Fun Fact: The farm where 1st Bull Run was fought in 1861 was owned by Wilmer McLean. After that battle, McLean moved his family "way out west in Virginia" to be away from all of the fighting. He bought a house in a little town call Appomattox, and it was in this house that Grant accepted Lee's surrender. So the war started in his yard, and ended in his parlor.
If I recall correctly in this surrender at Appomattox, Lee mentioned that his men were starving, so Grant gave the order to send food to Lee's men. Doing so allowed for negotiations to run more smoothly.
Grant asked how many men Lee had, and if they needed rations. Lee told him he had no idea how many men he still had, but that he was sure they were all hungry.
When Lee saw General Parker he was a bit shocked. Parker was the first Native American general in American history and a close friend of Grant’s. Lee then walked over to Parker and outstretched his hand saying “At least there is one real American here.” General Parker shook Lee’s hand and replied “We are all Americans here.”
@@dhdusd Arthur C. Parker, The Life of General Ely S. Parker: Last Grand Sachem of the Iroquois and General Grant's Military Secretary Buffalo, New York: Buffalo Historical Society, 1919, p. 133
@@dhdusd a lot of the stuff written about Lee is lost cause myth propaganda designed to make Lee seem like a hero and Grant and his staff like a bunch of drunken fools They probably left this out since it made Lee look bad and Grant and his staff good. Lost cause myth writers can’t have that in their books on Lee
Fun Fact: General Grant, and Confederate General Longstreet, were best of friends. After the war, Grant appointed Longstreet to a number of positions within his own cabinet and presidency. Longstreet would go on to work for Teddy Roosevelt, and William McKinley in their presidencies, even being appointed the U.S. Marshal (highest law enforcement officer in the country) for the state of Georgia.
Fun fact, many of the generals on both sides served together, went to school together and were personal friends. The civil war was an intensely personal war, where friends and acquaintances looked at each other through a rifle sight. It was an interesting time to be alive.
It’s amazing how they were able to resolve the matter like true gentlemen. Grant did not belittle Lee for surrendering and treated him and his men respectfully and the same with Lee as well.
If they settled this disaster of a war like gentlemen it would never have happened and the south would have and should have accepted slavery needed to go and not rebelled.
@@oceanofoil That's a figure estimated over a century ago. It's believed at least 820,000 casualties were formed. Civillian numbers could take that to over a million people. We're talking about the ENDING of the conflict.
@@Anomaly-uz9pr It’s not fair to place the blame for a war on the men who fight on the front lines. The blame belongs with the leaders who start said war. The men on the ground are simply doing their duty.
@@TheNightWatcher1385 I’m a soldier I know this these generals are some of the leaders they supported the political aspects of the confederacy They supported slavery and keeping the way of life they thought was justified but it doesn’t make them correct I had family on both sides of the civil war they killed each other over this
Grant telling his men to not celebrate was a quality of humility but also, it was a tragic war. Granted, all wars are tragic but this war was more of mourning then a sense of pride after the victory.
Brothers fighting brothers, Northern and Southern Americans dying over the rights of large plantation owners' ownership of human beings to work their property and get filthy rich off of them. The 99.9% of Americans fighting over the rights of the 0.1% of Americans.
This wasn't compassion. The Union knew that they had no moral high ground here. The states joined the Union voluntarily, and like the Mafia the Union's position was that you can't leave. They also knew that the South had sympathy because they were literally fighting the same fight that founded the country, against unjust taxation in a revolutionary war. So job #1 came to be to give the war some kind of moral justification, and so history was rewritten that racist white Northerners were actually dying to free black slaves, which doesn't pass the smell test.
