nhd primary source

“Effect of the Vote on … Impeachment”
May 30, 1868
http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Month=May&Date=30

This unsigned Harper's Weekly cartoon envisions the contrasting reactions in the White House (left) and the editorial office of the New York Tribune (right) to the vote on the eleventh article of impeachment. President Johnson celebrates the decision, while a shocked Horace Greeley, the Tribune's editor-in-chief, faints upon hearing what he considers to be horrific news. (harpweek, 1868)

nhd primary source

Gilder Lehrman Document Number: GLC00782.13

Title: to Ulysses S. Grant

Author: Johnson, Andrew (1808-1875)

Year: 1867/10/04

Place: Washington, D.C.

Type of document: Letter signed

Description: Asks Grant to "inform Major General C. C. Augur, by telegraph, that he is authorized and empowered to act as a member of the Indian Peace Commission during the absence of Lieut. General Sherman, and direct him to meet the Commission at Fort Harker on the eighth instant." Written on lined Executive Mansion stationery. Noted Grant as ad interim Secretary of War.

Full Text: Executive Mansion Washington D.C. Oct. 4th 1867 Sir: Please inform Major General C.C. Augur, by telegraph, that he is authorized and empowered to act as a member of the Indian Peace Commission during the absence of Lieut. General Sherman, and direct him to meet the Commission at Fort Harker on the eighth instant. Very respectfully yours, Andrew Johnson General U. S. Grant, Secretary of War ad interim 

My Project Title:  Andrew Johnson: Reconstruction after the Civil War.

nhd primary source

Title: [Extract from a speech regarding Wade's opposition to President Andrew Johnson's reconstruction policies]

Author: Wade, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) (1800-1878)

Year: 1866/01/18

Place: Washington, D. C.

Type of document: Manuscript signed

Full Text: [excerpt] ... Now Sir I say to President John[3]son, to the Democratic party, and to the people of the United States, that I will never yield the controversy-untill all men in America shall stand upon an equal footing - equal before the law in every respect. - When they will fix it so that, that can be done. I will give up the controversy in which I have been engaged for so many years, and no man will rejoice more than I that I have been relieved from it. - I was one of those who was an early advocate of bringing those colored people into your army invoking their aid to put down the rebellion. Over and over did I urge it upon the Executive two years before it took effect. Their employment in that capacity enforces upon me a duty. Would I lend my voice and my vote to induce that people to jeopardy their lives in defense of their country and then turn them over to the mercy their enemies & Sir the man that would do it deliberately and [4] knowingly is the meanest of Gods creatures, tempt them into the service let them fight through the war, and then desert them to their enemies to be destroyed 

Annotation: Wade served as a United States Senator from Ohio 1851-1868.

Title: [Endorsement of a runaway slave to return to Tennessee to search for his family]

Author: Johnson, Andrew (1808-1875)

Year: 1865/04/20

Place: Washington, D.C.

Type of document: Autograph endorsement signed

Description: President Johnson, five days after taking office endorses the petition of Jermain Westley Loguen, an escaped slave and Underground Railroad conductor, to return to Tennessee to search for family members. Written on the leaf of a 31 March 1865 autograph letter signed in which Samuel May made the request of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. May's letter is also signed by C.B. Sedgewick, Sherman B. Canfield, Reverend George Whipple, and Lewis Tappan. Johnson's endorsement reads: "the within named Rev J. W. Loguen (col'd) of New York is recommended to the favorable consideration of the Civil and Military authorities of the State of Tennessee wither he goes."

Annotation:  Johnson gave permission for an escaped slave permission to return to Tennnessee to search for family members.

nhd primary source

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/search/display_results.php?id=GLC00099.132

Type of document: Autograph letter signed

Description: Long discussion on Constitutional content and the Constitutional Convention. Countermark reads "HRJoy, Belfast." Loss at top of pages 3 and 4 possibly intended by Pendleton.


Annotation: Writing two weeks after the Convention of 1787 adopted the Constitution, Benjamin Rush (1746-1813), a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the new nation's leading physician described the Constitution as a "masterpiece of human wisdom." "I now look forward to a golden age in America," he wrote. "The new Constitution realizes every hope of the patriot & rewards every toil of the hero." His only misgiving was that he wished the Convention "had gone further, & absorbed more of the power of our State governments." In the following letter to James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," the Virginia jurist Edmund Pendleton offers a careful and candid appraisal of the new Constitution, examining whether it conforms to republican principles of government.

