Changes

==Political life==

==Political life==

At different political stages Stevens was active in different parties--always the minority party until the 1860s. During the last years of the [[First Party System]] he was a [[Federalist Party )|Federalist]]l in the [[Second Party System]], he started with the [[Anti-Masonic Party]], then switched to the [[Whig Party]]. When the [[Third Party System]] began in the 1850s he helped found the new [[U.S. Republican Party, History|Republican party]] in Pennsylvania. He devoted his enormous energies to the destruction of what he considered the [[Slave Power]], that is the conspiracy he saw of slave owners to seize control of the federal government and block the progress of liberty.  In 1848 he was elected as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives. where he soon displayed unusual leadership qualities by a combination of energy, attention to detail, and commitment to profound principle of [[U.S. Republicanism|republicanism]]. He defended minorities, such as Indians, Adventists, Mormons, Jews, Chinese, and women. He concentrated his greatest efforts on helping slaves (especially runaways) and working to destroy the system that denied them rights.  

At different political stages Stevens was active in different parties--always the minority party until the 1860s. During the last years of the [[First Party System]] he was a [[Federalist Party )|Federalist]]l in the [[Second Party System]], he started with the [[Anti-Masonic Party]], then switched to the [[Whig Party]]. When the [[Third Party System]] began in the 1850s he helped found the new [[Republican Party]] in Pennsylvania. He devoted his enormous energies to the destruction of what he considered the [[Slave Power]], that is the conspiracy he saw of slave owners to seize control of the federal government and block the progress of liberty.  In 1848 he was elected as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives. where he soon displayed unusual leadership qualities by a combination of energy, attention to detail, and profound commitment to [[Republican_Party#Third_Party_System:_1854-1894|the principles of the Republican Party]]. He defended minorities, such as Indians, Adventists, Mormons, Jews, Chinese, and women. He concentrated his greatest efforts on helping slaves (especially runaways) and working to destroy the system that denied them rights.  

During the Civil War Stevens was one of the three or four most powerful men in Congress, using his slashing oratorical powers, his chairmanship of the Committee on Ways and Means (which set taxes), and above all his single-minded devotion to victory. As a member of the critical "Joint Committee on Reconstruction" his power grew during [[Reconstruction]] as he dominated the House and helped to draft both the Fourteenth Amendment and the [[Reconstruction Act]] in 1867.

During the Civil War Stevens was one of the three or four most powerful men in Congress, using his slashing oratorical powers, his chairmanship of the Committee on Ways and Means (which set taxes), and above all his single-minded devotion to victory. As a member of the critical "Joint Committee on Reconstruction" his power grew during [[Reconstruction]] as he dominated the House and helped to draft both the Fourteenth Amendment and the [[Reconstruction Act]] in 1867.

===Radical Republicanism===

===Radical Republicanism===

Stevens was one of two Congressmen in July 1861 opposing the [[Crittenden-Johnson Resolution]] stating the limited war aim of restoring the Union while preserving slavery; he helped repeal it in December. In August, 1861, he supported the first law attacking slavery, the Confiscation Act that said owners would forfeit any slaves they allowed to help the Confederate war effort. By December he was the first Congressional leader pushing for emancipation as a tool to weaken the rebellion. He called for total war on January 22, 1862:  

Stevens was one of two Congressmen in July 1861 opposing the [[Crittenden-Johnson Resolution]] stating the limited war aim of restoring the Union while preserving slavery; he helped repeal it in December. In August, 1861, he supported the first law attacking slavery, the Confiscation Act, which said owners would forfeit any slaves they allowed to help the Confederate war effort. By December, he was the first Congressional leader pushing for emancipation as a tool to weaken the rebellion. He called for total war on January 22, 1862:  

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<blockquote>

"Let us not be deceived. Those who talk about peace in sixty days are shallow statesmen. The war will not end until the government shall more fully recognize the magnitude of the crisis; until they have discovered that this is an internecine war in which one party or the other must be reduced to hopeless feebleness and the power of further effort shall be utterly annihilated. It is a sad but true alternative. The South can never be reduced to that condition so long as the war is prosecuted on its present principles. The North with all its millions of people and its countless wealth can never conquer the South until a new mode of warfare is adopted. So long as these states are left the means of cultivating their fields through forced labor, you may expend the blood of thousands and billions of money year by year, without being any nearer the end, unless you reach it by your own submission and the ruin of the nation. Slavery gives the South a great advantage in time of war. They need not, and do not, withdraw a single hand from the cultivation of the soil. Every able-bodied white man can be spared for the army. The black man, without lifting a weapon, is the mainstay of the war. How, then, can the war be carried on so as to save the Union and constitutional liberty? Prejudices may be shocked, weak minds startled, weak nerves may tremble, but they must hear and adopt it. Universal emancipation must be proclaimed to all. Those who now furnish the means of war, but who are the natural enemies of slaveholders, must be made our allies. If the slaves no longer raised cotton and rice, tobacco and grain for the rebels, this war would cease in six months, even though the liberated slaves would not raise a hand against their masters. They would no longer produce the means by which they sustain the war."<ref>Woodburn 178-179</ref></blockquote>

"Let us not be deceived. Those who talk about peace in sixty days are shallow statesmen. The war will not end until the government shall more fully recognize the magnitude of the crisis; until they have discovered that this is an internecine war in which one party or the other must be reduced to hopeless feebleness and the power of further effort shall be utterly annihilated. It is a sad but true alternative. The South can never be reduced to that condition so long as the war is prosecuted on its present principles. The North with all its millions of people and its countless wealth can never conquer the South until a new mode of warfare is adopted. So long as these states are left the means of cultivating their fields through forced labor, you may expend the blood of thousands and billions of money year by year, without being any nearer the end, unless you reach it by your own submission and the ruin of the nation. Slavery gives the South a great advantage in time of war. They need not, and do not, withdraw a single hand from the cultivation of the soil. Every able-bodied white man can be spared for the army. The black man, without lifting a weapon, is the mainstay of the war. How, then, can the war be carried on so as to save the Union and constitutional liberty? Prejudices may be shocked, weak minds startled, weak nerves may tremble, but they must hear and adopt it. Universal emancipation must be proclaimed to all. Those who now furnish the means of war, but who are the natural enemies of slaveholders, must be made our allies. If the slaves no longer raised cotton and rice, tobacco and grain for the rebels, this war would cease in six months, even though the liberated slaves would not raise a hand against their masters. They would no longer produce the means by which they sustain the war."<ref>Woodburn 178-179</ref></blockquote>

Stevens was so outspoken in his condemnation of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] that when the Confederates briefly invaded Pennsylvania just before the Gettysburg battle they made a point of burning much of his iron business.  

Stevens was so outspoken in his condemnation of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] that when the Confederates briefly invaded Pennsylvania just before the Gettysburg battle, they made a point of burning much of his iron business.  

Stevens was the leader of the [[Radical Republican]]s who had full control of Congress after the 1866 elections. He largely set the course of [[Reconstruction]].  He wanted to begin to rebuild the South, using military power to force the South to recognize the equality of Freedmen.  When President Johnson resisted, Stevens proposed and passed the resolution for the impeachment of [[Andrew Johnson]] in 1868.

Stevens was the leader of the [[Radical Republican]]s who had full control of Congress after the 1866 elections. He largely set the course of [[Reconstruction]].  He wanted to begin to rebuild the South, using military power to force the South to recognize the equality of Freedmen.  When President Johnson resisted, Stevens proposed and passed the resolution for the impeachment of [[Andrew Johnson]] in 1868.