Category Archives: The Grant Administration

Battle in New Orleans

According to Eric Foner in Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, every election in Louisiana “between 1868 and 1876 was marked by rampant violence and pervasive fraud.” The results of the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election were highly disputed. Both carpetbagger Republican … Continue reading

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Laurels to the Chief

The Panic of 1873 led to a long-lasting depression in Europe and North America. In early 1874 Congress passed a bill that would expand the supply of paper currency not redeemable in gold. On April 22, 1874 President Ulysses. S. … Continue reading

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four more

President Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated for his second term on March 4, 1873. From the March 22, 1873 issue of Harper’s Weekly: THE SECOND INAUGURATION. THE second inauguration of ULYSSES S. GRANT as President of the United States was … Continue reading

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more or less traditionary

It was becoming a tradition. 150 years ago, for the tenth year in a row, the United States president proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving for a Thursday at the end of November. THANKSGIVING DAY 1872 BY THE PRESIDENT OF … Continue reading

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the golden character

According to documentation at Project Gutenberg, President Ulysses S. Grant sent his first annual message to Congress when it reconvened early in December 1869. It was a long report; overall things seemed pretty peaceable. Reconstruction in the Southern states was … Continue reading

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“soil is trod by none but freemen”

In his first year as Commander-in-Chief, President Ulysses S. Grant followed the tradition begun by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 by calling for a national day of Thanksgiving on a Thursday in November. The new president opted for a slightly earlier … Continue reading

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death of a wagon master

Right from the get-go there were issues with President Ulysses S. Grant’s cabinet. Six months later there was another problem – Grant’s trusted aide, confidant, and Secretary of War, John A. Rawlins died after a long bout with tuberculosis. From … Continue reading

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Hayti bound

From the May 1, 1869 issue of Harper’s Weekly: EBENEZER D. BASSETT. Very fitly a colored man of the highest eminence has been appointed Minister from this country to Hayti. Mr. BASSETT, whose portrait we give on page 285, is … Continue reading

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cabinet kerfuffle

In its March 5, 1869 issue The New-York Times kept coverage of Ulysses S. Grant’s inaugural address off its front page, unlike the previous two inaugurations. The times were certainly different, relatively crisis-free. After all, in 1861 a couple weeks … Continue reading

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