Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future.
Ulysses S. GrantRead
The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre--what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Most Southern voters were not slave owners and lacked education, showing that their interests aligned more with the North.
In this quote, Ulysses S. Grant highlights the misconception that all Southern voters were slave owners, emphasizing that a significant portion of them were actually impoverished and uneducated. He argues that these men had little stake in the slavery issue, suggesting that their needs for freedom and education aligned more closely with the Northern interests, indicating a broader desire for emancipation that transcended the ownership of slaves.
Themes
EmancipationEducationSouthern VotersSlaveryNorthFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the social conditions in the South during the Civil War.
More from Ulysses S. Grant
All quotes →Let us labor for the security of free thought, free speech, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and equal rights and privileges for all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion;.... leave the matter of religious teaching to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contribution. Keep church and state forever separate.
Ulysses S. GrantRead
When news of the surrender first reached our lines our men commenced firing a salute of a hundred guns in honor of the victory. I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. The Confederates were now our prisoners, and we did not want to exult over their downfall.
Ulysses S. GrantRead
I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other people gave him up, but I don't see how I can ever trust any human being again.
Ulysses S. GrantRead
A hero does for others. He would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better. I am not that kind of person, but I want you to be. You could give something to her, to me, to those children in the quarter. You could give something I never could ... The white people out there are saying you don't have it-that you're a hog, not a man. But I know they are wrong.
Ulysses S. GrantRead
Our great modern Republic. May those who seek the blessings of its institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations they impose.
Ulysses S. GrantRead
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