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Andrew Johnson Symposium Brings Scholars For Talk

Sun Photo by Jim Feltman Laughter is shared by the four historians who on Thursday participated in a symposium about President Andrew Johnson. They are, from left: Dr. Paul Bergeron, Dr. Michael Kent Curtis, Dr. Robert Orr and Dr. Eric Foner.

Source: The Greeneville Sun
by Douglas Watson
Date: 2008-09-19

A day-long symposium, "Andrew Johnson: Heritage:" Legacy and Our Constitution," was held Thursday at Tusculum College.
 
Nearly 200 people attended the special event in celebration of the bicentennial year of the 17th president's birth and of "National Constitution Week."
 
The program featured hour-long lectures by four historians:
 
* Dr. Robert Orr, of Walters State Community College, on "Andrew Johnson: The Early Years;"
 
* Dr. Paul Bergeron, editor of the Andrew Johnson papers at the University of Tennessee, on "Andrew Johnson: The Civil War Years;"
 
* Dr. Eric Foner, of Columbia University, on "Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction;" and
 
Dr. Michael Kent Curtis, of Wake Forest University School of Law, on "Constitutional Amendments: Their Effect Then and Now."
 
The symposium concluded with a panel discussion involving the four historians, with questions from the audience asked by Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, director of the Niswonger Foundation.
 
The day's program began with a welcome from Dr. Russell Nichols, interim president of Tusculum College. He said, "There is no better place to disucss history than here in the state's oldest college."
 
Panel Discussion
 
Dr. Bergeron said that in 1863, Johnson, who was serving as military governor of Tennessee, went to Washington for several months "where there was ample opportunity for (President) Lincoln to size-up Johnson," the only U.S senator from the South who remained loyal to the Union at the outbreak of the Civil War.
 
President Lincoln, who was facing a tough re-election challenge from former Union General George McClellan, a Democrat who sought to halt the Civil War, persuaded Johnson, also a Democrat, to run for vice president with him, a Republican, on a "union" ticket.
 
Dr. Foner noted that in those days, unlike more recently, "the vice president really didn't do anything" except be available in case the president died.
 
However, with the assassination of President Lincoln in April 14, 1865, Johnson suddenly became the nation's 17th president only about a month after having taken the oath as its vice president.
 
Drs. Orr and Foner disagreed over how many Southern whites were disenfranchised after the Civil War, with both acknowledging the precise figure is not known.
 
Dr. Orr had cited a historian who said as many as 200,000 white Southerners were denied the right to vote, while Dr. Foner said, ""It's absolutely wrong to say that all whites were disenfrachised."
 
Dr. Foner estimated that only 10,000 white Southerners were disenfranchised, but acknowledged the actual number isn't' known.
 
Dr. Orr quoted Dr. John Hope Franklin, an esteemed African-American historian, who has written that during the Reconstruction Period some 700,000 Southern blacks were qualified to vote, but only 600,000 Southern whites were qualifed to vote, though the white population was larger.
 
Dr. Curtis said that the 14th Amendment, which was adopted during President Johnson administration despite his opposition to it, was "sort of a peace treaty" following the Civil War.
 
He said, ironically, despite President Johnson's opposition to adoption of the 14th Amendment, Tennessee was the only Southern state to promptly ratify what is regarded as one of the most important constitutional amendments.
 
Dr. Foner was asked how he thinks Lincoln would have handled the Reconstruction Period, had he not been assassinated and had continued as president.
 
He replied, "Nobody knows what would have happened," especially as "the crisis of Reconstruction would have tested the greatest of statesmen."
 
However, Dr. Foner said Lincoln "was very different" from Johnson," having more "political sagacity" and "always seeming to find a way to smooth our the edges" of political differences.
 
Nevertheless, the Columbia University historian said, Andrew Johnson "was not personally responsible for all the problems" afflicting the nation during the Reconstruction Period.
 
14th, 15th Amendments
 
Dr. Curtis said that adoption of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment -- which declares that all persons born in the United States are citizens -- and the 15th Amendment -- which guarantees all citizens the right to vote -- were a big step toward more democracy in this country that are insufficiently appreciated.
 
Dr. Bergeron said, "There is no doubt that Johnson exhibited great hostility to the wealthy throughout his life ... He certainly was a champion of the working class."
 
Dr. Orr said that President Johnson's "worst mistake" was his veto of the civil rights bill enacted over his veto in 1866.
 
He was asked what had influenced Johnson's early support for emancipation of the slaves.
 
"I think it was his time at Greeneville College," Dr. Orr replied, referring to a predecessor of Tusculum College, where Johnson was influenced by strong emancipationist feelings of two of the college's presidents, Drs. Samuel Doak and Charles Coffin, that were shared by many of the college's students.
 
Lincoln's Actions Criticized
 
Dr. Curtis was asked about the abuse by President Lincoln on some occasions of citizens' rights, Lincoln having had some opponents of his pro-war policies arrested.
 
"Lincoln's record on this is pretty lamentable," Curtis replied. He added, "My general view is that we need constitutional rights in times of war probably more than we need them in times of peace."
 
Dr. Orr said, "A racial settlement during the Reconstruction Period came close," but failed.
 
He added that today the county "has come closer" to achieving full equality among all its citizens, "but we're not there yet .... We must not fail."
 
The panelists were asked why opinions on Andrew Johnson continue to vary strongly. One said it may be because the Reconstruction Period is seen too frequently in terms of stereotypes, "heroes and villains."
 
Dr. Bergeron said a factor in the evaluation of President Johnson is the "race question, which never goes away."
 
He added, "It's out there right now" in the current presidential election campaign.
 
Thomas, the panel discussion's moderator, concluded the discussion by noting how much Andrew Johnson achieved, considering his humble start as a runaway indentured servant who had come from North Carolina to Greeneville, where he then had people read to him as he worked as a tailor.
 
Thomas praised Johnson's example, saying it showed how one can achieve "anything when he puts his mind to do it."
 
Symposium's Organization
 
George Collins, director of the college's President Andrew Johnson Museum & Library and the Doak House Museum, and his staff, organized the symposium.
 
Collins said attendance during the morning at the symposium, which ran from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., was close to 200 people, with about half the audience being college students.
 
He said the symposium was made possible through the support of Tusculum College and its museums, the Tennessee Civl War National Heritage Area, Andrew Johnson Bicentennial Committee, Bartlett-Patterson Corporation, Niswonger Foundation, Andrew Johnson Heritage Association, and the National Park Service's Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.