Ulysses S. Grant
American citizen or not, everybody knows about Ulysses S. Grant, but not many know that he is one of the US presidents who was pro-slavery. Although some probably belong to his wife, Julia, he may have one to five slaves. However, it is unknown if her husband inherited the slaves or not.
William Jones was one of the slaves that Grant bought just before the Civil War, although he was freed in 1859, and he was asked why he did keep slaves he declared “Good help is so hard to come by these days.”
In his later years, Grant came to denounce the organization and even referred to it as “a disgrace to the Union.”
One Response
In order to understand why these presidents were pro-slavery, we must go back to the customs of the times. Those who were rich & powerful could do anything they wanted, & the law looked the other way. Slavery was an accepted institution. Not all slaves were treated badly, most had kind masters who gave them food & shelter, albeit of low quality. They worked long hours, & were exhausted at the end of a 12-hour day. The white non-slave were not much better off, working long hours for little pay, living in squalor. If a white worker got injured or died, nobody cared for the family. Corruption & bribery were rampant. Congressmen & Presidents often took bribes, or participated in crooked schemes to enrich themselves. Regretably, not much has changed!