A Brief History of the United States

by John Bach McMaster

SUMMARY

1. The end of the Civil War brought up several issues for settlement.

2. Out of the negro problem came the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution.

3. Out of the issue of readmitting the Confederate states into the Union grew a serious quarrel with President Johnson.

4. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act over Johnson's veto (1867), and by 1868 seven states were back in the Union.

5. Johnson's intemperate speeches and his violation of an act of Congress led to his impeachment and trial. He was not convicted.

6. Johnson was succeeded by Grant, in whose administration the remaining Southern states were readmitted to the Union; but the condition of the South, under carpetbag government, became worse than ever, and led to the passage of the Force Act.

7. Our foreign relations after the end of the war are memorable for the purchase of Alaska, the withdrawal of the French from Mexico, the treaty with Great Britain for the settlement of several old issues, the attempt of Grant to purchase Santo Domingo, and the Virginius affair with Spain.