Some US history you probably didn't know about...I know I never heard of this.

[Archae]

Until now.

Seems General US Grant was a vicious anti-Semite, while as President though he tried to atone for what he pulled as a General.


On 17 December 1862, almost halfway into the Civil War, the Union general Ulysses S Grant ordered the expulsion of all Jews from the territory under his command in the South.

The order would ignite fierce condemnation, terrify and infuriate the 150,000 Jews living in America and cast a long shadow over Grant's presidency and historical reputation.

The inglorious and little-known moment in American history was one that would haunt a national hero throughout his life.

Jonathan D Sarna tells this story in his new book, When General Grant Expelled the Jews. He explains how, once elected to the highest office in the US, President Grant sought to make amends.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18081629

[Uncle Joe]

1. I've always thought that history was more shades of gray than black and white.

Thanks for the thread, Archae.

[a la izquierda]

2. That's what I tell my students.

I teach Latin American history. There's a whole lotta grey in that history, especially when it comes to the US (well, actually there's much black, as in the blacked out, classified documents, but that's a given).