 while ensuring their constitutions protected every citizen's voting rights through the use of the military.[152] President Grant won passage of the Fifteenth Amendment having guaranteed the voting rights to over a million freed African Americans. President Grant signed the Naturalization Act of 1870 that allowed persons of African descent to become citizens of the United States. President Grant effectively enforced the Civil Rights of Southern freedmen through the use of Justice Department in coordination with the U.S. Military and the Department of War. Grant's two Attorney Generals Amos T. Akerman and George H. Williams, in addition to Solicitor General Benjamin Bristow, effectively prosecuted and shut down the Ku Klux Klan by 1872 through the use of the Force Acts passed by President Grant and Congress. President Grant supported amnesty for former Confederates and signed the Amnesty Act of 1872 to further this.[153] He favored a limited number of troops to be stationed in the South—sufficient numbers to protect Southern Freedmen, suppress the violent tactics of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and prop up Republican governors, but not so many as to create resentment in the general population. After the collapse of the Klan in 1872, organized conservative southern insurgent militia groups took over, having used violence and intimidation tactics against African Americans and weakened supportive Republican state government control. Grant's prosecution of civil rights cases under both his Attorney Generals Akerman and George H. Williams, lasted from October 1871 to the Spring of 1873; the Justice Department having been overburdened and under staffed to handle all the cases.[154][155]
By 1873, Grant was confronted by a Northern public angry with the economic depression that began in 1873 and tired of continuing to use the army to control politics in the former Confederate states. In 1873–75, he watched as the Democrats (called Redeemers) took the control of all but three Southern states. The Republican coalition in the South was collapsing. When urgent telegrams from Republicans begged for Army help to put down the violence by paramilitary groups at election time, he told his Attorney General that, "the whole public is tired of these annual autumnal outbreaks in the South," insisting that state militias should handle the problems, not the Army.[156] Grant favored limited use of federal troops, lest they engender the notion he was acting as a military dictator; he was also concerned that increased military pressure in the South might cause white supremacists in the North to bolt from the Republican Party.[157] Grant did effectively use the military to keep peace during the Election of 1874 in Louisiana, the nation's most highly contested Reconstructed states. Grant signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, that gave rights for African Americans to attend public events, to eat in public places, and to stay overnight in public hotels. The Republican Party and the nation, however, during the Election of 1876 became more concerned with monetary legislation rather than Reconstruction. Conservative Democratic Party legislators took over all of the Southern state governments as all remaining U.S. troops were pulled out of the South by President Rutherford B. Hayes under the Compromise of 1877.
Civil and human rights
A distinguishing characteristic in the Grant Presidency was his concern with the plight of African Americans and native Indian tribes, in addition to civil rights for all Americans. Grant's 1868 campaign slogan, "Let us have peace," defined his motivation and assured his success. As president for two terms, Grant made many advances in civil and human rights. In 1869 and 1871, he signed bills promoting black voting rights and prosecuting Klan leaders. He won passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave freedmen the vote, and the Ku Klux Klan Act, which empowered the president "to arrest and break up disguised night marauders.[158].[159] nobly told Congress.[160] Grant's innovative "Peace" policy advocated Native American citizenship and education. It recommended use of reservations for protection of tribes.[161] Grant, however, allowed millions of buffalo to be hunted without restriction, eventually resulting in the depletion of Native American food supply and of tribal independence.[162] Statistical data indicate that during Grant's two terms as President the number of Indian battles per year decreased by 58, going from 101 Indian battles in 1869 to 43 in 1877.[163]
Panic of 1873 and inflation bill September 13, and the largest bank, Jay Cooke & Company, on September 18. On September 20, the New York Stock Exchange shut down for ten days. All of these events created a depression that lasted five years in the United States, ruined thousands of businesses, depressed daily wages by 25% from 1873 to 1876, and brought the unemployment rate up to 14%. Some 89 out of 364 American railroads went bankrupt.[164][165]. People became desperate for paper currency. Although the issuance of clearing house certificates curbed the Panic on Wall Street, it did nothing to stop the ensuing five-year depression. Grant did nothing to prevent the panic and responded slowly after the banks crashed in September. The limited action of Secretary Richardson did little to increase confidence in the general economy.[166][167][168]
