# On This Date In U.S And Jewish History.



## Lowjack (Dec 17, 2010)

By MICHAEL OMER-12/17/2010 08:07 

During Civil War, Grant blamed Jews for black market cotton trade; order was only in effect for a few weeks but a blemish in Jewish US history.


“The Jews, as a class violating every regulation of trade… are hereby expelled from the department within twenty-four hours from the receipt of this order.” 

This was not an order given in 1930s Germany, but rather in the midst of the US Civil War. On November 17, 1862, just over two weeks before Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the US, Maj.-Gen. (and future president) Ulysses S. Grant signed General Order No. 11, expelling all Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. Although only remaining in effect for several weeks, it was the first and possibly most overt official act of anti-Semitism in the United States to date.

The order was issued on the backdrop of cotton trading between the US North and secessionist South during the war. The North was reliant on cotton from the South, and handed regulatory control over the trade to the army. As a general, Grant was given the authority to regulate that trade and hand out licenses to cotton merchants inside his military theater of operations. It was his anti-Semitic belief that Jews controlled trade, specifically the black market trade of cotton, which led to General Order No. 11.

In late 1862, as Grant was preparing to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi, his command was flooded by requests by middlemen and merchants for licenses to trade cotton. The general was vexed by the volume of requests and carried an old world prejudice that led him to believe the “Israelites,” whom he described as an “intolerable nuisance,” were responsible for black market cotton. In November of that year, Grant banned Jews from traveling on the railroad and forbid granting them cotton-trading permits.

However, as Jews were not actually responsible for most unlicensed trading, the black market continued to thrive. Following an incident where Grant’s own father requested licenses for a group of merchants from the northern city of Cincinnati, some of whom were in fact Jews, the Union army general issued General Order No. 11 and gave the Jews in his administrative district 24 hours to leave the three-state area.


General Order No. 11 had devastating consequences for the Jewish population in a way that was uncharacteristic of the United States. In one Jewish community in a Mississippi town called Holly Springs, thirty families who were not at all involved in the cotton trade were forced to abandon their belongings and walk 40 miles (64 kilometers) out of the state. Adding insult to injury, some of the town’s Jewish residents were Union army veterans.

Jewish communities all over the country were shocked and enraged. The still-young country had witnessed very little institutionalized anti-Semitism in the United States up until that point. Congregations in Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis staged protests against the order. Community leaders in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago sent urgent telegrams to US president Lincoln.

The order still in effect, one Jewish delegation arrived in Washington D.C. on January 3, 1863, two days after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Armed with documentation disproving a connection between Jews and the black market for cotton, the support of several congressmen and the moral high ground, the delegation easily convinced Lincoln to rescind the order.

The same day, acting on orders from the president, Union army commanding General Henry Halleck sent a message to Grant instructing him to rescind the anti-Semitic order. Halleck, who had previously described cotton merchants as “traitors and Jew peddlers,” wrote to Grant: “A paper purporting to be General Orders, No. 11, issued by you December 17, has been presented here. By its terms, it expels all Jews from your department. If such an order has been issued, it will be immediately revoked.” Several days later, the future president and Civil War hero cancelled the order.

Quickly attempting to make amends to American Jews, Lincoln wrote, "To condemn a class is, to say the least to wrong the good with the bad. I do not like to hear a class or nationality condemned on account of a few sinners." The president said he had been surprised by the order and would not permit religious discrimination.

Although the episode followed Grant in his later run for president, it did not have any long-term or serious political consequences. In a repudiation of his own order, he later argued that he was not condemning the “Jews as a set race,” but merely referring to certain Jews who had violated cotton-trading laws. Ultimately, Grant was supported by a majority of American Jews in his presidential campaign and as president, appointed Jews to high-ranking government positions.

General Order No. 11 is a dark blemish in Jewish American history. It represents one of the few instances wherein an official government policy targeted American Jewry. However, its quick revocation and the president’s repudiation of the anti-Semitism it codified are more reflective of the overall American Jewish experience than the order itself.


----------



## rjcruiser (Dec 17, 2010)

Lowjack said:


> Ultimately, Grant was supported by a majority of American Jews in his presidential campaign and as president, appointed Jews to high-ranking government positions.
> 
> However, its quick revocation and the president’s repudiation of the anti-Semitism it codified are more reflective of the overall American Jewish experience than the order itself.



Seems like Grant over-reacted a bit at the time...but quickly fixed what wrong he did.


Seems like you and this author are over-reacting a bit by bringing it back up.  Wonder what your next move will be.


----------



## whome (Dec 17, 2010)

Just curious as to what your point is exactly? America being punished for this policy? This was 142 years ago...


----------



## Ronnie T (Dec 17, 2010)

I did not know any of that.

Interesting.


----------



## gtparts (Dec 17, 2010)

rj,

I am a little surprised at your post. lj has been in the habit of posting bits and pieces simply for the sake of highlighting things that have gone generally un-noted, both globally and historically. He didn't even slant the offering by adding his own opinion.

The article is topical, reflecting an event on this day in 1862. It illustrates a sad and difficult time in our history and gives me greater appreciation for Lincoln. As for Grant, I can't say I have ever cared much for that arsonist.


----------



## chiefsquirrel83 (Dec 17, 2010)

I am a Christian but.....seems like people are attacking Lowjack simply for his Jewish beliefs. He is posting American Jewish History....is that a crime?


----------



## vanguard1 (Dec 17, 2010)

chiefsquirrel83 said:


> I am a Christian but.....seems like people are attacking Lowjack simply for his Jewish beliefs. He is posting American Jewish History....is that a crime?



WOW  i can not believe i am saying this, I AGREE WITH CHIEFSQUIRREL  ON THIS.


