Andrew Johnson: First Annual Message to Congress

( 1865 ) Commentary by Michael J. O'Neal, Ph.D.

“The whole can not exist without the parts, nor the parts without the whole. So long as the Constitution of the United States endures, the States will endure. The destruction of the one is the destruction of the other; the preservation of the one is the preservation of the other.” - First Annual Message to Congress
“The adoption of the amendment [to abolish slavery] reunites us beyond all power of disruption; it heals the wound that is still imperfectly closed: it removes slavery, the element which has so long perplexed and divided the country; it makes of us once more a united people, renewed and strengthened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and support.” - First Annual Message to Congress

Andrew Johnson (Library of Congress)

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