Jews and the Civil War: A Reader

17. Candidate Grant and the Jews

399 17 Candidate Grant and the Jews Joakim Isaacs General Grant and “The Hebrew Race” In 1868, when the Republican Party nominated General Grant for President, for the first time since the founding of the United States, the idea of a Jewish vote and the question of a Presidential candidate’s alleged anti-Semitism became a central political issue. The Jewish community at the time was not organized as it is today. The age of the Anti-Defamation League was in the future, and the B’nai B’rith, the only large Jewish organization, busied itself with internecine quarrels over whether meetings should be opened with a prayer and whether Gentiles should be admitted to membership. The B’nai B’rith kept completely aloof from the political question. In fact, the stimulus for arousing Jewish protest did not come primarily from Jewish groups, but rather from the Democratic press. The Democrats , badly shaken by the loss of the Southern wing of the party during the war and stung by Republican accusations that they had opposed the war effort and were traitors to their country, now faced an uphill struggle which pitted the most popular Union general against New York Governor Horatio Seymour. In seeking all the support they could get and searching for issues to employ in the campaign, the Democrats naturally looked to Grant’s Order No. 11 and the 300,000 Jewish votes.1 The New York Herald, a leading Democratic journal, pointed out that attracting Jewish support might help the campaign in two ways. “This thing is at least certain, that Reprinted, in abridged form, with permission from the American Jewish Archives 17:1 (1965): 3–16, copyright © by the American Jewish Archives. 400 Joakim Isaacs against General Grant every influence of money and votes that can be controlled by the Hebrew race in the United States will be put forth with acrimonious activity; and their power is by no means to be despised.”2 The Herald felt that the “Hebrews” would not forgive General Grant, especially since he had singled them out and had used the word “Jew,” which the paper felt had offensive connotations, instead of the more genteel appellation of “Hebrew” or “Israelite.”3 The Herald was only one of many Democratic papers that sought to arouse the “Jewish vote.” The Atlanta Constitution pointed to the great pertinacity with which the Jews clung to their “nationality,” and the paper was sure that Grant would get few Jewish votes.4 At the same time as the Democratic papers sought to inflame the Jewish vote by appeals to their religious loyalty, they attempted to explain just why Grant was an antiSemite . The New York World spoke of Grant’s order “as the brutal order which expelled hundreds of inoffensive Jewish citizens who were peacefully attending to their own affairs miles away from the scene of conflict,” and called upon Jews and all Americans to countermand Grant, just as Lincoln had countermanded Order No. 11.5 The La Crosse (Wisconsin) Daily Democrat, in a front-page article, alleged that a cotton speculator, seeking from General Grant a permit to trade behind the Union lines, had offered Grant one-quarter of the profits. Grant had refused, insisting that he wanted a greater share of the profits. The Jew then offered Grant a one-eighth share, which Grant accepted. When Grant got his share, an adjutant expressed surprise that the amount was so small, and, when told about the deal which Grant had made, he explained to Grant that one-eighth was less than one-quarter. As the story continues, it was then that Grant became a confirmed anti-Semite.6 This story in varying detail was given wide circulation in the Democratic press. Who Drove the Hebrews from His Camp? Not content with this jocular explanation alone, the Democrats revived the case of Grant v. Mack Brothers in attempting to give Grant’s anti-Semitism a more substantial base and to link the general with the illegal cotton trade. The story of this law suit began in December, 1862. Jesse Grant, the general’s father, like his Jewish fellow citizens, saw opportunity knocking on his door in the form of cotton trading. While Jesse Grant lacked what many Jews had in the way of capital, he did have a son in a position to be of great help to him; Candidate Grant and the Jews 401...