Date of Award

4-24-1972

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Frank L. Klement

Abstract

The scales of Justice, marred with extra legal procedures, burdened with fraudulent trumped-up charges, and unequally balanced with political prejudice, weighed heavily upon the Constitution of the United States on February 22, 1868. On this date, the House Committee on Reconstruction, under the auspices of an unbiased body, sought the impeachment of the President of the United States. Under the direction of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, the ad hoc group was able to convince 126 House members of the validity, necessity, and righteousness of the impending attempt to remove Andrew Johnson from the highest office in the land. On March 4, 1868, the seven House managers of impeachment presented eleven articles to the bar of the Senate. Thus, the Upper House provided a mock arena for seven managers to strike down a man who chose to challenge eleven articles cloaked with contempt and crude rhetoric.

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