Ulysses S. Grant Event Timeline

 Ulysses S. Grant (18) Event Timeline
03/04/1869 – 03/04/1877

05/21/1868

Republican Convention in Chicago nominates Grant for President unanimously and by acclamation. Grant had not sought nomination; later wrote that he accepted it as an obligation. (Click here for more information about the 1868 Republican Convention.)

05/29/1868

Grant formally accepts the nomination. In Remarks to the Notification Committee he states that “I shall have no policy of my own to interfere against the will of the people.” His written Acceptance Letter of the same day is widely published, and ends with a widely-quoted phrase: “Let us have peace.”

11/03/1868

Election Day. Grant wins 72.8% of the Electoral College and 52.7% of the popular vote to defeat Democrat Horatio Seymour.

1869

01/19/1869

Remarks responding to a speech by John M. Langston, chair of a committee representing the National Convention of Colored Men.

01/23/1869

Editorializing in the New York Tribune, Horace Greeley, abolitionist and future presidential candidate, begins advocating a position that comes to be known as the “Liberal Republican” (in contrast to the “Radical Republican”) stance toward reconstruction. “Let the friends of Peace and Union unite upon the basis of Universal Amnesty with Impartial Suffrage, and they [violent racist gangs] will soon have vanished altogether.” He advocates amnesty for participating in the rebellion and restoration of voting rights.

02/10/1869

Congress counts electoral votes and formally declares Grant to be President.

03/04/1869

Inaugural Address. “I ask patient forbearance one toward another throughout the land, and a determined effort on the part of every citizen to do his share toward cementing a happy union. . . “

04/02/1869

“Warmly receives” the first prominent black public official ever to visit the White House, Lt. Governor Oscar J. Dunn of Louisiana. (New York Herald Tribune, 04/03/1869, p3)

04/07/1869

In Special Message, advocates for election in Virginia under the new state constitution to expedite Union readmission process.

04/10/1869

Signs act (16 Stat 40) authorizing submission of the Constitutions of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas to a vote of the People on the day the President deems best for the public interest. Allows the President to require separate votes on specific provisions in the Constitutions. Prior to admission of representation to Congress, the state legislatures must ratify the 15thAmendment.

04/10/1869

Signs Judiciary Act (16 Stat 44) increasing the number of Supreme Court Justices from seven to nine. This is the last change in the size of the Supreme Court.

04/10/1869

Approves Act (16 Stat 45) granting married women property rights in the District of Columbia.

05/10/1869

Completion of the first transcontinental railroad, the first continuous railroad line across the United States. Ceremonies are held in Promontory, Utah.

05/14/1869

By Proclamation 181, pursuant to Law enacted on 04/10/1869, directs that the draft Constitution for Virginia be submitted to voters for ratification on 07/06/1869.

05/19/1869

Proclamation 182 clarifying Federal 8-hour a day policy.

05/29/1869

Participated in memorial service at Arlington Cemetery.

07/13/1869

By Proclamation 184, pursuant to the Law enacted on 04/10/1869, designates 11/30/1869 as time for submitting for voter approval Constitution drafted in Mississippi. Requires separate votes on some provisions.

07/13/1869

In a Letter to the President of the Dominican Republic announces the appointment of his long-time aide, Orville Babcock as a special agent to gather information about Santo Domingo.

07/15/1869

By Proclamation 185, directs that the draft Constitution for the state of Texas should be submitted to voter approval on 11/30/1869.

09/24/1869

"Black Friday" financial panic ensues after the price of gold crashes.

12/06/1869

First Annual Message to Congress.

1870

01/10/1870

Transmits to the Senate for consideration an annexation treaty with Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). The treaty had been signed on 11/29/1869 and included a provision that the Dominican Republic could, in the future, be admitted as a State. Grant saw many benefits in the proposed annexation including control of a strategically important port, natural resources to use, and a potential destination for many former US slaves. (A 1871 Senate publication with many of the relevant documents may be downloaded as a pdf here.)

01/11/1870

Veto Message rejects the Rollin White Private Relief Bill denying White’s claim of revolver patent infringement. Claimed White’s patent prevented Union manufacturers from making repeating revolvers during the Civil War. (Veto is overridden in the Senate, sustained in the House.)

01/29/1870

Signs Executive Order addressing Virginia’s readmission to the Union, which occurred on 01/26/1870.

