Thaddeus Stevens Research Paper

Thaddeus Stevens was a Radical Republican who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1849 to August 11, 1868. Stevens strived to end slavery and secure equal rights for African-Americans during Reconstruction. Stevens played a major role in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, who took control of Reconstruction after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Thaddeus Stevens had a rough start to life, which ultimately helped him become the successful lawyer and House Representative that he was in his day. Early Life Thaddeus Stevens was born on April 4, 1792 in Danville, Vermont. Thaddeus was the second of four boys born to Sarah and Joshua Stevens. Thaddeus and his older brother were both born with club feet, Thaddeus is one foot, his older brother in both. In the late 1700’s, physical deformities were seen as a serious secret sin from God, also known as “The Mark of the Devil”. This caused the family to be shunned and ridiculed within their community, and it made matters worse that …show more content…
It is believed that he was killed in the War of 1812. Sarah Stevens was a hard working individual, aside from the farm work that she attended to after her husband left, she also held a job as a maid, cleaning and performing other domestic task for people in the area. Because of Thaddeus and his older brothers disabilities, they provided little to not help on the farm, and would not be able to perform physical labor tasks. Sarah scraped up what little money the family had in order to send Thaddeus and his brother to school in hopes of providing a future for her boys. The boys attended Peacham Academy, also known as Caledonia County Grammar School, located in Peacham, Vermont. Thaddeus was ridiculed constantly at school, he had little to no money, and he had a limp. Although socially school was rough for Thaddeus, he excelled tremendously in his