Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, is considered a hero of the Civil War, and rightfully so—he worked his way up to the top of the Union army’s hierarchy, seized Vicksburg, giving the United States control over the Mississippi River during the war, and accepted Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. However, even national heroes who are hailed for their successes have made mistakes. On December 17, 1862, during the crux of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant issued General Orders No. 11, one mistake that affected the lives of American Jews throughout the entire country. The Civil War’s chaotic atmosphere highlighted General Ulysses S. Grant’s stereotypical view of the Jewish …show more content…
On July 26, 1862, Grant telegraphed an officer at Columbus, Kentucky, saying that officers should check all merchants’ luggage if they are travelling southward and turn them back if they are carrying gold. He stated in that telegraph: “Jews should receive special attention.” A few months later, on November 9, 1862, Ulysses S. Grant telegraphed Memphis the following: “Refuse all permits to come south of Jackson for the present. The Israelites especially should be kept out.” The next day, General Grant told his superintendent of military railroads to forbid all Jews from travelling southward, calling them an “intolerable nuisance” and saying that “the Department [of Tennessee] must be purged of them.” Ulysses S. Grant’s growing intolerance of Jews soon erupted in the most blatant form of anti-Semitism in United States history. Ulysses S. Grant likely reaching his breaking point when his father, with whom Ulysses did not have a good relationship, paid him a visit. Jesse Grant was involved with the Mack brothers, Jewish clothing manufacturers, and he came to request a permit from his son that would allow him and his business partners to buy Southern cotton. On December 17, 1862, General Grant issued his infamous General Orders No. 11, which