ANDREW JOHNSON. 197 



Without a regular instruction, and obliged to work for his 

 living, At the age of nineteen, he made a voyage to New 

 Orleans, working on board of " a boat to pay his passage. 

 Then he turned carpenter^ grocer, etc., and, lastly, a soldier, 

 fighting the Indians, after which he began to study alone, and 

 succeeded so well, that he was able to pass his examination as 

 a lawyer. From that date, he began his political career. 



During four sittings, he took part in the Legislature of 

 Illinois. From 1847 to I ^49> ne was a Member of the Congress. 

 In 1852, he joined the Abolitionists, and in November, i860, 

 he was elected President of the United States. He placed at 

 the head of his Cabinet Messrs. M. Seward and Cameron. In 

 1 86 1, he started from Springfield to Washington, where he 

 was enthusiastically received ; but it has been said that even 

 then, notwithstanding the triumphal reception made to him, he 

 had already misgivings about his security. 



In 1864, he was re-elected for the second time with an 

 immense majority. 



The Atlantic Telegraph, connecting Europe and America, 

 was completed in 1862, during his first term of office. 



ANDREW JOHNSON, 1865— 1869. i 



The consequence of the atrocious act committed by 

 Booth, was that Andrew Johnson became the seventeenth, 

 President of the United States according to Constitution. He 

 took office in April 1865, and during the whole of his term he 

 was in contest with the other powers. The functionaries 

 proposed by him, were not accepted by the Senate, and even 

 his Ministers were hostile to him. He was also put on his 

 trial, but discharged. 



Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, Carolina, on the 

 29th of December, 1806. 



He lost his father at the early age of four. At ten, he 

 was apprenticed to. a tailor, and remained with him seven 

 years without having ever been to school, but in learning his 

 trade, he made up his mind to learn at all cost, and so he did, 

 taking several hours out of his sleep for that noble purpose. 

 When he left his master, he worked for a while at day wages, 

 soon after he went West, taking with him. his mother, whom he 

 maintained from his work. He stopped at Greenwich, 

 Termessee, where he worked as a journeyman. He married 

 there, and after a time he worked on his own account. With 

 the help of his wife, he learned to, write, and acquired some 



