(1/?) Apparently #Grant is trending right now because of a History Channel exclusive. Just thought I'd drop in my nerd-historian perspective on Grant, because he was truly one of our best presidents. Granted, that's not a high bar, but still.

(2/?) After the Civil War, the question was "what do we do w/ the South?" The questions were endless. How would they treat former Confederate politicians, commanders, common soldiers? How would politics be reshaped? What would labor relations look like? How active would the N be?

(3/?) A LOT of ppl at the time simply wanted to punish the Confederates, but really not change much else. This was kinda the approach of Andrew Johnson, the pres after Lincoln was shot, who was acting president when the Civil War ended.

(4/?) The Republicans (back then the more progressive party) had a decently sized wing called the Radical Republicans who thought freed PoC needed to be given rights to make sure they weren't put into another form of slavery, but Johnson always butted heads w/ them.

(5/?) The Freedman's Bureau (which was really called the Bureau of Refugees, Freeman, & Abandoned land) was created as a pretty remarkable experiment in social democracy. Andrew Johnson only allowed it to continue out to avoid beef w/ the Republicans, tho.

(6/?) Grant, tho, fully supported it. The Bureau did an incredible amount given its limited budget: it protected freed ppl from violence; gave out food, clothes, & medicine; created schools, colleges, & hospitals; resettled ppl; made laws in the regions their offices were set up;

(7/?) regulated labor relations and minimum wage; levied taxes. They even served poor white laborers & small farmers, in addition to freed people of color. The problem was, w/ its meager budget & fierce S opposition, it faced a lot of criticism & attacks.

(8/?) Grant fought to keep it going, tho there were clashes between his administration & the head of the Bureau. But as white southerners grew more violent in their opposition, white northerners began to care less about the Bureau & the rights of freed ppl.

(9/?) The Republicans were also changing, from a party focused on civil rights to a party focused on industry. In 1872 Congress stopped funding the Bureau, tho Grant at least kept troops down South & did what he could to keep Reconstruction going in the minor ways he could.

(10/?) Sadly, when he left the White House, all bets were off. Reconstruction ended completely when Rutherford Hayes came to office. Reconstruction's failure troubled Grant, who had even contemplated designating land just for free PoC to keep them away from white racism.

(11/?) In the aftermath, freed PoC (as well as white Republicans and leftists for their ideology, but the PoC just for their skin color) faced unprecedented terror & violence. The Black Codes were written into law.

(12/?) Btw, if you've ever heard Grant's administration was corrupt, that is correct. However, that was during a time when EVERY administration was cartoonishly corrupt. Grant wasn't any more corrupt than the average president of his era, he just had a bigger spotlight on him.