Thaddeus Stevens, the Great Commoner, 1792 - 1868

Thaddeus Stevens, the Great Commoner, 1792 - 1868. . , Gettysburg College - As a state representative, Stevens got $18,000 from the state for the college’s first building, Pennsylvania Hall , Savior of Public Education – Speech in 1835 turned back repeal effort of public education. Also left $50,000 in will to establish school that is now Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. , Protected Civil War Gains - Stevens saved Civil War gains by banning ex-Confederates from entering Congress in 1865. Stevens also tried to remove President Johnson, but lost by one vote. , Father of the Fourteenth Amendment - Introduced the amendment, which requires equal treatment under the law and extends civil liberties to the state level. , Participated in the Underground Railroad - Steven’s Caledonia Iron Works was a stop on the Underground Railroad. , Advocated use of Black Soldiers - Sponsored bills to use Black soldiers, which helped to win the Civil War. Also pushed through bill equalizing all soldiers’ pay., Thaddeus Stevens’s Pennsylvania journey on statue’s base , York - Was teacher and studied law from 1814 to 1816. , Gettysburg - Practiced law there from 1816 to 1842. Involved in local politics and business. , Caledonia Iron Works - Owned from 1837 to 1868. Underground Railroad station. Destroyed by Confederate forces in 1863. , Lancaster - Lived there from 1842 to 1868. Elected to Congress from 1849 to 1853 as Whig and from 1859 to 1868 as Republican. Most powerful congressman during and after Civil War and a framer of 14th Amendment. , Philadelphia - Represented defendants at Independence Hall in Christian Resistance trial in 1851. Case ended in acquittal, but Stevens lost his congressional seat for six years as a result.