@@BoopSnoot the problem with your argument of "racist white Northerners" is that you are generalizing. I'm not saying there wasn't racists in the North, there were, but there's no way of truly knowing how many of the 300k in the Union were racist. Further proof of that was Robert Gould Shaw
The origional terms did not allow enlisted men to keep their horses. After Lee asked for a clarification on this point, Grant admitted he didn't realize how many confederate soldiers had their personal horses with them, and changed the terms without Lee having to formally ask. This was an amazing gesture on Grant's part
@@jeremybstudentpilot5315when a war concludes you have the option of rubbing salt in the wound, military tribunals and the like. History has shown this usually sows the seeds of the next war.
Just last year, I had the unique opportunity to visit Grant’s Tomb in New York City. I’ve had a deep interest in the Civil War all my life; since I was in elementary school. Now here I was 40 years later standing inside the tomb of Grant himself. It was incredible.
In a letter home to his parents, my great-grandfather writes about how his cavalry unit is dispatched to Appomattox. The letter is dated around the time of this meeting. However, my great-grandfather lost his horse in a battle, and thus missed out on attending this meeting.
Such as shame would’ve been awesome to have a relative who witness history guessing by your comment he didn’t die in war hope he got to live a happy live
Lee was a fellow graduate of West Point like Grant. He was a graduate in 1829 though, whereas Grant graduated in 1843. Lee graduated 2nd in class at West Point, while Grant only graduated 21st in his class.
@@easyenetwork2023 there is a big diference between being the best in the class and being the best in performing the job. Those two do not always coincide and Lee and Grant are the perfect example.
He was going on Lincoln's recommendations. That said, I have always thought that, if he had lived, race relations, a lot of things would be better even today.
@@brianwalsh1401 I agree, but I really thing that letting the CSA leaders vote again was a down fall. They just started JC laws and had the KKK to enforce them. Lincoln had a good idea
In hindsight, they didn't deserve such magnanimity. After the surrender, Lee made a speech to his men essentially saying that he only lost because of sheer numbers; and the former rebels made up a bunch of romanticist BS to tarnish Grant's reputation while painting themselves as "tragic heroes" when they were anything but. They should've been hanged.
@@pyromania1018 What Lee said was, he surrendered to Lincoln's kindness as much as Grant's numbers. After the war he did a try as a leader to mend relations between the north and south. That said, the revisionist could not say that the couldn't say they died for slavery so they created the great lost cause. Against all odds, they knew they couldn't wend. It was really got going by the UDC and the SCV. The south was hit so hard during the war they couldn't stand on there on til about 1900, the CW vets were dying out and the statues went up. But if you notice the ones who got all the crap started, excused themselves with the 20 slave law, along with being in the rear to bring up supplies for the army. I think hanging would have just been to much, it would have made a guerilla war.
You have to admit that's a great nickname for his initials. I'm glad he softened up with it by the end of the war and was able to create the surrender him and Lincoln came up with. It was much better for everyone given there was a lot of animosity given how brutal the war was.
my two faorite generals surrendered to grant at that ginale moment of the war and longstreet told lee we have to surrender lee was like id die a thousand deaths than surrender to grant but longstreet convinced lee to surrender ;ee and longstreet were friends longstreet was grants best man at his wedding grant and longstreet were both friends
@@DarthVaderReturns1This is so wrong it would bother me if I didn't say anything. When Lee received Grants letter offering to meet and negotiate the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia he handed Longstreet the letter without saying anything then Longstreet read it and said NOT YET. Soon after Lee received word from General Gordon that he had "fought my corps to a frazzle" and could do nothing nothing without help of the majority of Longstreet’s troops, who were not able to support because it would mean leaving open a crucial section of the front. Lee then said "Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths." This statement referred to the famous Shakespeare line "A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once." Before he rode through the lines... Longstreet told Lee that even though he thought Grant would give good terms, if he didn't Lee shouldn't hesitate to leave the meeting and continue the fight. If Lee and Longstreet are your two favorite Generals then learn more about them and what they actually did don't disrepect Darth Caedus by telling incorrect history.
