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[[File:William-blount-wb-cooper.jpg|thumb|left|Figure 1. William Blount was the first federal government representative to be impeached.]]__NOTOC__

Impeachments are the first step in a process to remove by the lower legislative house when an alleged crime has been committed by an official, often during their tenure. History also shows that it is possible to remove an official for a crime committed before they entered office. William Blount (Figure 1) was the first elected official who was impeached. He was a senator from Tennesse and in 1797 was impeached for conspiring with Great Britain to wage war and capture Spanish territory so that his real estate ventures would benefit. The senator was a known land speculator who had purchased territory in western Tennessee and other surroundings. He had over purchased and was in debt, thus to raise the land's value he tried to have Great Britain seize territory in Louisiana from Spain, as colonists might be forced to move to areas where he owned land. This backfired on him and the House of Representatives tried to impeach him for conspiring with a foreign state to launch a war between Spain and Great Britain, but ultimately the Senate refused to accept the House's oversight and decision. The Senate did removed him anyway but during this early history of the United States the Senate wanted more separation from the House.<ref>For more on these early trials, see: Melton, B. F. (1998). <i>The first impeachment: the constitution’s framers and the case of Senator William Blount (1st ed)</i>. Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press. </ref>

This decision backfired on him and the House of Representatives tried to impeach him for conspiring with a foreign state to launch a war between Spain and Great Britain, but ultimately the Senate refused to accept the House's oversight and decision. The Senate did remove him anyway but during this early history of the United States the Senate wanted more separation from the House.<ref>For more on these early trials, see: Melton, B. F. (1998). <i>The first impeachment: the constitution’s framers and the case of Senator William Blount (1st ed)</i>. Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press. </ref>  During the time between the founding of the United States and the Civil War, there were just three impeachments, all of whom were judges. Two of these were local district Judges, John Pickering , and James Peck, but one was a chief justice (Samuel Chase). Most of the issues against them had to do with abuse of power, and drunkness in the case of John Pickering. In the case of Samuel Chase, Thomas Jefferson had found him obstructionist in his political agenda after the 1800 election. Although a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Chase had been known for irregular behavior including using his position in the Contential Congress to improve his business dealings. He was appointed by Washington to the Supreme Court and during the time of Jefferson, the Supreme Court was seen as a threat to seizing too much power.

<dh-ad/>[[File:22rod0px-Rod Blagojevich (2911120436) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Figure 2. Blagojevich famoulsy famously tried to sell Obama's old Senate seat.]]Impeachments have also occurred, generally more frequently, at the state level, often involving governors or state officials and state judges. The first governor to be impeached was Charles L. Robinson from Kansas, in 1862, who was impeached due to his rivalry with James Lane. Robinson, along with John Robinson and George S. Hillyer, who were the Secretary of State and Auditor of the state, were all impeached.  This was effectively an attempt to overthrow the Kansas government at a time when elections were highly disputed in Kansas and the previous decade's controversial statehood of Kansas lingered in memory. While the 1862 impeachment of Robinson of Kansas was the first impeachment of a governor, although he was acquited, the 1870s saw a series of impeachments against governors, stemming from the acrimonious reconstruction years of governors elected or selected in southern states. Governors from Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi were all impeached in the 1870s, with only the governor of Florida (Harrison Reed) surviving his impeachment proceedings.<ref>For more on the first state-level impeachments, see: Snell, G., & Shea, W. (1991). <i>Hysterically historical</i>. Red Fox.</ref>

==Conclusion==[[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:United States History]] [[Category:Political History]] [[Category:Legal History]]Almost all impeachments at the federal level have been against judges, often with cases related to corruption or behavior that involves illegal payments and perjury. At the state level, governors have become impeached only from around the time of the Civil War and until today. In the 1870s, governors were tried in southern states for being seen as anti-southern or having been supported by the US government in its acts of enforcing Reconstruction. More recently, Rod Blagojevich, governor of Illinois, and state Supreme Court justices in West Virginia have faced impeachment for corruption related charges. ==References=={{Contributors}}