02/09/1870

Signs Joint Resolution providing for the Secretary of War to take meteorological observations a give notice “of the approach and force of storms.” (16 Stat 369) A new agency was formed in the Army Signal Service called the “Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce.” In 1890 that Division became the Weather Bureau in the Department of Agriculture.

02/26/1870

Signs Executive Order addressing Mississippi’s readmission to the Union, which occurred on 02/23/1870 (see 17 Stat 67).

03/14/1870

In Special Message, urges Senate to ratify Santo Domingo annexation treaty before expiration date.

03/30/1870

In interview with New York Herald, reprinted in other newspapers as well, makes the case for annexation of Santo Domingo.

03/30/1870

Notifies Congress in Special Message of his approval of the Fifteenth Amendment, which grants males of all races the right to vote.

03/31/1870

Signs Executive Order addressing the readmission of Texas to the Union, which occurred on 03/30/1870 (16 Stat 80).

03/31/1870

Special Message transmitting a treaty with Colombia for construction of an interoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Panama. This project is realized during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. (On July 13, 1870, reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations with a recommendation that it be ratified.)

05/24/1870

Issues Proclamation 192 warning against the Fenian Brotherhood's raids on British Army territory in Canada.

05/31/1870

Signs First Enforcement Act of 1870 (16 Stat 140) prohibiting official and private limitations on the right to vote, including acts of intimidation; makes it a federal crime to form groups with the intent to violate citizens’ constitutional rights including by going “in disguise upon the public highways, or upon the premises of another.”  The Act also made it a crime to knowingly violate Section 3 of the 14th Amendment (adopted in 1868), which prohibited office-holding by former officials who had sworn to uphold the Constitution.

05/31/1870

Transmits to Senate in Special Message an agreement permitting more time to ratify Santo Domingo annexation treaty.

06/22/1870

Signs Act (16 Stat 162) to establish Department of Justice.

06/30/1870

Santo Domingo annexation treaty is rejected by Congress by a vote of 28-28. Senators cite the island’s political instability, corruption, and mixed-race population. (Useful background information can be found here.)

07/14/1870

In Special Message, communicates importance of building tighter commercial links with Latin American nations.

07/14/1870

Signs the Tariff Act of 1870 (16 Stat 256) establishing a duty on most fruit imported into the United States. Act is the precursor for 1872 revisions that involved a famous typo (See 06/06/1872 below.)

07/22/1870

At request of North Carolina Governor William Holden, directs Secretary of War to provide troops to suppress Ku Klux Klan violence.

08/22/1870

Proclamation 192 announces US neutrality in war between France and North German Coalition (Prussia).

11/08/1870

Midterm Elections. The Republican majority in the House dropped from 70% to 56% and in the Senate from 83% to 75%. Many Southerners still did not have voting rights.

12/05/1870

Second Annual Message to Congress. Urges Congress to consider reimposing military rule in parts of the South with Klan violence.

1871

01/13/1871

Special Message to the Senate on “outrages” in North Carolina. Forwards War Department accounts of racist and partisan violence in the former Confederacy.

01/17/1871

Special Message to the Senate on “disloyal organizations” intended to resist the laws or to deprive citizens of the United States of the protection of law or the enjoyment of their rights under the Constitution.” The attachments further recount racist and partisan violence across the South, emphasizing the Ku Klux Klan.

02/28/1871

Signs Second Enforcement Act of 1871 (16 Stat 433), placing national election administration under federal government control while empowering United States judges and marshals to supervise local polling places. (Click here for more information)

02/28/1871

In Act (16 Stat 440), creates the Steamboat Inspection Service with central office in the Treasury Department. Provides inspectors with authority to enforce detailed steamship safety regulations. (This link will download a PDF document with more information)

03/03/1871

Signs the Appropriations Act including language authorizing the President to prescribe rules and regulations for the civil service (16 Stat 514). Grant establishes the Civil Service Commission as an advisory board.

03/03/1871

Signs Indian Appropriations Act (16 Stat 544), stating that "hereafter no Indian nation or tribe. . . shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty (16 Stat 566)."  The act also prohibits any "contract or agreement of any kind" with "any tribe of Indians" unless approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Secretary of the Interior, and in writing.

04/05/1871

In Special Message, refutes claims of presidential corruption during Santo Domingo’s attempted annexation.