Chamberlain ordered the soldiers salute from the northern soldiers to the southern. He and Grant both wanted them all to be brought together as Americans
Grant was aware of Chamberlain's education, being a college professor, which is why Grant wanted him to witness the surrender ceremony. He knew Chamberlain would write a very scholarly piece as a matter of military record. So Grant knew the event would be recorded accurately as a historical record. Chamberlain was a one star General at the time.
Also Chamberlain was feared to be mortaly wounded at the Battle of Petersburg and I believe that's when they promoted him to General. The crazy thing is he went on to live a long life only to eventually pass away due to his wound.@golfhound
I love how Lee, upon discovering Parker to be a Seneca, remarks, "It is good to have one real American among us." To which Parker replied, "We are all Americans.".
Then Sam Houston was asked. He denied but would not take up arms against the Union. I sometimes wonder how different all would have turned out if Houston did take command. He himself led the Texas army against the Mexican army and won even though he was greatly outnumbered
@@michellekinder3051 yes sir! I’m from Texas my family fought in the Texas Revolution. in the final battle of San Jacinto. His name was Ambrosio Rodriguez and was good friends with general Sam Houston.
Most Southern generals only joined the Confederate Army because their state seceded. It was more important to serve their state than country. If Virginia didn't secede there's a good chance the commander of the army of the Potomac would have been Robert E. Lee.
@@conservativetexan2289 Just keep in mind that there would be no need for said defense had the southern planter class not started a war so that they could keep people as property. Or to be more precise, so that they could expand the institution of slavery to new territories and thus fortify their economic and political dominance. Which is actually even worse.
I'm so glad they're finally doing Grant justice. I'm a reading a biography about him right now. The meeting with Grant and Lee was actually a little more awkward in real life, but it doesn't make for dramatic TV. I still think Lee is overrated. He was pretty bitter and snobbish at the meeting at Appomattox, but he has no choice as his army had almost completely melted away around after the retreat from Petersburg.
I agree. Grant has been denigrated and Lee overrated by Lost Cause historians (and ultimately collective memory) since the war. We hear that Lee was great but only lost to Grant's butchering of countless soldiers. In reality, Grant proved great at strategy and operations. While he was capturing Vicksburg in an incredible operation with feints and dashes, Lee was sending his men charging in the open at Gettysburg in a frontal assault that stood no chance, with a very poor strategy (going into Pennsylvania). Bonekemper's books on this are good.
@Emil.Fontanot Grant may have had the advantage in numbers, but Lee had advantages of knowing the terrain better, having Virginian civilians feed him intel, and being on the defensive and able to entrench their positions. It's really absurd how people claim Lee is a military genius because he exploited his advantages, while at the same time arguing Grant is pedestrian because he exploited his advantages. And yes, Lee was old school. You pretty much admit as much when you say his inspiration was Napoleon. The Napoleonic wars ended almost half a century before the Civil War. Also, Moltke was an innovator, he didn't just use outdated Napoleonic strategies like Lee did.
@Emil.Fontanot Do you even hear yourself? "Lee wasn't old school, he followed doctrine from 50 years earlier. Moltke wasn't an innovator, he just innovated stuff." Look, Lee was a good tactician. Grant was a good strategist. While Lee was always thinking "how can I win this battle," Grant was always thinking "how can I win this war." You claim that Lee's only real mistake was Pickett's charge, but that's thinking small picture. The mistake there was invading the North, a mistake Lee had already made, and should have leaned from. Upon leaving Virginia, Lee loses some of his biggest advantages, and it cost him dearly both times. He was never going to threaten Washington, it was one of the most heavily fortified cities on earth at the time. Lee could have instead sent troops to aid in Vicksburg, which ended up being an absolutely crushing strategic defeat for the confederates. Lee's poor strategic thinking led to losing control of the Mississippi river in the west, and vast, irreplaceable casualties in the east.
