Ulysses S. Grant Is The Face Of The Fifty Dollar Bill

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Ream 1 Jarrett Ream Mr. Cavanaugh Academic English 11 15 February 2017 Ulysses S. Grant The face of the fifty-dollar bill is the face of a Civil War general and a former U.S. president. Millions of Americans see his face every day, but not everyone realizes it. But, if you know who that face belongs to, you know that he is a great man, and without him, the U.S. might not be the same. So, you may be wondering, ‘who is the face of the fifty-dollar bill?’ well, ladies and gentlemen, it is Ulysses S. Grant, and by examining him and his life, it is evident that he impacted society through being a Civil War general and a U.S. president. Hiram Ulysses Grant is Ulysses S. Grant’s real name. Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in the frontier of Ohio. As a child, he was taught the basics at a frontier school, but not well; therefore, he was a weak speller but good at math (Goode). Grant did not want to …show more content…

He was a fierce defender of civil equality for the freed slaves (Guelzo). In his first Inaugural Address, Grant urged passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to give blacks voting rights (Goode). On March 30, 1870, when he signed the Fifteenth Amendment into law, Grant took the opportunity to celebrate (Goode). The Ku Klux Klan disliked this amendment and began to terrorize black voters in the South, and when Grant heard of this, his attorney general, Amos Akerman, prosecuted the Klan with “the hand of an avenging angel” (Guelzo). In April 1871, Grant signed into law the last of the so-called Enforcement Acts, which was directed against Ku Klux Klan terrorism. This was the first time in history, the federal government could punish individuals for violations of law that would have earlier been undertaken by local and state governments (Goode). Grant was an incredible president, he did what no man thought of doing back then. He was an advocate for the underdog, and his most prominent fight during his presidency was for the biggest underdog of all,