Historical Illustration: Dame Butler - Head boy! - Spell guilty

Johnson Impeachment & the End of His Presidency

Historical Illustration: Dame Butler - Head boy! - Spell guilty

1867

Historical Illustration

The Digital Commonwealth presents an 1867 historical illustration that depicts Benjamin Butler as a teacher in standing at a podium in a classroom filled with members of Congress; behind Butler, the blackboard reads "impeachment." Butler calls on William Pitt Fessenden to spell "guilty" in which he responds "I can't!" and Butler says "Dunce! Go to the foot." Benjamin Wade raises his hand and the caption reads "--(eagerly)--Please mam, I can!" A caption at the bottom reads, "It is rumoered that the "recreant" Senators are to be punished for their votes acquitting the President by being placed at the Foot of the committees of which they are respectively chairmen."

View Source Here

Digital Commonwealth

Rights Statement: Project Reconstruction curates links to primary and secondary sources from a wide variety of digital newspapers, museums, libraries, universities, historical societies and other governmental and nongovernmental websites. Use of said content is solely at your own risk. Consult each source’s original publisher for all rights and terms of use associated with their content.

Insensitive Language/Images: Some sources may include insensitive language or images that were created just before, during or after the Reconstruction Era. We try our best to include advisory “notes” in the description section of each source to inform site visitors about potentially insensitive material.

Fairness & Accuracy Statement: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that seems inaccurate or doesn't look right, please contact us.