![]() This begot a spirit of speculation involving an extravagance and luxury not required for the happiness or prosperity of a people, and involving, both directly and indirectly, foreign indebtedness. It made it necessary, in the wisdom of Congress-and I do not doubt their wisdom in the premises, regarding the necessity of the times-to devise a system of national currency which it proved to be impossible to keep on a par with the recognized currency of the civilized world. Debt, debt abroad, is the only element that can, with always a sound currency, enter into our affairs to cause any continued depression in the industries and prosperity of our people.Ī great conflict for national existence made necessary, for temporary purposes, the raising of large sums of money from whatever source attainable. Therefore, with these facts in view, it seems to me that wise statesmanship, at this session of Congress, would dictate legislation ignoring the past directing in proper channels these great elements of prosperity to any people. A third might be added: Our soil and climate are unequaled, within the limits of any contiguous territory under one nationality, for its variety of products to feed and clothe a people and in the amount of surplus to spare to feed less favored peoples. Two great elements of prosperity, therefore, have not been denied us. Where labor has been wanted, it has been found in abundance, at cheap rates compared with what-of necessaries and comforts of life-could be purchased with the wages demanded. Where security has been undoubted, capital has been attainable at very moderate rates. Without indulging in theories as to the cause of this prostration, therefore, I will call your attention only to the fact, and to some plain questions as to which it would seem there should be no disagreement.ĭuring this prostration two essential elements of prosperity have been most abundant-labor and capital. Speculation as to the causes for this prostration might be indulged in without profit, because as many theories would be advanced as there would be independent writers-those who expressed their own views without borrowing-upon the subject. Since the convening of Congress one year ago the nation has undergone a prostration in business and industries such as has not been witnessed with us for many years. In 1868, Grant was elected the 18 th president of the United States.To the Senate and House of Representatives: On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered his army to Grant, marking the end of the Civil War. With the Mississippi River now firmly in Union hands, the Confederacy’s fate was all but sealed. Vicksburg marked Grant’s greatest achievement thus far. After several assaults, Grant initiated a long siege, and Vicksburg finally surrendered on July 4, 1863. In his second attempt, Grant moved his men down the western bank of the Mississippi River and crossed the river south of Vicksburg. Grant tried to open a waterway as part of his attack, but was stopped by the terrain and flow of the Mississippi. In December 1862, Grant moved overland to take Vicksburg-a key fortress city of the Confederacy and its stronghold on the Mississippi River. Navy, Grant applied pressure on Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, taking them both and gaining control over the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, the earliest significant Union victories of the American Civil War. In February 1862, in a joint operation with the U.S. Grant and his volunteers took the small town of Paducah, Kentucky, at the mouth of the Tennessee River. Shortly after the Civil War began, Kentucky's fragile neutrality fell apart. Both President Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, said that the Mississippi River was the key to victory in the Civil War. Without the Mississippi River, the Union may have indeed lost the war. Perhaps Grant’s greatest accomplishment was his capture and control of the Mississippi River, ultimately turning the tide of the Civil War to the north. ![]() general and commander of the Union armies during the late years of the American Civil War. Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. Resources for Historical Societies and Museums.National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.
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