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Grant's Greatest Regret

scott s. Wrote: Dec 06, 2012 3:13 PM

I suppose the fact that Lincoln needed to float huge loans through the Wall Street banking houses may have had something to do with his quick repudiation of G.O. 11. Eventually Sec'y Chase would work with Philadelphia banker Jay Cooke to reduce the reliance on traditional New York banks for financing the war. Meanwhile looking forward to Brooks Simpson's second volume of Grant bio, covering post-war years.

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Peter906 Wrote: Dec 06, 2012 10:27 PM

Dear Scott S. -- I feel ignorant here. did Jews have high roles in US banks in the mid-nineteenth century? Please enlighten. Thanks, Peter

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Grant's Greatest Regret

In the American experience, anti-Semitic decrees have been virtually unthinkable. Religious liberty is enshrined in the Constitution, and early in his presidency George Washington went out of his way to assure the young nation's Jews that "the Government of the United States … gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." During the long centuries of Jewish exile, powerful officials had often promulgated sweeping edicts depriving Jews of their rights or driving them from their homes. In America, that could never happen.

But 150 years ago this month, it did.

In December 1862, with the Civil War...

Related Tags: Civil War Anti-Semitism Jews Ulysses S. Grant