Joshua Casas Hist 201 Christopher Bates

Ulysses S Grant
Theres many important figures in American history that helped shape our way of life. Like George Washington which was our first president, or Abraham Lincoln who had the emancipation proclamation and freed the slaves, and Ulysses S Grant, But to understand how he has shaped our world then and now we must understand how he grew up and how he grew up shaped his life which in turn shaped ours. As discussed in lecture, Ulysses s grant was not good in anything. He basically was bad in everything except 2 things. First being horsemanship. Having grew up with horses he naturally was born to take care of them and as quoted from Bibliography.com He ordered his soldiers around like he did with his horses. And second being a great general. He was sent to the army by his dad, and he not liking his dad also disliked having to be a soldier. He didnt expect much from it it was because he wasnt good at anything else and needed the money after trying out other jobs and failing them. What was a shock to him was that he actually graduated. One of his biggest battles was the battle of Shiloh in 1862 in Tennessee. It was the battle that determined if he was going to be a great general or if he was going to fail and have to leave. The first day of battle he was suffering many causalities and was told by 2nd in command Beauregard after General Johnston died to retreat, Ulysses is not the type of person to give up he keeps going which is what he did in the battle of Shiloh. The next day he gathered up his forces and went in and pushed back the confederates and won the battle. He won more than that he also won Abraham Lincolns approval. Lincoln then later elevated Grants position to Lieutenant general and named him the general in chief of the armies of the United States. When all the other generals and lieutenants were telling Abraham Lincoln he should retire Ulysses because of his over aggressiveness he simply said he cant retire a man who is fighting or this nation. Ulysses kept moving south and won the battle of Petersburg and proved again of his ability to not give up. Serving under the general Zachary Taylor he learned about not flinching and to be able to keep going forward analyzing everything about a battle. At this age he became a war hero after capturing General Lee, but even after this long war he had the dignity and humility to let General Lee to leave with his own dignity and his sword. Decorated as a war hero he became the 18th president of the United States. Without Ulysses s grant then we might have not won the civil war and we might be living in a slavery world still since it was only about a 100 years ago. In the late 1860 they saw Ulysses s grant as a war hero, who helped end slavery and gave civil rights, but his presidency was not as good. He was even put on the $50 bill because of

Joshua Casas Hist 201 Christopher Bates

his contributions at the time. There was also a song made for grant by Birdseye and Alfred lee called U.S Grants the Man. There was also slogans and saying made to express Ulysses no flinching attitude and also his aggressive not give up attitude not only to battles but to also to everything he went thru ion life. The slogan was No Other Terms than Unconditional and Immediate Surrender. Based on his triumph at fort henry and fort donelson in Tennessee got

him that saying, and at the same time also made him popular.

Now if there was a survey conducted he wouldnt have been picked to be on the bill because there plenty of other presidents that have done something that was bigger now then it was back then. With many scandals and many problems arising he wasnt the best president in the minds of the people back then even though he was elected two terms. The scandals he had at that time were considered big at its time but compared to todays time they were actually short lived and had no overall long term effect on society or government policies. The 20th century being only around 100 years after the civil war people dont think about presidents presidency they care about the bigger conflicts which was slavery and the civil war. In todays society many see Ulysses as a civil rights champion after having a profound effect on the war and being

Joshua Casas Hist 201 Christopher Bates

against slavery. Not only that but signing the Enforcement act of 1871 which help fight against the KKK and other white supremacy groups at the time. He had many contributions to the way our life is now. Many would say he was the reason we won the war which I would agree, and because of him helped develop the civil rights movement. Ulysses S Grant was viewed in many ways. He was viewed more as a civil rights hero in the 20th century then back then in the 1860-70s which he was considered more like a war hero because of the recent civil war that he fought for and won. Many slogans and songs were written and published to express his stern not flinching attitude during the war and his never give up attitude. But due to the 20th century being a time where there is many presidents and historical figures that behave had many contributions considered to be great by todays standards he isnt as big as he was back then.