including Lincoln’s wife, who was insulted that Johnson was drunk during her husband’s second inaugeration. An interesting note, Mary Lincoln’s family lived in Kentucky and some of her family fought for the rebs.
Andy became a Senator from Tennessee in 1875 and was supported by the people. He was married at the age of 16 to a 15 year old girl, and worked as a tailor. He had no formal education, which undoubtedly made him appear more of a hick to Washington society.
Presidents whose ancestors fought for the American South,
Theodore Roosevelt-His mother was a Southerner.
Woodrow Wilson-Originally born in Georgia, grew up in Virginia.
Harry S Truman-Mother a rabid Confederate.
Jimmy Carter-Southern ancestory
Bill Clinton-Southern ancestory, the only President besides Andrew Johnson to be impeached.