Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee defends the Union on the floor of the U.S. Senate

Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee gave a strong Unionist speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate that refuted any claims that the Constitution permitted secession and denounced the fanaticism of its supporters.  Three days later, in Memphis, a large secessionist meeting congratulating South Carolina on its leaving the Union, hanged Senator Johnson in effigy. (By John Osborne) 
Source Citation
"Crisis of Disunion," New York Times, December 20, 1860.
 Eugene M. Wait, Opening of the Civil War (Commack, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 1999), 32.
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Lawmaking/Litigating
    How to Cite This Page: "Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee defends the Union on the floor of the U.S. Senate," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/34756.