ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT. (1822-1885.)
Two terms, 1869-1877.
Ulysses S. Grant had already become so identified with the history of our country that little remains to be added to that which has been recorded. He was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822. Appointed to West Point, he gave no evidence of special brilliancy, and was graduated in 1843 with only a fair standing. He did good service in the war with Mexico and was brevetted captain, but resigned his commission in 1854 and went into business, where he attained only moderate success. He was among the first to volunteer when the Civil War broke out. The opportunity thus presented for the full display of his military genius rapidly brought him to the front, the culmination of his career being reached when he compelled the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Court-House in April, 1865, thereby bringing the long and terrible war to a triumphant conclusion. He was a man of simple tastes, modest, but with an unerring knowledge of his own abilities, thoroughly patriotic, honest, chivalrous, devoted to his friends, and so trustful of them that he remained their supporters sometimes after receiving proof of their unworthiness. The mistakes of his administration were due mainly to this trait of his character, which it is hard to condemn without reservation.
The country being fairly launched once more on its career of progress and prosperity, the government gained the opportunity to give attention to matters which it was compelled to pass by while the war was in progress. The first most important step was to call England to account for her help in fitting out Confederate privateers, when we were in extremity. It required considerable tact and delicacy to get the "Alabama Claims," as they were termed, in proper form before the British authorities, for they felt sensitive, but it was finally accomplished. The arbitration tribunal which sat at Geneva, Switzerland, in June, 1872, decreed that England should pay the United States the sum of $15,500,000 because of the damage inflicted by Confederate cruisers upon Northern commerce. The amount was paid, and friendly relations between the two countries were fully restored.
MRS. JULIA DENT GRANT.
Our rapid growth had long since made the building of a railroad from the East to the Pacific a necessity that continually grew more urgent. Construction was begun as early as 1863, but the Civil War caused the work to lag, and at the end of two years only one hundred miles had been graded and forty laid. The progress then became more vigorous.
The road consisted of two divisions. The first was from Omaha, Nebraska, to Ogden, Utah, a distance of 1,032 miles, while the western division, known as the Central Pacific, covered the distance of 885 miles between Ogden and San Francisco. Steadily approaching each other, these long lines of railway met on the 10th of May, 1869, when the last spike, made of solid gold, was driven, and the two locomotives, standing with their pilots almost touching, joined in a joyous screech of their whistles. The important event was celebrated with much ceremony, for it was worthy of being commemorated.
RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED.
The vexatious work of reconstruction was completed during the early months of 1870. Virginia had held out against the terms prescribed by Congress, but her senators and representatives were admitted to their seats in the latter part of January; those of Mississippi in the following month, and those of Texas in March, at which time the secretary of State issued a proclamation declaring the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees negro suffrage. For the first time in almost twenty years, all the States were fully represented in Congress.