"whatever happens there will be no turning back." -U.S. Grant
Grant reading the newspaper at Mt Mcgregor shortly before his death in 1885.
As victorious General and two term President U.S. Grant spent his last days on the porch of the cottage on Mt McGregor in upstate New York reading the papers, he must have had a sense of the rapidly changing world he was soon to leave behind. Although focused on documenting his past in the form of memoirs to provide for his family, I’m sure the ailing general still had the opportunity to contemplate the implications of the advancements taking place all around him. This was of course not a man who was new to change. All throughout his life Grant was witness to many significant changes in the world...
Grant in 1822 was born into a young nation growing out of it’s agrarian colonial roots, heading into the first industrial revolution and working tirelessly toward westward expansion. It was a time of inventions and advancements in travel, communication and manufacturing that were rapidly changing the antebellum landscape of America. Steamships, railroads and canals were rapidly developing more efficient transportation and allowing the expansion of commerce and settlement. The telegraph changed the way people communicated and brought together a loosely connected world.
1860's contruction of a telegraph line along a railroad in the west.
The Civil War, which Grant as lead Union commander witnessed first-hand, brought as wars are apt to do, a new wave of inventions and advancements, especially in medical care. Due to heavy casualties in battles, by necessity the begininngs of an organized ambulance system was developed that would make it's way into post-war civilian use.
Civil War ambulance crew.
After the war there was the period known as Reconstruction, but this was also referred to as the Gilded Age. During this era masses of immigrants came over from Europe looking for opportunity. Those in power took advantage of this swell in cheap labor for rapid industrial growth. The subsequent advancements overshadowed the corruption in politics and business at the time, and came at the expense of the impoverished underclass, hence the term Gilded Age. It was a time of political and social upheaval and Grant, as President, had the monumental task of keeping the nation in one piece during this time of incredible tumult.
Police attacking unemployed workers in New York in 1874.
Grant recognized the need for and supported the 15th Amendment which allowed the newly freed African American citizens the right to vote and I’m fairly certain realized it was an early step in their long battle for civil rights. The women’s suffrage movement as well as other human rights organizations were starting to grow in influence and Victoria Woodhull and Frederick Douglas were even on the 1872 ballot for the US Presidency against Grant. During his presidency , as he watched the Native Americans losing ground in the battle to retain their lands and customs, Grant did what was in his power to protect their interests as much as circumstances would allow, realizing their inevitable fate in the midst of the rapidly developing country.
Victoria Woodhull and Frederick Douglas were on the 1872 Presidential ballot.
After leaving the presidency and traveling the rapidly modernizing world for a couple years, Grant came to the end of his life, suffering from throat cancer and resigned to his fate. After seeing so many changes in the country he dedicated his life’s work to, he was leaving it and the world at a time of significant historic milestones.
So what was happening in the world Grant left behind in 1885?
In transportation, the first motorcycles and automobiles were being developed in Europe by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz and would soon revolutionize travel worldwide. Grant loved horses and carriage rides, it’s hard to say how he would have approached the idea of ‘horseless carriages” and motorized bicycles. It’s possible he would have enjoyed them as he was always fascinated with speed. In the air John Montgomery continued his glider trials helping to usher in the modern aviation industry. As the United States worked to improve it’s transportation infrastructure, in Hadley NY only a few miles from where the General spent his final days, one of only a few parabolic bridges ever constructed was built spanning the Sacandaga River.
1885 Daimler Reitwagen.
1885-6 Benz Motorwagen.
There were advancements in health care as the first appendectomy was performed and a rabies vaccine was developed by Louis Pasteur. The revolutionary "germ theory of disease" was just starting to take hold and in response Jacob Lister was pioneering aniseptic medical practices which would lead to a great reduction in infections.
Grant, having signed off on the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, understood the importance of preserving wild places. As part of the early conservation movement in 1885 California established the first forest commission and, closer to Grant’s final home, legislation was passed to protect the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves in New York. A bill was also passed establishing the first state park at Nigara Falls, NY. Theodore Roosevelt, future champion of conservation, was out west seeing firsthand the devastating effects of overuse on the natural environment.
Louis Pasteur in his laboratory in 1885.
Tinfoil Phonograph c.1885
Upper Ausable Lake, Adirondacks by Seneca Ray Stoddard 1890.
History of Thomas Edison's first motion picture.
Electrical Exhibition in Philadelphia 1884
In communications, the telephone was seeing more widespread use as the American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) was incorporated. As far as the age of electricity, Grant had to look no farther than the incandescent electric lights hanging inside the cottage on Mt McGregor. The Hotel Balmoral, a 300 guest resort hotel constructed on Mt. Mcregor the year before Grant arrived, was one of the first hotels to have electricity, employing an Edison generator system supplying both the hotel and Grant's cottage with lighting. It goes without saying the advancements made possible through the successful harnessing and transmission of electrical power.
The first skyscaper, the Home Insurance Building in Chicago IL., was ushering in a new era of architecture and development in cities worldwide. In response to growing cities the first electric trolley systems were being developed which would lead eventually to the mass-transit systems of today. In 1883 Leo Daft tested his electric engine Amphere on the same railroad line that would bring Grant to his final home on Mt McGregor. The way people dined was changing as well as the first cafeteria opened in New York City.
Leo Daft's Amphere experimental electric engine in the 1880's.
The struggle for workers rights and equality was slowly creeping forward. Sarah E. Goode was the first African American woman to receive a patent for her hide-away bed. In Wyoming there was a major incident involving the death of many mine workers in the attempt to unionize for better treatment and wages. Famous Apache warrior Geronimo was making his last desperate bid to resist the federal government as the Indian Wars slowly fizzled out.
Apache warrior Geronimo (Right) with followers in 1886.
A monument was being dedicated to founding father George Washington in the nations capital and the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City from France, further showcasing America’s strong national pride.
Statue of Liberty being unpacked in 1885.
Grant watched as the world he lived in rapidly changed around him, he watched the "ratcheting" forward of civilization and social change. Grant was of course influenced in some ways by the changes around him, but in many ways Grant seems to have remained the same, a constant amidst a flurry of change. Always steadfastly working towards those things that he perceived as his duties, always moving forward never turning back. I think it makes little sense to spend too much time trying to suppose what Grant would have made of the world after his death. I think he had his time and place but in many ways the priorities of his life and how he dedicated himself to them are a timeless lesson to future generations. Civilizations come and go, wars start and end, but throughout all human nature remains the same, and I think Grant grasped this ageless truth, and it allowed him to look at the world with a broader perspective than many of his contemporaries. He appeared to resist many of the negative preconceptions of the age and was more open and accepting of progressive viewpoints. He was able to see beyond the barriers of race, sex and religeon to a deeper understanding of humankind, and he died with a singular desire to see peace and prosperity among the greater community of people on the earth.
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