Civil Rights, Grant-ed. . .

Let us celebrate appropriately the issuance of General Order No. 11 on 17 December 1862 by General Ulysses S. Grant.

In this order Gen. Grant directed that all Jews were to be expelled from Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi within twenty-four hours from the receipt of the order.

Although at war, the North and South still relied on each other economically. The North especially needed the South's surplus cotton for the production of military tents and uniforms. The Union army would have implemented a ban on trade with the South completely; President Abraham Lincoln preferred a limited trade in cotton. The Battle of Shiloh made this trade possible by opening up the Mississippi River down to Vicksburg. This soon became very profitable for both sides; army officers, treasury agents, and individual speculators became involved, although Jews were distinctly a minority.

Army officers especially took advantage of the moneymaking possibilities to such a great extent that Lincoln complained, "the army itself is diverted from fighting rebels to speculating in cotton." Although neither side prohibited the trade, President Lincoln ordered that all of the cotton that was traded had to be licensed by the Treasury Department and the army. Each army commander was responsible for the cotton trade in their respective areas. (Source: History News Network)

Apparently Gen. Grant's own father was involved in obtaining such licenses to trade, badgering his son on behalf of a group of Cincinnati speculators.

A handful of the illegal traders were Jews, although the great majority were not. In the emotional climate of the war zone, ancient prejudices flourished. The terms “Jew,” “profiteer,” “speculator” and “trader” were employed interchangeably. Union commanding General Henry W. Halleck linked “traitors and Jew peddlers.” Grant shared Halleck's mentality, describing “the Israelites” as “an intolerable nuisance.”

In November 1862, convinced that the black market in cotton was organized “mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders,” Grant ordered that “no Jews are to be permitted to travel on the railroad southward [into the Department of the Tennessee] from any point,” nor were they to be granted trade licenses. When illegal trading continued, Grant issued Order No. 11 on December 17, 1862. (Source: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

Fortunately, as We all know, today's far more enlightened American military establishment is no longer burdened by such distasteful and thoroughly irrational prejudices. And We are ever so grateful for that blessing, to be sure.

Barukh Adonai Yom Yom Ya’Amos-Lanu ha’El Yeshuateinu (Blessed be the Lord, Who daily carries our burden; the God of our Salvation)