04/20/1871

Signs Third Enforcement Act of 1871 also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act (17 Stat 13), empowering presidential use of armed force to combat voter discrimination and allowing suspension of habeas corpus to enforce the act if necessary. Section 3 of the act stated “That in all cases where insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combinations, or conspiracies in any State shall so obstruct or hinder the execution of the laws thereof, and of the United States, as to deprive any portion or class of the people of such state of any of the rights, privileges, or immunities, or protection named in the Constitution. . . it shall be lawful for the President, and it shall be his duty to take such measures, by employment of the militia or the land and naval forces of the United States. . . for suppression of such insurrection, domestic violence, or combinations. . .” (Click here for more information.)

05/03/1871

Issues Proclamation 199, warning citizens to abstain from committing any acts prohibited in the Third Enforcement Act of 1871.

05/10/1871

By Special Message, transmits to the Senate for ratification the Treaty of Washington, (signed by negotiators on 05/08/1871) to resolve questions between the United States and Great Britain. Senate ratifies on 05/24/1871, Grant ratifies treaty on 05/25/1871. Treaty is Proclaimed on 07/04/1871. (Also see below 06/01/1872, 09/14/1872.)

07/20/1871

About this date, the Haden Geological Expedition, in the midst of surveying the Wyoming Territory, begins exploring and documenting the the Yellowstone Valley, later a National Park (see 03/01/1872).

09/04/1871

In response to public outcry, a citizens committee, “The Committee of Seventy” was formed in New York City to investigate frauds committed by Tammany Hall under the leadership of “Boss” William Tweed. Attendees at a meeting heard a rousing speech by R. B. Roosevelt uncle of the future president.

10/08/1871

The Great Chicago Fire devastates Chicago, Illinois. On 10/09/1871 Grant by Telegram directs Lt. Gen. Phillip H. Sheridan to render all possible aid for victims of the fire.

10/12/1871

Issues Proclamation 200 citing the authority of the Third Enforcement Act of 04/20/1871 against the Ku Klux Klan in South Carolina, ordering all members to retire and surrender their resources to the United States government.

10/17/1871

By Proclamation 201, suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus in nine South Carolina counties.

12/04/1871

Third Annual Message to Congress. Among other things, calls on Congress "to consider" whether the "disabilities" imposed by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment should be removed. He points out that majorities in the South are likely to support candidates with similar views whether or not they are disqualified by their prior participation in insurrection.

12/13/1871

Removes Attorney General Amos Akerman from office. A vigorous anti-Klan enforcer, Akerman apparently had offended powerful Republican railroad interests (Foner, Reconstruction p 458).

12/19/1871

In a Special Message addresses the first Civil Service Commission. He had established this advisory committee under a law passed on 03/04/1871. The Message transmits their report and suggests further legislation may be beneficial.

1872

03/01/1872

Signs Act creating Yellowstone Park, “a certain Tract of Land lying near the Head-waters of the Yellowstone River.” The land “shall be set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”(17 Stat 32). Adminstration is placed “under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior” who was charged to “provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game” in the park.

03/13/1872

By Proclamation, appoints a three-member commission to study alternative routes for an Isthmian canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

04/05/1872

Signs An Act for the Relief of Sufferers by Fire at Chicago (17 Stat 51), ordering aid for Chicago Fire victims provided free of charge may be exempted from any import duty.

04/15/1872

Veto Message, first presidential veto of a private pension bill, an act granting a person money from the federal government. (Veto is sustained in the Senate)

04/19/1872

In Special Message to the House of Representatives, informs congressional members of the Ku Klux Klan’s actions in South Carolina.

05/01/1872 – 05/03/1872

Liberal Republican Convention in Cincinnati, nominates Horace Greeley for President.

05/10/1872

Signs “An Act to promote the Development of the mining Resources of the United States.” (17 Stat 91)  The Act declared that mineral deposits in public lands are “free and open to exploration and purchase. . . by citizens of the United States.”

06/01/1872

By Proclamation, directs the Department of Justice to discontinue prosecution of individuals holding office barred to them under the 3^rd section of the 14^th Amendment.

06/01/1872

Foresees “probable failure” of the Washington Treaty. (Grant Papers, vol. 23, p 156.) (See entry of 05/10/1871 above.)

