What Did Ulysses S Grant Do As President?
When you are trying to get a feel for what did Ulysses S Grant do as president, you may find it hard to know where to begin. You can take a look at his political career and the events that shaped it to learn more about his time in office.
Policy against slavery
If you want to know what Ulysses S Grant’s policy against slavery as president was, you should look at a few of his letters. He wrote a few about his involvement in the Civil War and the aftermath, and a couple about his own thoughts on the subject.
One of his letters describes a tidbit about a famous abolitionist. Another tells us about the first black president.
The most important thing about this particular letter is that it demonstrates that Grant had some sort of an opinion about the slavery question. This may have been a purely theoretical stance, but it is clear that he did not hold back when it came to a debate.
In fact, this was not an isolated occurrence. For instance, there is evidence that Grant sported the same sentiment about racial equality as his fellow abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
When it comes to Grant’s attitude on slavery, his early years were not particularly exemplary. However, he did have one notable exception.
He owned a slave. His wife’s father, Frederick Dent, owned thirty enslaved people. They lived on a plantation in Missouri. Initially, Grant had no intentions of purchasing the aforementioned.
During the Civil War, the government did not officially own any slaves. A few of the escaped slaves were used by the Union to perform necessary work. But, there was a time when fugitive slaves were a real problem for Union commanders.
It is also worth noting that Ulysses S Grant was not the only person to advocate the migration of African Americans out of the country. Other politicians – such as James Monroe and James Madison – favored the move.
Whiskey Ring scandal
The Whiskey Ring was a conspiracy involving bribes and a diversion of tax revenues. It involved politicians, distillers, distributors, and government agents. In total, over $3 million in stolen taxes was recovered. Eventually, the investigation led to the arrest of 110 people.
The scandal erupted in Saint Louis, Missouri, when a group of high-level government officials and whiskey distillers conspired to steal the excise tax on liquor. Some of the money was funneled to the Republican party.
There is no evidence that Grant himself was a part of the scheme. Instead, the ring was an example of the corruption that existed under the Republican regime.
Although the scandal exploded during Grant’s second term in office, the administration never accused him of involvement. He defended himself with an affidavit of good character. But his reputation was further tarnished.
Grant’s White House years coincided with a painful change in the country. Americans were manufacturing more goods than ever before. They had laid out great webs of railroads, and had conquered western territories. At the same time, the South resisted Reconstruction.
One of the suspects was Grant’s personal secretary and aide Orville Babcock. After a private meeting, he left the White House. His lawyers tried to get him off.
However, Babcock was indicted as a member of the Ring. Bristow was the lead investigator. He was frustrated with the department’s investigation. And while there was a lot of positive evidence in the case, his efforts to get Babcock out failed.
The prosecution’s main claim was that Babcock was in charge of the Whiskey Ring’s safe burglary scheme. This alleged scheme was designed to cheat the government out of millions of dollars in alcohol tax revenue.
Women’s Christian Temperance Union
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was a national organization of women dedicated to removing alcohol from the American lifestyle. It was founded in Ohio in 1874. In 1919, it was one of the main forces in the fight for woman suffrage.
In the mid-1800s, temperance became a political issue as a group of women began protesting the liquor traffic that spread throughout the country. By the time of Prohibition, the movement had become a national legislation.
Annie Turner Wittenmyer was an influential figure in the Women’s Temperance Movement. Her organization established over one thousand local branches. She also began teaching over 5,000 children about the effects of alcohol.
After the Civil War, she spent her last years living in Sanatoga. But she found time to write. Her book on temperance was published in 1878.
Carry Nation, a member of the Temperance Movement, was angry at the United States Supreme Court’s decision in 1890 that allowed the sale of alcohol. Carry Nation fought against the sale of illegal saloons in Kansas. They also destroyed their stock.
As a suffragist, Willard saw that combining women’s suffrage with the temperance movement would be crucial to advancing women’s status in society. Although she later partnered with the Prohibition Party, she became the president of the temperance organization.
Grant’s policies helped ensure a fair election in 1872. He also helped to establish a federal troops led demobilization of the Klan. While in office, he made a direct appeal to Congress to pass stronger legislation.
After failing to pass a more powerful bill, Grant intervened. The Third Enforcement Act was passed on April 20, 1871. This legislation was the most important part of the campaign.
Hawaiian Reciprocity Treaty
The Hawaiian Reciprocity Treaty is an agreement that grants the United States special economic privileges to the kingdom of Hawaii. It gives the island’s sugar industry a significant boost.
In 1873, King Kalakaua of Hawaii set out to obtain a favorable reciprocity treaty from the United States. He worked personally to achieve this.
Initially, there were a number of opposing sides to the dispute. One faction sought to restore the monarchy. Another sought to annex the islands. They were both opposed by American leaders. Grant sought a solution to this constitutional crisis.
In the meantime, Grant had been unsuccessful in his attempts to annex the Dominican Republic. His political naiveté led him to take as his cabinet members some incompetent and wealthy men.
As a result of the Sugar Act of 1873, which made sugar cane growing in Hawaii tax-free, Americans had invested heavily in sugarcane plantations in Hawaii. This allowed the kingdom of Hawaii to enter into a new market for its sugar.
In the meantime, American residents began demanding radical political reforms. This, combined with public discomfort over the governmental corruption, allowed Democrats to gain a significant majority in the House.
Meanwhile, the first Pan American Congress was held in Washington, DC in 1889. This was the beginning of a series of conferences that would later form the Pan American Union.
Grant met with several world leaders. His memoirs became a classic in the field. These memoirs earned him royalties of half a million dollars.
While the Grant administration suffered a series of financial setbacks in the 1880s, his memoirs helped to ensure that his fame would continue. By the time he left office, his memoirs had been credited with earning half a million dollars in royalties.
His presidency was a roller coaster
Grant was a Civil War general who served two terms as president of the United States. His administration was plagued by scandals and his popularity suffered as a result. He was also involved in the “whisky ring” scandal, which involved bribery in the distilled spirits industry.
As a military hero, Grant’s accomplishments have been a point of debate, but historians have hailed his contributions to Civil War victory. One of Grant’s achievements was to prevent Robert E. Lee from being charged with treason after the Civil War.
He also led the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave male citizens the right to vote. Despite his efforts, he was not able to fully secure the civil rights of blacks during Reconstruction.
Grant’s administration had several other noteworthy achievements, including the creation of a merit-based system for public officials. Moreover, his administration was a major contributor to the recovery of America after depression. However, Grant’s popularity plummeted as a result of several congressional investigations into corruption in his administration.
He was also one of the first men to propose a merit-based system of evaluating public officials. Although his actions helped to reunify the country, he was also responsible for provoking conflict with Native American tribes in the Northern Great Plains.
As a result of his involvement in the Whisky Ring Scandal, he also earned the distinction of being the President of the United States to have been investigated for tax fraud. Nevertheless, his administration was a success in other areas, such as implementing the first merit-based system of evaluating public officials and initiating a new reform of the civil service in the executive branch.
Although he did not make the best President, he made a notable contribution to American history. For example, he was instrumental in passing the Fifteenth Amendment, which granted male citizens the right to vote, regardless of race.