Ulysses S. Grant quotes - page 7

There was no time during the rebellion when I did not think, and often say, that the South was more to be benefited by its defeat than the North. The latter had the people, the institutions, and the territory to make a great and prosperous nation. The former was burdened with an institution abhorrent to all civilized people not brought up under it, and one which degraded labor, kept it in ignorance, and enervated the governing class. (Ulysses S. Grant)
Our conversation grew so pleasant that I almost forgot the object of our meeting. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
It occurred to me at once that Harris had been as much afraid of me as I had been of him. This was a view of the question I had never taken before; but it was one I never forgot afterwards. From that event to the close of the war, I never experienced trepidation upon confronting an enemy, though I always felt more or less anxiety. I never forgot that he had as much reason to fear my forces as I had his. The lesson was valuable. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
In some places colored laborers were compelled to vote according to the wishes of their employers, under threats of discharge if they acted otherwise; and there are too many instances in which, when these threats were disregarded, they were remorselessly executed by those who made them. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
General Burnside wanted to put his colored division in front, and I believe if he had done so it would have been a success. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
I would protect the law-abiding citizen, whether of native or foreign birth, wherever his rights are jeopardized or the flag of our country floats. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
The United States should always be prepared to put down such demonstrations promptly and with severe consequences for the guilty. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
I wish their surplus population would emigrate to the United States. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
Though I have been trained as a soldier, and participated in many battles, there never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
But any people or part of a people who resort to this remedy, stake their lives, their property, and every claim for protection given by citizenship - on the issue. Victory, or the conditions imposed by the conqueror - must be the result. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
It is earnestly recommended that the freedom of Negroes be acknowledged, and that, instead of compulsory labor, contracts on fair terms be entered. (Ulysses S. Grant)
I hope the good feeling inaugurated may continue to the end. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
If it is necessary that slavery should fall that the Republic may continue its existence, let slavery go. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
I try to judge fairly and honestly and it became patent in my mind early in the rebellion that the North and South could never live at peace with each other except as one nation, and that without slavery. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
Our liberties remain unimpaired; the bondmen have been freed from slavery; we have become possessed of the respect, if not the friendship, of all civilized nations. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
I had known General Lee in the old army, and had served with him in the Mexican War. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
That is, by arming the negro we have added a powerful ally. They will make good soldiers and taking them from the enemy weaken him in the same proportion they strengthen us. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
Thus an element more dangerous to continued colonial relations between Cuba and Spain than that which inspired the insurrection at Yara-an element opposed to granting any relief from misrule and abuse, with no aspirations after freedom, commanding no sympathies in generous breasts, aiming to rivet still stronger the shackles of slavery and oppression-has seized many of the emblems of power in Cuba, and, under professions of loyalty to the mother country, is exhausting the resources of the island, and is doing acts which are at variance with those principles of justice, of liberality, and of right which give nobility of character to a republic. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
The right of revolution is an inherent one. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
Withhold no legal privilege of advancement to the new citizen. (Ulysses S. Grant)
It looks like a political triumph for the south, but it is not. The southern people have nothing to dread more than the political triumph of the men who led them into secession. That triumph was fatal to them in 1860. It would be no less now. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
I rise only to say that I do not intend to say anything. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
The effects of the late civil strife have been to free the slave and make him a citizen. Yet he is not possessed of the civil rights which citizenship should carry with it. This is wrong, and should be corrected. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant
They saw their power waning, and this led them to encroach upon the prerogatives and independence of the Northern States by enacting such laws as the Fugitive Slave Law. View quote
Ulysses S. Grant