John Albion Andrew

Andrew, John Albion (1818–67), U.S. statesman and antislavery proponent. A Unitarian, he became a staunch but moderate abolitionist and was active in organizing both the Free-Soil Party (1848) and the Republican Party (1854). He helped form the first regiment of free blacks in the North (54th Massachusetts) and ensured that black troops received the same pay as white soldiers. During Reconstruction he favored leniency toward the defeated Confederacy and opposed giving former slaves immediate citizenship.