Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocumentMarch 1868

Articles of Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

United States House of Representatives · March 1868

The eleven formal charges adopted by the House in March 1868 that led to Johnson's Senate impeachment trial, the first against a U.S. president.

These are the formal charges brought against Johnson himself, leading to his Senate impeachment trial.

Ask Andrew Johnson about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Handwritten page 13 of the Articles of Impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, in cursive ink on lined paper. The text describes Johnson's speeches in Washington, D.C., in August 1866, including speeches made to crowds and his statements about Congress and the Union.
Articles of Impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, adopted March 1868. U.S. National Archives.

About this source

What it is

This document contains the eleven articles of impeachment adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives in March 1868 against President Andrew Johnson. The page shown records charges about speeches Johnson gave in Washington in 1866. The articles focused mainly on his dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in defiance of the Tenure of Office Act.

Why it matters

This was the first impeachment of a sitting U.S. president. It shows the bitter conflict between Johnson and the Republican-controlled Congress over Reconstruction policy after the Civil War. Johnson was tried by the Senate but acquitted by a single vote, allowing him to finish his term.

Look closer

  • Why would Johnson's public speeches become part of a legal case against him?
  • What does the language used here tell you about how formal legal documents describe someone's words?
  • What does this document leave out about the political reasons behind the impeachment?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Andrew Johnson on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Andrew Johnson sources

Meet the AI Andrew Johnson →
Handwritten manuscript page of the Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution, with the heading 'Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States' and the text of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, including 'Article XIV.' Ruled border lines frame the text.Document

Primary source

14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights

United States Congress · 1868

Photo of a pink printed admission ticket from the U.S. Senate. Text reads 'Impeachment of the President, Admit the Bearer, Gallery, April 6th 1868, Geo. A. Brown, Sergeant at Arms.' A stub on the left reads 'To be taken up at Main Entrance, U.S. Senate, No. 176.'Document

Primary source

Admission Ticket to the Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson

United States Senate · 6 April 1868

Black and white head and shoulders studio portrait of a man with receding gray hair, dark suit jacket, white shirt, and bow tie, looking toward the viewer with a stern expression.Photograph

Primary source

Photograph of President Andrew Johnson

Mathew Benjamin Brady · c. 1870-1880

Engraving from Harper's Weekly titled Amphitheatrum Johnsonianum, Massacre of the Innocents at New Orleans. Left: a crowd of men in a gallery, with Andrew Johnson in a toga-like robe leaning near a pedestal marked REGO. Center: a bearded man leans on a ledge above a plumed helmeted figure. Right: an amphitheater filled with spectators watches a violent melee of soldiers and civilians below.Painting

Primary source

Amphitheatrum Johnsonianum – Massacre of the Innocents at New Orleans

Thomas Nast · 30 March 1867

Scanned Treasury Warrant check No. 9759 dated Washington, August 1, 1868, payable to Richard Harris? A sepia document with an ornate engraved border, a figure of Liberty on the left, a blue 'PAID AUG 1868' stamp, and handwritten entries in the payee and amount lines.Document

Primary source

Check for the Purchase of Alaska

U.S. Department of the Treasury · 1 August 1868

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Andrew Johnson now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions