The protestors who pulled down a statue of Grant got it totally wrong!
Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant
In June of 2020, during the protests sparked by the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, activists tore down a statue of Ulysses S. Grant in San Francisco. As a reflection of our national commitment to rid the land of monuments that glorify those who fought to maintain slavery, racial discrimination, and white supremacy, their zeal is commendable. But their apparent lack of historical understanding is not.
What seemingly raised the ire of the protestors who pulled down the Grant statue was the fact that at one point in his life Grant owned a single slave. But if that fact is used to characterize Grant’s entire life and historical persona, the perspective it provides is almost entirely false.
When it comes to his attitude toward African Americans before and during the Civil War, and his efforts as President to gain fair treatment for them in the post-war South, Grant was, in his time, a powerful force for good.
Who was Ulysses S. Grant?
To put it simply, Ulysses S. Grant was the man who, after Abraham Lincoln, was most responsible for ending the scourge of slavery in the United States.
Grant was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Although he had compiled an excellent record as an officer in the Mexican War of 1846–48, he was forced to resign from the Army in 1854, supposedly due to a drinking problem. When the Civil War started in 1861, he immediately volunteered to reenter the service. Because of his past difficulties, however, it seemed for a while that no one wanted him. But he eventually secured an appointment as the colonel of an Illinois regiment, and did such a good job that it wasn’t long before President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to brigadier general.
As the Union’s premier military leader, General Ulysses S. Grant was the man who, after Abraham Lincoln, was most responsible for ending slavery in the U.S.
With a string of attention-grabbing victories against the Confederates in battles such as Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, Grant compiled a record unmatched by any other Union general. In 1864 he was appointed as the general-in-chief over all the armies of the United States. It was he who, after a long series of humiliating failures by other Union generals, finally defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee and brought the Confederacy’s hopes of establishing a slaveholding empire to an end.
In 1869 Grant became the 18th President of the United States. He served two terms, during which he committed his administration to the politically perilous task of ending the KKK’s reign of terror against African Americans in the South.
With the single exception of Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant was the most popular American of the latter half of the 19th century.
Grant’s Attitude Toward Slavery and African Americans
Before the Civil War Grant was more concerned about saving the Union than about ending slavery. “I never was an Abolitionist,” he admitted in an 1863 letter to his home state congressman, “not even what could be called anti-slavery.” But, as the historical record makes clear, in the things he said and did regarding Black Americans prior to, during, and after the war, Ulysses S. Grant became one of the most effective agents for establishing freedom and equality for African Americans in the entire 19th century.
Let’s quickly review that history.
Grant Had Slaves Under His Control — But Never Acted Like a Slave Owner
Grant grew up in what historian Ron Chernow calls “an ardent abolitionist household.” His father, Jesse, held strong anti-slavery views. When, in 1848, Ulysses married Julia Dent, the daughter of a slave owner, Jesse was so incensed that his son was joining “a tribe of slaveholders” that he refused to attend the wedding.
In becoming Julia’s husband, Grant gained control over the four enslaved people her father gave her as a wedding gift. However, as Chernow notes, Colonel Frederick Dent never legally transferred ownership of those slaves to his daughter because he was aware that Grant had said “he wanted to give his wife’s slaves their freedom as soon as possible.” Grant was therefore unable to free those slaves simply because they didn’t belong to him.
According to Mary Robinson, one of the Dent family slaves, Grant declared that “he wanted to give his wife’s slaves their freedom as soon as possible.”
Grant became the manager of his father-in-law’s plantation. As such, it was his responsibility to supervise Dent’s enslaved farm workers.
However, Grant didn’t deal with them as slaves. He refused to follow the common practice of beating them to get them to work. Instead, Grant treated the Black workers with dignity. Rather than cracking the whip over them like a plantation overseer, he rolled up his sleeves and worked right alongside them.
In fact, Grant’s attitude toward the plantation’s field workers was so far ahead of its time that neighboring farm owners accused him of “spoiling” his Black laborers.
Rather than cracking the whip over his Black workers like a plantation overseer, Grant rolled up his sleeves and worked right alongside them.
Grant Freed the One Slave He Did Own
Col. Dent’s wedding gift to his daughter included not only the four enslaved individuals he gave her, but also an 80-acre section of the Dent plantation that the Grants began to farm for themselves. Grant, according to his own testimony, did purchase one enslaved man from Col. Dent to help him work his parcel.
But it soon became clear that Grant’s conscience wouldn’t allow him to be content as a slaveholder.
Grant turned out to not be much of a farmer, and soon was in dire financial straights. In fact, in the Christmas season of 1857, he was forced to pawn his watch for $22 in order to buy presents for his family.
Yet in March of 1859, Grant took William Jones, the enslaved man he bought from his father-in-law and the only one he ever owned, to the Circuit Court in St. Louis, and handed the clerk of the court the following writ of emancipation:
Know all persons by these presents that I, Ulysses S. Grant, of the City and County of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, for divers good and valuable considerations me hereunto moving, do hereby emancipate and set free from slavery my negro man William, sometimes called William Jones, of mulatto complexion, aged about thirty-five years, and about five feet, seven inches in height, and being the same slave purchased by me of Frederick Dent. And I do hereby manumit, emancipate and set free said William from slavery forever.
In testimony whereof I hereto set my hand and seal at St. Louis this 29th day of March, A. D. 1859.
The historical record sheds no light on why Grant, who was at that time desperate for money to support his family, chose to free William Jones instead of selling him. The sale of such a slave could have netted anywhere from $1000 to $1500 ($28,000 to $43,000 today) in badly needed cash.
Maybe after working alongside William Jones for so long, Grant simply felt that setting him free was the decent thing to do.
As a General, Grant Supported Bringing Blacks Into the Army
The Emancipation Proclamation, put into effect by President Lincoln in January of 1863, called for allowing Black men to become U.S. soldiers for the first time. Although most Americans, North and South, thought Blacks too ignorant and cowardly to make serviceable fighting men, Grant did not agree. He became an enthusiastic proponent of enlisting Blacks into the Army. In a letter to President Lincoln he said:
I have given the subject of arming the negro my hearty support. This, with the emancipation of the negro, is the heaviest blow yet given the Confederacy… By arming the negro we have added a powerful ally. They will make good soldiers and taking them from the enemy [will] weaken him in the same proportion they strengthen us.
— Gen. Grant in a letter to President Lincoln
As President Grant Fought to Protect the Rights of African Americans
After becoming President in 1869, Grant fought for legislation designed to enforce civil rights for the South’s Black population, and to protect them from the terrorist attacks of the Ku Klux Klan and similar white supremacist organizations.
The Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the KKK Act) gave Grant the legal authority to use the U.S. military to suppress the KKK, and he immediately dispatched soldiers to the South to carry out that mission.
“Visit of the Ku-Klux”: Grant fought hard against white supremacist terror groups during Reconstruction.
“He deserves credit — and indeed respect — for the bold action he took at a perilous juncture in postwar Reconstruction to expand federal guarantees of racial equality and to protect freed slaves and their supporters from the terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan. Grant’s efforts to set things right in the South required moral resolve and considerable courage. It would be nearly a century before any other president demonstrated a similar commitment to civil rights.”
The Bottom Line on Ulysses S. Grant
Both as the preeminent U.S. military leader of the American Civil War, and as President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant was a strong advocate for the full and equal inclusion of African Americans in the life of the nation. Rather than being a villain in the fight for equal treatment for people of color, he was one of its foremost heroes.
We Should Be Erecting Statues of Ulysses Grant, Not Tearing Them Down
The protestors who pulled down a statue of Grant got it totally wrong!
In June of 2020, during the protests sparked by the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, activists tore down a statue of Ulysses S. Grant in San Francisco. As a reflection of our national commitment to rid the land of monuments that glorify those who fought to maintain slavery, racial discrimination, and white supremacy, their zeal is commendable. But their apparent lack of historical understanding is not.
What seemingly raised the ire of the protestors who pulled down the Grant statue was the fact that at one point in his life Grant owned a single slave. But if that fact is used to characterize Grant’s entire life and historical persona, the perspective it provides is almost entirely false.
When it comes to his attitude toward African Americans before and during the Civil War, and his efforts as President to gain fair treatment for them in the post-war South, Grant was, in his time, a powerful force for good.
Who was Ulysses S. Grant?
To put it simply, Ulysses S. Grant was the man who, after Abraham Lincoln, was most responsible for ending the scourge of slavery in the United States.
Grant was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Although he had compiled an excellent record as an officer in the Mexican War of 1846–48, he was forced to resign from the Army in 1854, supposedly due to a drinking problem. When the Civil War started in 1861, he immediately volunteered to reenter the service. Because of his past difficulties, however, it seemed for a while that no one wanted him. But he eventually secured an appointment as the colonel of an Illinois regiment, and did such a good job that it wasn’t long before President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to brigadier general.
With a string of attention-grabbing victories against the Confederates in battles such as Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, Grant compiled a record unmatched by any other Union general. In 1864 he was appointed as the general-in-chief over all the armies of the United States. It was he who, after a long series of humiliating failures by other Union generals, finally defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee and brought the Confederacy’s hopes of establishing a slaveholding empire to an end.
