Thaddeus Stevens

Thaddeus Stevens
Stevens in the 1860s
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 9th district
In office March 4, 1859 – August 11, 1868
Preceded by	Anthony Roberts
Succeeded by	Oliver Dickey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 8th district
In office March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853
Preceded by	John Strohm
Succeeded by	Henry A. Muhlenberg
Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee
In office March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1865
Preceded by	John Sherman
Succeeded by	Justin Smith Morrill
Personal details
Born	(1792-04-04)April 4, 1792 Danville, Vermont, U.S.
Died	August 11, 1868(1868-08-11) (aged 76) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Shreiner-Concord Cemetery, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Political party	Anti-Masonic (1828–1838) Whig (1838–1851) Know Nothing (1851–1855) Republican (1855–1868)
Domestic partner	Lydia Hamilton Smith
Education	Dartmouth College
Alma mater	University of Vermont
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Baptist
Signature
Nickname(s)	Thad "The Old Commoner" "The Great Commoner"

Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 – August 11, 1868) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Republican Party during the 1860s. A fierce opponent of slavery and discrimination against African-Americans, Stevens sought to secure their rights during Reconstruction, in opposition to President Andrew Johnson. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee during the American Civil War, he played a leading role, focusing his attention on defeating the Confederacy, financing the war with new taxes and borrowing, crushing the power of slave owners, ending slavery, and securing equal rights for the Freedmen.

Stevens was born in rural Vermont, in poverty, and with a club foot, giving him a limp he kept his entire life. He moved to Pennsylvania as a young man, and quickly became a successful lawyer in Gettysburg. He interested himself in municipal affairs, and then in politics. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he became a strong advocate of free public education. Financial setbacks in 1842 caused him to move his home and practice to the larger city of Lancaster. There, he joined the Whig Party, and was elected to Congress in 1848. His activities as a lawyer and politician in opposition to slavery cost him votes and he did not seek reelection in 1852. After a brief flirtation with the Know-Nothing Party, Stevens joined the newly formed Republican Party, and was elected to Congress again in 1858. There, with fellow radicals such as Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, he opposed the expansion of slavery and concessions to the South as war came.