06/05/1872 – 06/06/1872

National Union Republican Convention in Philadelphia re-nominates Grant unanimously. Grant formally accepts the nomination on 06/10/1872. (Click here for more information about the 1872 Republican Convention.)

06/06/1872

Signs Tariff Act of 1872 (17 Stat 230) a revision of the Tariff Act of 1870. The text as printed included a typographical error (see 17 Stat 235) removing tariffs from imported fruit instead of “fruit-plants.” The error cost the United States roughly $2 million in government revenue, worth an estimated $46 million as of 2022. (Click here for more information about the typo.)

07/09/1872 – 07/10/1872

National Democratic Convention, Baltimore, adopts the platform of the Liberal Republicans and also endorses their nominees as the Democratic candidates. (Click here for more information about the 1872 Democratic Convention.)

09/14/1872

Report of the Arbitration Panel under the Treaty of Washington, awards the United States $15.1 million for damages caused by British-built warships and illegal fishing. This method of resolving international disputes was novel and an important precedent; it consolidated the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Great Britain.

11/05/1872

Election Day. Grant wins with 82% of the electoral vote and 56% of the popular vote, defeating Democrat Horace Greely. Republicans retain strong majorities in the House and the Senate.

12/02/1872

Fourth Annual Message to Congress. "The rapidly increasing interest in education is a most encouraging feature in the current history of the country," due to efforts of the Bureau of Education. Commends a bill in Congress to allocate proceeds from public land sales for educational endeavors.

1873

01/06/1873

The House of Representatives commences investigation of Credit Mobilier and the Union Pacific Railroad.

02/12/1873

Signs the Coinage Act (17 Stat 424) establishing the mint as a bureau of the Treasury Department and specifying details about official coinage. Controversially, the Act did not authorize a silver dollar for domestic use (although it did authorize smaller coins—50-cents, 25-cents, and 10-cents, and a so-called “trade dollar”). The Act limited the legal tender use of silver to transactions not exceeding $5.00 in any one payment. Because of the limitations on silver, the Act became known as “The Crime of ’73.”

03/03/1873

Signs the controversial Salary Grab Act (17 Stat 485) one day before second-term inauguration, raising presidential, Supreme Court judicial, and congressional salaries.

03/04/1873

Second Inaugural Address.

08/05/1873

Approves more civil service rules in an Executive Order.

09/18/1873

European stock market crash initiates Panic of 1873, as American railroad and bank failure spurs financial crisis.

12/01/1873

Fifth Annual State of the Union Message.

1874

01/05/1874

In Special Message, informs Congress of resolution with Spain concerning the capture of U.S. ship Virginius on 10/31/1873.

01/20/1874

Signs an Act (18 Stat 4) repealing congressional salary increases passed in the Salary Grab Act of 03/03/1873 after public outcry and protest.

04/22/1874

Vetoes Inflation Bill arguing it would destroy the nation’s credit. (Veto is sustained in the Senate)

09/15/1874

Issues Proclamation 220, ordering dispersal of white supremacist paramilitary organization the “White League” in Louisiana.

11/03/1874

Midterm elections produce very large gains for Democrats in the House. Democrats gained 94 seats to achieve a 62% majority. This was the first Democratic majority in the House since the Civil War. Democrats had the majority in the House almost continuously until 1895. Republicans retained the Senate majority in 1874..

11/18/1874

The first National Convention of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) meets in Cleveland, Ohio. The WCTU was influential not only in passing Prohibition, but also in promoting women’s suffrage.

12/07/1874

Sixth Annual State of the Union Message.

1875

01/10/1875

Signs the Hawaiian Reciprocity Treaty, allowing for free trade between the U.S. and Hawaii and granting the U.S. special economic privileges.

01/13/1875

In Special Message, issues report on Louisiana’s controversial 1872 gubernatorial election and defends federal military interference with the White League’s crimes.

01/14/1875

Signs Specie Resumption Act (18 Stat 296) and sends Congress a Special Message announcing his approval. Among other things, the bill announced restoration of exchange of us “legal tender notes” for coins starting 01/01/1879.

03/01/1875

Signs Civil Rights Act of 1875 (18 Stat 335), guaranteeing all citizens, regardless of color, access to public accommodations and service on juries.

05/10/1875

Two hundred and thirty-eight people are accused of conspiring in the “Whiskey Ring Scandal,” charging distillers and Treasury Department officials with colluding to evade liquor taxes. Upon further investigation, Grant’s Private Secretary Orville E. Babcock is later implicated.

