How Did Grant Win The Civil War

Ulysses S Grant once said, “In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.” The former president and general was one of the most important figures of the 19th Century. Grant led the Union to win the Civil War, became one of the few presidents of the century to support civil rights, and led America as president through Reconstruction.
After the Civil War broke out in 1861, Ulysses S Grant became Colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteer, but later that summer, President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to brigadier general. When his forces captured Fort Donelson in Tennessee during 1862, Grant achieved his first significant victory of the war. Over a year later in July 1863, Grant and his army captured Vicksburg, …show more content…
Even though Grant himself owned a slave, he reportedly wanted to free him as soon as possible () and did in 1859. The former president passed multiple acts into law that gave or protected the voting rights of African Americans. From 1869 to 1870, Grant supported the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave all races the right to vote,and helped push it through Congress to become ratified on February 3rd, 1870. The amendment was met with heavy resistance by the South and the Ku Klux Klan used violent tactics to prevent African Americans from voting. The opposition led to President Grant passing the Third Force Act on April 20th, 1871, which prohibited the Klan’s tactics and gave the president the authority to use military force on them. Eleven years later in 1872, the law was deemed unconstitutional but the act had already done its part. Thousands of racists and Klansmen were arrested and nine South Carolina counties being put under martial law. Grant’s support of African American helped push multiple laws through Congress to prevent voting discrimination and pave the way for more