American Warrior, American President, American Hero

Ulysses S. Grant

A) Abraham LincolnB) William Tecumseh Sherman

C) Ulysses S. Grant D) Charles Sumner

At the end of the Civil War, who was the most popular American ?

Ulysses S. Grant!

Background Information Born in Ohio; April 27,

1822Fought in the Mexican-

American War Commander of all U.S.

Armies in the Civil War 18th President of the

United States: 1869-1877President during

Reconstruction and a time of rapid industrialization

Died: July 23, 1885

Ulysses S. Grant’s original name was Hiram Ulysses Grant (changed upon entering West Point)

Only one of two Presidents to attend West PointGrant had a persistent drinking problem Grant received the title of Commander of all

U.S. Armies during the Civil War (first since George Washington)

Youngest President to assume office until Theodore Roosevelt (he was 46 years old)

As President, Grant was pulled over for a speeding violation on 16th Street in Washington D.C. (Grant paid the fine and walked home to the White House).

Fun Facts

Election of 1868The election was essentially a

referendum on Reconstruction

Democrats ran a campaign to fight back against Reconstruction

Grant ran as a Republican on a campaign of reconciliation

Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour, Governor of NY

Electoral Vote: 214-80 Popular Vote: 52.7%-47.3%

Grant and Reconstruction Grant wanted to

preserve the rights the Civil War had won for African-Americans

He wanted to bring about the end of Reconstruction in a way that would reconcile the country and preserve the Union’s victories

Restore order in the South

Map of the South

Annexing Santo Domingo Grant wanted to annex the modern day

Dominican RepublicWanted it to become a state and safe haven for

African-Americans Grant believed that it would…

allow blacks to escape from discriminationconvince whites to treat blacks better, so they

could keep their labor convince more Latin American countries to end

slaveryGrant also believed it would help the economy Defeated by Charles Sumner of MA in 1870

Ku Klux Klan—Confederate TerroristsWhite Supremacist Secret

Society Led by a former confederate

general named Nathaniel Bedford Forest

“Midnight Rides”—men dressed in white robes would attack black communities (and carpetbaggers)

Not only made up by “rednecks” but diverse demographicsPolice officersFiremenOther respected men in society

Klan Cartoon to scare Carpetbaggers

Enforcement Acts (or Ku Klux Klan Acts)Passed 1870 and 1871 Prohibited states from discriminating voters based on

raceGave the federal gov’t the power to prosecute

violators First time the federal gov’t could prosecute criminals

under federal lawAuthorized Grant to use the military to protect civil

rights and suspend the right of habeas corpusGrant used the acts against nine counties in South

Carolina in October 1871By 1872, Grant had succeeded in ending the Klan

Grant vs. the Klan

Jan. 1875, Democrats stormed the state assembly to install five white legislators in disputed seats

Grant sent Phil Sheridan with troops to New Orleans to forcibly remove the legislators and support the Republican state gov’t

Both the South and North responded in outrage. Saw it as an overreach of the federal gov’t

In the future, Grant would back down from using troops

Reconstruction was ending

Grant vs. Louisiana

"When I said ‘Let us have peace,’ I meant it. I want peace on the Plains as everywhere else."

Grant disagreed with former colleague William Tecumseh Sherman, who wanted a policy of extermination

He believed Native Americans were the original occupants and wanted them to be treated with respect

Grant supported the reservation system and wanted to give Native Americans citizen-status and provide them education

Unfortunately, Grant’s dreams were dashed by Western expansionists

Grant and Native Americans

Election of 1872Liberal Republicans split

from the party in opposition to “Grantism”

Democrats joined them to nominate Horace Greeley from the New York Tribune

Grant won in one of the biggest landslides in American history

Electoral Vote: 286-66Popular Vote: 56%-44%

Scandals of the Grant Administration

Many scandals major and minor came to light during the campaign of 1872

Crédit Mobilier French company that used its power to

seize fraudulent gov. contracts Sold stock to high-profile Republicans to

prevent an investigation 1872—Congress did investigate Haunts the Rep. Party for decades

“Whiskey Ring” officials in the Treasury Department

were cheating the gov. out of tax revenueWilliam W. Belknap, Secretary of War

accepted kickbacks to retain an Indian-post trader

“Grantism” came to represent corruption

Four-year depressionCaused by Jay Cooke and Company’s

overinvestment in postwar railroad buildingDerailed Reconstruction by moving focus

toward the economy Opened up the “Greenback” or Currency

Question, which became a major issue in the last quarter of the 1800s

Specie Resumption Act of 1879—replaced greenbacks with currency pegged to gold, which helped creditors but hurt debtors

The Panic of 1873

Alabama Claims Alabama Claims—claim that

England had violated neutrality laws by allowing ships to be built for the Confederacy in England and that they needed to pay for it

Solved by Hamilton Fish—U.S. Secretary of State under Grant

Treaty of Washington of 1871Britain expressed regret for what

had happenedResolved many disputes over

international law

Grant’s Presidential Ranking

American History: A Survey by Alan BrinkleyAmerican Experience: Ulysses S. GrantAmerican Experience: Reconstruction—The

Second Civil WarC-SPAN—Presidential RankingsImages:

WikimediaPBS

Sources Used