05/29/1875

In a Letter to Harry White, President of the Pennsylvania Republican Convention, says “I am not, nor have I been, a candidate for a renomination.” This is later republished in many newspapers.

07/29/1875

Received a letter from an admirer warning of threats from Whiskey Ring members threatening to implicate General Babcock, Grant’s assistant. Grant forwards the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, Benjamin Bristow, with a note, or Endorsement (pages 231-232) expressing his desire that the Whiskey Ring prosecution should “Let no guilty man escape. . . .” Grant’s statement was widely published around the country beginning on 08/10/1875.

09/29/1875

Speech to Society of Army of Tennessee meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. Widely published with great interest. Grant expresses the importance of public education in preserving freedom and democracy in the United State. Grant’s lively interest in policy innovation added to speculation that he might seek a third term.

11/22/1875

Announces the death of Vice President Henry Wilson in Executive Order. Wilson’s death marked the fourth time a Vice President died while in office.

12/09/1875

Private Secretary Orville E. Babcock is indicted and charged with “conspiracy to defraud the Treasury of the United States” in the Whiskey Ring Scandal. Every participant previously charged has been convicted. (Click here for more general information on the Whiskey Ring.)

12/07/1875

Seventh Annual Message. Recommends a constitutional amendment to forever maintain free, nonsectarian, and compulsory public education.

12/15/1875

House of Representatives adopts the Springer Resolution, declaring that a President seeking a third term contrary to prior precedent “would be unwise, unpatriotic, and fraught with peril to our free institutions.” This is seen as a warning to Grant and mistrust of his earlier announced intentions not to run (see 05/29/1875).

1876

02/08/1876

Trial of Orville E. Babcock begins in St. Louis. (Click here for more information on the Whiskey Ring.)

02/12/1876

Gives deposition relating to trial of Presidential aide Orville E. Babcock. Grant suspects lead prosecutor Benjamin H. Bristow is attempting to use the conviction of Babcock in route to presidential candidacy.

02/24/1876

Orville E. Babcock’s trial ends with his acquittal after 18 days.

04/18/1876

Vetoes Act Fixing the Salary of the President, citing the nation’s ever-evolving circumstances and cost of living. (Veto is sustained in the Senate.)

05/04/1876

In Special Message, objects to informing Congress (as proposed in a House Resolution passed 04/03/1876) each time he is absent from the “seat of Government.” Tartly rejects any notion that the President’s executive duties can only be performed in Washington, DC. He itemizes the absences from Washington of many of his predecessors.

06/14/1876

The Republican National Convention, on the seventh ballot, nominates Rutherford B. Hayes for President and William A. Wheeler for Vice President. (Click here for more information about the 1876 Republican Convention.)

06/25/1876

General George A. Custer and 266 Americans are killed by Sioux Indians in the Battle of Little Bighorn, intensifying anti-Native American sentiment and negating Grant’s Peace Policy.

06/27/1876 - 06/29/1876

The Democratic National Convention nominates Samuel J. Tilden for President and Thomas A. Hendricks for Vice President. (Click here for more information about the 1876 Democratic Convention.)

08/01/1876

By Proclamation 230, announces Colorado has joined the Union.

11/07/1876

Election Day. Results are inconclusive. Democrat Samuel Tilden wins the popular vote, but is one electoral vote shy of the number needed to defeat Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. Twenty electoral votes from three states are heavily disputed. (Click here for more information.)

11/23/1876

Signs Executive Order banning sale of fixed ammunition and metallic cartridges to Native Americans.

12/05/1876

Eighth Annual Message to Congress. Advocates for free public education in the United States and expresses his commitment to mandatory disenfranchisement for individuals unable to read and write English.

1877

01/29/1877

In Special Message, approves of electoral commission established by Congress to resolve disputed 1876 presidential election.

02/26/1877

The Compromise of 1877 is the basis for settling the 1876 presidential election. Democrats concede the Presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for the complete withdrawal of federal troops from the South. The agreement confirms the end of the Reconstruction Era and ushers in Jim Crow laws.

03/02/1877

Senate accepts the Compromise of 1877. Electoral commission awards disputed electoral votes to Hayes, who becomes president. (Download PDF of Congressional Commission Report)