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refused to meet with the lower house, as the constitution directs shall be done for the purpose of electing a United States senator. In this way they gained for themselves the name "The Immortal Thirteen." They succeeded in preventing a quorum by staying away from this joint meeting throughout the whole session. The result was that for two years Tennessee had but one representative in the United States senate.

The act of breaking a quorum or preventing a quorum is called a "filibuster." This was the first successful “filibuster" in the Tennessee legislature.

In 1843, Andrew Johnson was elected to Congress from the First Congressional District as a Democrat, and he continued to represent this district in Congress for ten years. He was elected governor in 1853, defeating the Whig candidate, Gustavus A. Henry,* and was reëlected in 1855. He was the first Democrat for twenty years to be reëlected governor, and no Whig governor after James C. Jones was ever reëlected. In his second race Governor Johnson defeated M. P. Gentry,† the Whig candidate.

*Gustavus A. Henry was born in Kentucky in 1804. He moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1833. He was a schoolmate of Jefferson Davis at Transylvania University and was a well educated man. He was the Whig nominee for governor in 1853, but was defeated by Andrew Johnson. He represented Tennessee in the senate of the Confederate States, and was a very prominent member of that body. He was a great speaker, and was known in his day as the “Eagle Orator."

† Meredith P. Gentry, whom Andrew Johnson defeated in his second race for governor, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1808. When he was four years old, his father moved to Williamson

As a member of the legislature, in Congress, and as a governor, Andrew Johnson was recognized as the friend of the working man. He was always quick to champion the cause of the poor, and perhaps too quick to criticise adversely those who had grown up in comfort and ease.

Governor Johnson was elected to the United States senate in 1857 and was a member of that body when the war opened in 1861. He sided with the Union and was appointed military governor of Tennessee in 1862. In 1864, he was elected vice-president of the United States, on the Republican ticket, and when President Lincoln was assassinated in April, 1865, Johnson became president of the United States. As president, he was impeached on account of antagonism growing out of his friendship for the South, but was not convicted. He was elected United States senator from Tennessee in 1875, but died soon after entering upon his duties.

Andrew Johnson was a man of great ability and as a debater he had no superior in his day in Tennessee. When the prejudices of the Civil War die, he will receive that recognition in history which he deserves, but which down to this day has been denied him.

County, Tennessee. He had poor advantages in education, but he had natural ability and developed it. He was elected to Congress in 1839, and was a representative in that body for several terms. Such was his reputation in Congress that he was pronounced by John Quincy Adams as "the greatest natural orator in Congress." He sided with the South in the Civil War, and represented Tennessee in the Confederate Congress.

THE KNOW-NOTHING PARTY

At the time Andrew Johnson made his second race for governor of Tennessee, a new political party had come into existence, and was a factor in the gubernatorial campaign at this time. The new political organization was first called the American party. It was a secret organization and its chief purpose was to make it as difficult as possible for foreigners to become citizens of the United States, and to prevent foreigners from holding any political office. When any member of the organization was questioned about the purpose of the organization he would answer in every case: know nothing about it." Hence, they were called the "Know-Nothing Party." This organization supported Gentry in his race against Johnson. However, it is not believed that Gentry was a member of the organization. Johnson made "Know-Nothingism" the chief issue of the campaign.

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The Democrats nominated Isham G. Harris* for *Isham G. Harris was born in Franklin County, Tennessee, in 1818. His father was a farmer. His educational opportunities were limited on account of the financial condition of his father. As a young man he left home and went to Paris, Tennessee, and was hired as a clerk in a store at one hundred dollars a year and his board and lodging. He rose rapidly in the mercantile business, and was a partner in a store in Mississippi for a while. He returned to Tennessee in 1841, and soon took up the practice of law. He was elected to the state senate in 1847; and was elected to Congress in 1849, and again in 1851. He declined the nomination in 1853 and went to Memphis to practice law. He was elected governor in 1857 and again in 1859. He was elected to the United States senate in 1876, and remained a member of this body until his death, in 1897.

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