----------



## whome (Dec 17, 2010)

I hope my comment hasn't been misconstrued as an attack. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I was just wondering.


----------



## Lowjack (Dec 17, 2010)

Well Don't say that Knowledge is a waste of Band, IMO every Christian should know how the Jews have being treated through History, don't think you are immune to be treated one day the same way just because you believe in Jesus, the time is near.
There is a verse that says to the Jew First then the Greek(Gentile) and that verse is a reality in more ways than one.


----------



## rjcruiser (Dec 17, 2010)

gtparts said:


> rj,
> 
> I am a little surprised at your post. lj has been in the habit of posting bits and pieces simply for the sake of highlighting things that have gone generally un-noted, both globally and historically. He didn't even slant the offering by adding his own opinion.
> 
> The article is topical, reflecting an event on this day in 1862. It illustrates a sad and difficult time in our history and gives me greater appreciation for Lincoln. As for Grant, I can't say I have ever cared much for that arsonist.





chiefsquirrel83 said:


> I am a Christian but.....seems like people are attacking Lowjack simply for his Jewish beliefs. He is posting American Jewish History....is that a crime?





vanguard1 said:


> WOW  i can not believe i am saying this, I AGREE WITH CHIEFSQUIRREL  ON THIS.



Attack is a bit strong....not attacking...just questioning the motive for the post.  It is like an African American bringing up the slavery issue.  I'm just sick and tired of people living in the past...trying to get people to feel sorry for them.

And the crazy thing is, the author of the article notes that Grant apologized and that the Jews of the day didn't hold it against him.  Obviously, this wasn't that big of a deal if he was able to get elected a couple of years after this event.

Maybe I was a little over the top in my response...but it is just tiresome to hear of the victims in the past.  We've all been victimized at one point or another.  Pull up your pants, strap on your boots and get over it.


----------



## vanguard1 (Dec 17, 2010)

still many people do not like the jews, why? they own the movie world, black men own the NBA, white men own the NHL. why?  because they are the best at what they do. it is simple the best at what they do make all the money. nothing wrong with that.


----------



## rjcruiser (Dec 17, 2010)

vanguard1 said:


> still many people do not like the jews, why? they own the movie world, black men own the NBA, white men own the NHL. why?  because they are the best at what they do. it is simple the best at what they do make all the money. nothing wrong with that.



I have no problem with the Jews.  I have no problem with African Americans.  I have no problem with Latinos.  I don't judge people based upon their ethnicity...I do judge them based on who they are and what they do.


----------



## chiefsquirrel83 (Dec 17, 2010)

i got a problem with illegal latinos...


----------



## Lowjack (Dec 17, 2010)

rjcruiser said:


> I have no problem with the Jews.  I have no problem with African Americans.  I have no problem with Latinos.  I don't judge people based upon their ethnicity...I do judge them based on who they are and what they do.



I Do have problems with Luciferians,


----------



## Lowjack (Dec 17, 2010)

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Martin Niemoller


----------



## Ronnie T (Dec 17, 2010)

Are you saying we must have concerns for the plights of those who aren't like us, and then learn from the past?????????????

Please!


----------



## Lowjack (Dec 17, 2010)

Never Forget is the Survivors Motto.


----------



## Ronnie T (Dec 18, 2010)

Lowjack said:


> Never Forget is the Survivors Motto.



Lj, one of mankind's character flaws is short memory.


----------



## vanguard1 (Dec 18, 2010)

"those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it",


                                                                   George Santayana


----------



## OntheFlyTyer (Dec 18, 2010)

Lowjack said:


> They came first for the Communists,
> and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
> 
> Then they came for the trade unionists,
> ...




Interesting Theodor Herzl was all three.


----------



## OntheFlyTyer (Dec 18, 2010)

I had family in the internment camps during WWII, maybe the America is being punished for that.

Funny thing is the most bigoted post so far has been looked over lj because the poster supports lj.

Reminds me of the relationship between Lord Balfour and Herzl, where a little anti-semitism wasn't all that bad as long as it helped the cause.


----------



## OntheFlyTyer (Dec 18, 2010)

vanguard1 said:


> "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it",
> 
> 
> George Santayana



What about those who just make it up as they go along?

Or those who delcared there is no need to study history?


----------



## vanguard1 (Dec 18, 2010)

the past is FACT, what happened to the american indian is fact, what happened to the black people is fact, what happened to the jews is fact, and it still goes on today that is also fact.


----------



## chiefsquirrel83 (Dec 18, 2010)

Agreed Vanguard...there is nothing wrong with someone posting history of their past.


----------



## rjcruiser (Dec 18, 2010)

OntheFlyTyer said:


> Funny thing is the most bigoted post so far has been looked over lj because the poster supports lj.
> 
> Reminds me of the relationship between Lord Balfour and Herzl, where a little anti-semitism wasn't all that bad as long as it helped the cause.



Maybe my original assumption wasn't too far off. 

Similar to the Rev Jackson and Sharpton.


----------



## Lowjack (Dec 18, 2010)

vanguard1 said:


> the past is FACT, what happened to the american indian is fact, what happened to the black people is fact, what happened to the jews is fact, and it still goes on today that is also fact.



In Recent History We HAd Nixon who was also a Bigot;
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/nyregion/17nyc.html


----------



## thedeacon (Dec 18, 2010)

Those who quickly forget the past are destined to repeat it.

Those who live in the past will never go very far.

I could tell you how my Irish kinfolks were treated but it wouldn't prove anything.


----------



## huntmore (Dec 19, 2010)

I wish people would use their brains all the time!!!!!!!!!


----------

