#18 Ulysses S. Grant- Union General President

#18 Ulysses S. Grant- Union General President

Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but an error on his application to West Point changed his name to Ulysses Simpson Grant. He liked the initials so much that he kept the name. Not only was Grant the top Union military hero of the Civil War era (1861-1869), before that, he played a big part in the Mexican-American war era (1839-1854) under both General Taylor, and later General Scott.

1869;

• Grant becomes the 18th President of the United States at the age of 46. Schuyler Colfax was his Vice President.
• Former President Pierce is laid to rest in Concord, NH

PIERCE FAMILY TOMB

• First Transcontinental railroad is completed

TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

• Black Friday financial panic takes place

1870;

• Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins

BROOKLYN BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

• Grants vetoes Private relief bill
• Virginia is readmitted to the Union after completing reconstruction
• U.S. Weather bureau is established
• Mississippi is readmitted to the Union after completing reconstruction
• Texas is readmitted to the Union after completing reconstruction
• Fifteenth Amendment ratified
• Congress makes it a federal crime to interfere with voting as a first Enforcement Act to prevent people from stopping blacks from voting.
• Congress creates a Department of Justice, reporting to Attorney General

1871;

• Federal Election Law passes as the second Enforcement Act to prevent people from stopping blacks from voting.

ENFORCEMENT ACTS

• Indian Appropriation Act is passed
• Treaty of Washington passes
• Ku Klux Klan Act is passed to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment in
  the South and suppress Klan activities. It was the third, and strongest
  Enforcement Act to prevent people from interfering with Blacks voting.
• City of Chicago is nearly burned to the ground, the rise of skyscrapers comes from the reconstruction

CHICAGO FIRES

• Grant issues a proclamation against KKK in South Carolina

1872;

• Grant vetoes Private Pension Bill
• Henry Wilson runs as Grant’s VP for re-election

1873;

• The House of Representatives investigates the relations of Credit Mobilier and the Union Pacific Railroad as a scandal surfaces in which UPR directors used the Credit Mobilier to pay themselves from the Railroad Treasury. Additionally, they had bribed congressmen to avoid an investigation. Thirteen Senators were involved, although only two received censure.

CREDIT MOBILIER SCANDAL

• Coinage act passed, also know as the “Crime of 73“
• Congress passes appropriations Bill, raising senior government salaries with 2 years back paid… also known as the salary grab bill.
• Grant starts 2nd term with Henry Wilson as the new VP
• The failure of brokerage firm Jay Cooke & Company starts the
  Panic of 1873
• A Spanish cruiser captures the U.S. ship, the Virginius, thinking that it was sent to provide armaments for an invasion. Before Spain’s can order instructions not to impose the death penalty , fifty-three of the men captured on the ship were executed. Tensions were calmed when Secretary of State Fish and the Spanish minister to the United States signed an agreement providing for the return of the remaining prisoners and the payment of an indemnity.

VIRGINIUS AFFAIR

1874;

• The salary grab bill is repealed
• Former President Fillmore is laid to rest in Buffalo, NY

FILLMORE’S GRAVE

• Grant vetoes Currency inflation bill
• Lincoln’s Tomb is dedicated

LINCOLN TOMB 1874

• Grant issues a proclamation calling for the dispersal of the rebellious “White League” in Louisiana. Grant sends five thousand troops and three gunboats to New Orleans; the resistance ends two days later, although, Grant and the Republicans were criticized for the intervention in the Battle of Liberty Place

BATTLE OF LIBERTY PLACE

1875;

• The Hawaiian Reciprocity Treaty is signed, making the islands a virtual protectorate of the United States.
• The Specie Resumption Act is passed
• Former President Johnson is laid to rest in Greenville, TN

JOHNSON’S TOMB

• Two-hundred thirty-eight people are indicted in connection with
  the “Whiskey Ring Scandal,” in which distillers conspired with Treasury
  Department officials to defraud the government of millions of dollars
  in liquor taxes.
• VP Henry Wilson dies
• Grant signs the Civil Rights Act of 1875, guaranteeing blacks
  equal rights in public places and prohibiting the exclusion of blacks
  from jury duty

1876;

• General George A. Custer and 265 men of the Seventh Cavalry are
  killed in a battle with Sitting Bull’s Sioux Indians at Little Big Horn

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN

• Colorado is admitted to the Union as the 38th state
• Presidential election result is inconclusive, a team is put together to look at the electoral votes

1877;

• Ohio Republicans and Southern Democrats meet in D.C. to forge the
  Compromise of 1877
• Senate and House accept the report from the electoral commission.

Grant had a solid two terms even though they were marred with scandals. He would have won a third had he ran but he showed no interest. After office, he and his wife Julia traveled around the world before settling in New York to run a business and write his memoirs, which he signed a contract with his friend Mark Twain to complete. Grant died in 1885 after battling with throat cancer.

Famous quotes;

“The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.”

“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.“

“Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.“