In 1869 Grant became the 18th President of the United States. He served two terms, during which he committed his administration to the politically perilous task of ending the KKK’s reign of terror against African Americans in the South.
With the single exception of Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant was the most popular American of the latter half of the 19th century.
Grant’s Attitude Toward Slavery and African Americans
Before the Civil War Grant was more concerned about saving the Union than about ending slavery. “I never was an Abolitionist,” he admitted in an 1863 letter to his home state congressman, “not even what could be called anti-slavery.” But, as the historical record makes clear, in the things he said and did regarding Black Americans prior to, during, and after the war, Ulysses S. Grant became one of the most effective agents for establishing freedom and equality for African Americans in the entire 19th century.
Let’s quickly review that history.
Grant Had Slaves Under His Control — But Never Acted Like a Slave Owner
Grant grew up in what historian Ron Chernow calls “an ardent abolitionist household.” His father, Jesse, held strong anti-slavery views. When, in 1848, Ulysses married Julia Dent, the daughter of a slave owner, Jesse was so incensed that his son was joining “a tribe of slaveholders” that he refused to attend the wedding.
In becoming Julia’s husband, Grant gained control over the four enslaved people her father gave her as a wedding gift. However, as Chernow notes, Colonel Frederick Dent never legally transferred ownership of those slaves to his daughter because he was aware that Grant had said “he wanted to give his wife’s slaves their freedom as soon as possible.” Grant was therefore unable to free those slaves simply because they didn’t belong to him.
Grant became the manager of his father-in-law’s plantation. As such, it was his responsibility to supervise Dent’s enslaved farm workers.
However, Grant didn’t deal with them as slaves. He refused to follow the common practice of beating them to get them to work. Instead, Grant treated the Black workers with dignity. Rather than cracking the whip over them like a plantation overseer, he rolled up his sleeves and worked right alongside them.
In fact, Grant’s attitude toward the plantation’s field workers was so far ahead of its time that neighboring farm owners accused him of “spoiling” his Black laborers.
Grant Freed the One Slave He Did Own
Col. Dent’s wedding gift to his daughter included not only the four enslaved individuals he gave her, but also an 80-acre section of the Dent plantation that the Grants began to farm for themselves. Grant, according to his own testimony, did purchase one enslaved man from Col. Dent to help him work his parcel.
But it soon became clear that Grant’s conscience wouldn’t allow him to be content as a slaveholder.
Grant turned out to not be much of a farmer, and soon was in dire financial straights. In fact, in the Christmas season of 1857, he was forced to pawn his watch for $22 in order to buy presents for his family.
Yet in March of 1859, Grant took William Jones, the enslaved man he bought from his father-in-law and the only one he ever owned, to the Circuit Court in St. Louis, and handed the clerk of the court the following writ of emancipation:
The historical record sheds no light on why Grant, who was at that time desperate for money to support his family, chose to free William Jones instead of selling him. The sale of such a slave could have netted anywhere from $1000 to $1500 ($28,000 to $43,000 today) in badly needed cash.
Maybe after working alongside William Jones for so long, Grant simply felt that setting him free was the decent thing to do.
As a General, Grant Supported Bringing Blacks Into the Army
The Emancipation Proclamation, put into effect by President Lincoln in January of 1863, called for allowing Black men to become U.S. soldiers for the first time. Although most Americans, North and South, thought Blacks too ignorant and cowardly to make serviceable fighting men, Grant did not agree. He became an enthusiastic proponent of enlisting Blacks into the Army. In a letter to President Lincoln he said:
As President Grant Fought to Protect the Rights of African Americans
After becoming President in 1869, Grant fought for legislation designed to enforce civil rights for the South’s Black population, and to protect them from the terrorist attacks of the Ku Klux Klan and similar white supremacist organizations.
The Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the KKK Act) gave Grant the legal authority to use the U.S. military to suppress the KKK, and he immediately dispatched soldiers to the South to carry out that mission.
Historian H. W. Brands sums up Grant’s presidential record on civil rights this way:
The Bottom Line on Ulysses S. Grant
Both as the preeminent U.S. military leader of the American Civil War, and as President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant was a strong advocate for the full and equal inclusion of African Americans in the life of the nation. Rather than being a villain in the fight for equal treatment for people of color, he was one of its foremost heroes.
Image credits:
Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant: 1866 Painting by Constant Mayer via Wikimedia (Public Domain)
“Visit of the Ku-Klux”: Engraving by Frank Bellew,1872 via Wikemedia (public domain)
© 2020 Ronald E Franklin
Share this:
Related