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History
 Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), a fervent abolitionist congressman, was a resident of Lancaster. He was a Dartmouth educated lawyer, who was admitted to the Maryland bar. In Maryland he witnessed up-close the injustices of slavery and grew an abhorrence for the institution. He moved to Pennsylvania where he defended escaped slaves, without fee. Stevens was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature from 1833-1841. He supported public education, a stable banking system and was a strong opponent of slave owners. In 1842, Stevens moved into Lancaster City. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives 1849-1853 and again from 1859-1868. As a member of the House before the War, he fought to stop the expansion of slavery into the new territories and for higher trade tariffs. He urged President Lincoln to emancipate the slaves and had a major role in the writing and passing of the Fourteenth Amendment, which ensured that black Americans had political and civil rights. Stevens felt that the South should be treated harshly during Reconstruction. He believed that Plantation owners should divide some of their land up among their former slaves and sell the rest to pay off the War debt; this legislation failed. Feeling that President Andrew Johnson (Lincoln's successor) was being too lenient on the South, he started the legislation for his impeachment. Stevens’s views on public education led to the building of the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in his honor.
Content Last Modified on 5/28/2003 9:47:59 AM
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