With the debate over reparations heating up around the country, it seems appropriate to bring to the attention of this nation the history of the reparations debate, which has become one of America’s oldest and best-held secrets. And all who take sides today should be informed of how this struggle over the fate of ex-slaves resulted in the first impeachment of an American president.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Andrew Johnson-a Democrat from Tennessee who inherited the presidency after Lincoln’s assassination-began a political war with the “Radical Republicans” in Congress that sparked the reparations debate that still continues to this day. America’s BIGGEST secret is that Andrew Johnson was impeached because of his efforts to return both the power and the newly freed slaves back over to the South rather than protect them and welcome them as citizens of the United States.

In the wake of a bitter Civil War, the Union states had huge problems facing them, but none larger than the question of what to do with the ex-slaves, which were called “freedmen.” The Radical Republicans, fearing for the safety of the freedmen, ordered the Southern states to be controlled under martial law. But Congress understood the ex-slaves needed more than just protection. So, under the umbrella of the U.S. Army, Congress established a Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. This Bureau would handle the transitioning of the ex-slaves into a new life of independence. It would lease abandoned and unoccupied lands in parcels of 40 acres. It would provide clothing, food, and temporary shelter, build schools and educate ex-slaves. It would protect the newly freed populations from the backlash of Southerners. It would provide counsel, act as a labor union for those seeking work, and become the banking institutions for freedmen. The Freedmen’s Bureau would become the only place for ex-slaves to turn.

But faced with an overwhelming number of ex-slaves requiring aid, this Bureau found itself needing rapid expansion and increased funds to accomplish the job for which it was designed. And it was this proposed expansion that allowed Andrew Johnson to thwart the efforts of the Radical Republicans and the Army to help the ex-slaves. The expansion bill, proposed by Senator Trumbill, also included the appropriation of 3,000,000 acres of “unoccupied” land in the states of Florida, Arkansas, and Mississippi that would be distributed in 40-acre parcels.
Johnson vetoed the measure.The Radical Republicans attempted to override the veto but did not have enough votes.That was the beginning of the end for the Freedmen’s Bureau. Still, Congress continued to fight to level the playing field in the South-where 600,000 Whites had the advantage over 4,000,000 ex-slaves. In an effort to eliminate the notion that the freedmen were only three-fifths of a person, Republicans introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This act would outlaw the mistreatment of ex-slaves and provide them with the same rights as every other citizen.

Johnson vetoed the Act. But this time Congress overrode the veto. Then Congress introduced the 14th Amendment, which welcomed the freedmen into the country as new citizens and provided stipulations that the Southern states agree to it or not be re-admitted. Johnson vetoed it. Congress overrode it.Congress then submitted the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which instituted an official state of martial law in all Southern states that did not comply with the 14th Amendment.

Johnson vetoed it. Congress overrode it. Talk of impeachment began at that point. Next, Congress initiated the Tenure of Office Act, which was proposed in order to protect Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, who was in charge of the military and its supervision of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the martial law imposed on the Southern states.
Johnson vetoed the measure. Congress overrode it. Seething, Johnson discovered a way to rid himself of Stanton, whom the Radical Republicans regarded as “their trusty outpost in the camp of the enemy.” So, when Congress was out of session, Johnson suspended Stanton. But when the Senate returned in January of 1868, they immediately reinstated him by a vote of 35-6. Johnson had had enough. On February 21, 1868, he fired the Secretary of War-the one person in charge of the military’s involvement in protecting the freedmen and overseeing the Freedmen’s Bureau, which was all the ex-slaves had to depend upon.
Three days later, Congress responded by impeaching the president on a House vote of 126-47. Johnson was tried by the Senate and escaped removal from office by a single vote.The war with the Democrats over the destiny of ex-slaves raged on through the early 1900s, and at the height of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement, the Republicans introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which added even more support to their 100-year old legislative battle. This time, their enemy was another Democrat from Tennessee…Senator Al Gore Sr., whose “Gore Amendment” threatened to derail the Act.

They defeated him too (75-24). Today, the notion that Reparations is an issue between Blacks and Whites is inaccurate. After all, millions of Blacks lived in freedom in free states throughout the slavery era. In fact, had there not been free states, slaves would not have had a place to run to find freedom. These states fought against the Southerners and won the right for all Blacks to be free. These folks who fought on the battlefield and within the halls of Congress-to the point of impeaching a president-were all White. The folks who enslaved Blacks in the South were all White. But the U.S. government, which came to the rescue of the slaves, and enacted legislation governing the enemy it conquered, acted as the liberator against its Confederate enemy.
Do Reparation proponents now intend to sue the liberator of slaves? A case may be made for suing the states that condoned slavery. A case can be made for suing those companies that disobeyed the laws once the Confederate states agreed to return to the United States. However, no legitimate case can be made to sue the government that not only liberated the slaves, but, in earnest, acted to uplift the ex-slaves and provide them with the same equal status as all other citizens.

All Blacks are not deserving of compensation for slavery. And all Whites are not guilty of crimes against humanity. However, had the Confederate states won the Civil War, it is likely that all states would have then become slave states. And all Black men and women would have a case today for Reparations. Of course, that case would be moot-as it is today-since we would all still be slaves. But we are free today. And to whom do we owe that debt of thanks? The real debt owed to our ancestors is not one that can or should be paid by our liberators. It is one that you and I, the descendants of slaves owe.

And that debt is paid by taking advantage of all the opportunities we have today to succeed. Because our ancestors dreamed of a day when you and I would have the ability to live well and pursue our dreams in a land of opportunity. That day is today. We live in that land. And it is time to pay the debt of gratitude we owe by living up to the expectations of our ancestors.

Mike Green (Black conservative columnist, contributing writer to the National Center for Public Policy and Research in Was