After the Panic of 1873, Congress debated an inflationary policy to stimulate the economy and passed the Legal Tender Act (known as the "Inflation Bill") on April 14, 1874 to increase the nation's tight money supply. Many farmers and working men favored the bill; but Eastern bankers favored a veto because of their reliance on bonds and foreign investors. On April 22, 1874, Grant unexpectedly vetoed the bill on the grounds that it would destroy the credit of the nation.[169][170]
Foreign policies
Further information: Hamilton Fish
Dominican Republic and Washington treaties
Grant wanted to annex the Dominican Republic by treaty to allow new economic opportunities for Freedmen, and to force Brazil to abandon slavery. Senator Charles Sumner opposed annexation because it would reduce the number of autonomous nations run by Africans in the western hemisphere. Also disputed was the unscrupulous annexation process under the supervision of Grant's private secretary, Orville E. Babcock. Grant did not consult with his Cabinet over the issue, and by-passed State Department procedures.[171] Secretary Fish decided to resign over the affair, however, Grant was able to convince Fish to remain on his Cabinet. Grant personally lobbied Senators to pass the treaty. The annexation treaty was defeated by the Senate in 1871 and led to unending political enmity between Sumner and Grant.[172] Nineteenth Century ideals of Anglo superiority and fears of miscegenation were factors in the treaty's defeat.[173]
Historians have heralded the Treaty of Washington for settling the Alabama Claims dispute between Britain and the United States by International Arbitration. In 1871, Grant’s Secretary of State Hamilton Fish orchestrated the negotiation. The main purpose of the arbitration treaty was to remedy the damages done to American merchants by three Confederate war ships built by or purchased from the British. A major point of contention in the negotiation was whether "indirect" damages would be included in the settlement.[174] A commission met in Washington and designed a treaty whereby an international tribunal would settle the damage amounts; the British admitted regret, rather than fault. Grant and the Senate approved the Treaty of Washington. The international tribunal awarded the United States $15,500,000.[175]
Virginius incident
Main article: Virginius Affair
On October 31, 1873, a merchant ship, Virginius, carrying war materials and men to aid the Cuban insurrection, was taken captive by a Spanish warship. Virginius was flying the United States flag and had an American registry; the US did not at first realize it was secretly owned by Cuban insurgents. 53 of the passengers and crew, eight being United States citizens, were trying to illegally get into Cuba to help overthrow the government. They were executed, and many Americans called for war with Spain. Secretary Fish, with President Grant's support, handled the crisis coolly to reach a diplomatic solution rather than war. Grant kept the Virginius incident at the top of his weekly cabinet meetings agenda and kept his policy of non recognition of Cuban belligerancy.[176] Fish discovered there was question over whether Virginius had the right to bear the United States flag. Spain's President expressed profound regret for the tragedy and was willing to make reparations through arbitration. Fish negotiated reparations and Spain surrendered the Virginius and paid a cash indemnity of $80,000 to the families of the executed Americans.[177]
Scandals
Main article: Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration scandals
President Grant faced financial corruption charges or scandals in all federal departments during his two terms in office.[178] Some historians have emphasized Grant's responsibility for the corruption, while others have considered this exaggeration, and stress Grant's establishment of Civil Service reform and abolishment of the moiety system.[178] The President was by habit fiercely loyal and protective to those he befriended and complacentlytrusted; effectively reformers who desired integrity in the federal government became hostile to the Administration and caused a party split in 1872. This and his inability to establish personal accountability among his cabinet members and other subordinates facilitated many scandals. Although personally honest with his own money matters, Grant had difficulty in spotting corrupt individuals.[179] In November 1876, President Grant pardoned both William O. Avery and William McKee, who were convicted in connection with the Whiskey Ring tax evasion frauds in St. Louis; having served six months of their two year sentences.[180]
There were 11 scandals directly associated with Grant's two terms. The main scandals included Black Friday in 1869, the Whiskey Ring in 1875, and his Secretary of War William Belknap's resignation, House impeachment, and Senate trial in 1876 over accepting