NHD: Checks and balances

http://www.congressforkids.net/Constitution_checksandbalances.htm(hosting site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/); Checks and Balances, PBS 2008.

This site tells how with the government split into 3 branches they built the check and balances system.  It makes sure that not one branch has more power than another.  It tells us how the president can veto, but be overrode by at least 2/3 votes of both houses.  

This would be a secondary source because it was written after the constitution was built and adopted by the U.S.  The sites audience was mean for kids, if i read this just how it is, would use terms and things i don't understand.

Noted from websites on NHD

¹     The United States Constitution has remained the highest law in our land since it was written in 1787. Our federal government continues to be a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Its relevance to our daily lives has endured over two hundred years of testing. How did we get such a timeless document?
 
²     In 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from England. Thirteen fiercely independent states banded together to become a new country. However, there were many issues to resolve in order to form a strong country. Each state had its own form of self-government. They made their own laws, coined their own money, and were concerned about their individual interests. The oppression from England united the states with a common purpose - freedom. However, they were fearful of creating a government that would return them to the same tyranny they had endured from England.
 
³     The first government in the United States was formed under The Articles of Confederation. In 1777, the states sent delegates to a convention to put together a plan for a unified country. Together, they wrote a document that would establish a central government with a legislative congress to make laws. For four years, the states debated these articles. Finally, in 1781, they were approved by all thirteen states. The Articles of Confederation created a weak central government. It failed to give the new government the power to collect taxes, establish a military, form courts, or make the states obey the laws made in the legislative congress. The results were disastrous. The economy became chaotic. States began to fight over boundaries and levy taxes on each other. The new, weak government proved ineffective in uniting the states.  (http://edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_34_71.html)  This site talks about how after we declared our independence from england, we were 13 independent states with our own types of money and government.  Our first real form of government for our whole country(13 colonies) was the Articles of Confederation.  It gave more power to the state then the government, states didnt have to pay national taxes or give soldiers to the army.

Legislative Branch

• Checks on the Executive
  • Impeachment power (House)
  • Trial of impeachments (Senate)
  • Selection of the President (House) and Vice President (Senate) in the case of no majority of electoral votes
  • May override Presidential vetoes
  • Senate approves departmental appointments
  • Senate approves treaties and ambassadors
  • Approval of replacement Vice President
  • Power to declare war
  • Power to enact taxes and allocate funds
  • President must, from time-to-time, deliver a State of the Union address
• Checks on the Judiciary
  • Senate approves federal judges
  • Impeachment power (House)
  • Trial of impeachments (Senate)
  • Power to initiate constitutional amendments
  • Power to set courts inferior to the Supreme Court
  • Power to set jurisdiction of courts
  • Power to alter the size of the Supreme Court
• Checks on the Legislature - because it is bicameral, the Legislative branch has a degree of self-checking.
  • Bills must be passed by both houses of Congress
  • House must originate revenue bills
  • Neither house may adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other house
  • All journals are to be published

Executive Branch

• Checks on the Legislature
  • Veto power
  • Vice President is President of the Senate
  • Commander in chief of the military
  • Recess appointments
  • Emergency calling into session of one or both houses of Congress
  • May force adjournment when both houses cannot agree on adjournment
  • Compensation cannot be diminished
• Checks on the Judiciary
  • Power to appoint judges
  • Pardon power
• Checks on the Executive
  • Vice President and Cabinet can vote that the President is unable to discharge his duties

Judicial Branch

• Checks on the Legislature
  • Judicial review
  • Seats are held on good behavior
  • Compensation cannot be diminished
• Checks on the Executive
  • Judicial review
  • Chief Justice sits as President of the Senate during presidential impeachment
  • (http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_cnb.html)
  This site tells about how our government is split into different branches and they check on eachother to keep the power fair.  This is know as Checks and Balance's.  Each branch can challenge eachother's  power, which is what the checks and balances is all about.
  
  
  
  
  
  

NHD Position

The constitution was the answer to the Articles of Confederation.  The articles of confederation gave more power to the states than the government.  The states answered with what they wanted.  The constitution gave more rights to the Government while it also protected the people with the bill of rights.  Under the constitution states couldn't break off without the government coming and taking over.  States couldn't not pay taxes or not give soldiers to the army.  Although with the bill of rights the government could do certain things or take away the rights of the people.