Fun fact: Grant was an Ardent abolitionist.his father-in law had granted him I slave when he married he tired to free him immediately but the law of the state he was living in at the time stated that he had to pay a “manumission fee.” Grant being poor could not afford it, however he saved up for a year and freed that slave as soon as he had the money. During the time which he was a slave Grant would not let that man work on his farm because he thought it was morally wrong to profit off his labor. After the slave was freed he and Grant remained life long friends. Double fun fact. Fredrick Douglas gave a eulogy at grants funeral and said he was “ “a man too broad for prejudice, too humane to despise the humblest, too great to be small at any point”. Triple fun fact Grant’s parents refused to attend his wedding because that family of the girl he was marrying owned slaves. Quadruple fun fact: Robert E Lee was know by his contemporaries to be an especially brutal slave master. Summary: The virgin lee vs the chad Grant
When Lee's father-in-law died, his will stipulated that his slaves should be freed. Lee forged it to say "in 5 years", but when the deadline came close, he tried to extend it in a court case, as everyone who knew him expected him to honor it, even fellow slaveowners. The (pro-slavery, white supremacist) judge called him out on his BS and ordered him to abide by the will, but he kept dithering and making excuses, then used the war to distract people from the issue, to the disgust of his contemporaries. One slave got fed up and ran away, and when he was brought back, he was flogged and covered in salt water to make the wounds hurt more.
Another interesting fact: Arlington National Cemetery is on Robert E. Lee's plantation. The government buried the war dead there to forever say to Lee: "These men died because of you."
America has become a federal centralized socialist disaster. Technically, after November 3rd 2020 it no longer exists. You are now controlled by a "VICHY GOVERNMENT" which in turn is controlled by the chicoms, bankers and globalists. Sorry to burst your bubble.
1:02 the South had Indian officers and generals as well, General Stand Watie was the last Confederate General to surrender… and was a full blood Indian. Two of my great uncles were full Colonels, who were Indian and commanded all Indian Confederate regiments. The South also had Hispanic, Jewish and even Asian soldiers.
They all saw so much death and violence that celebrating must have been hard to fathom. It reminded me of the story of a North Vietnamese soldier who returned to his home after the war. He simply sat down to a quiet dinner with his mother. That was the only celebration he wanted. And the two never spoke of it again.
It was when Lee remarked to the Seneca Indian that “It is good to see a real American here” and the Senecan replied back with “we are all Americans” the wounds truly began to heal.
0:56 there were many American Indians who fought in the Confederacy. Actually the only American Indian General in the Civil War was Confederate General Stand Watie, a full blood Cherokee. He also was the last Confederate General to surrender. Two of my great uncles were Creek Indians and both were Confederate Colonels in all Native American regiments. The were also many Confederate Jews, such as Confederate Secretary of War, Judah Benjamin. There where also many Hispanic Confederates and even a few Asian American Confederates.
This is true. But few and far between. It almost seems like your putting up these examples because you are on the defensive. Don't shill for the Confederacy.
@@mr.larocca5150 Any and all Native American’s that served in the federal army during the civil war were traitors to their people. That’s why most of them that fought, chose to do so with the Confederacy.
I'd like to think that it was much simpler than this video would present. Two old warriors, tired of war. A very matter of fact, gentlemanly dealing. Grant treated Lee with the utmost respect, and Lee returned the favor and walked away from the matter with his head held high. It was said the Union soldiers lining the streets removed their hats in respect to Lee and his men for fighting so hard. More importantly, the war was over. Many a man was free. Those under the chains of slavery, those under the chains of military bond, were free to go and do as they pleased. Many black folks were released from their bonds on this day, only to realize that nothing had really changed - the whole country still looked down upon them, North and South, and it was up to them to go and make their own, and that they did. A monumental time in history.
@@andrewwestman2407 I believe the actors who portrayed Teddy Roosevelt and FDR were Brits as well. They are just objectively better actors than us Americans.
The things about the surrender is there is a measure of COMPASSION, the need to heal and the time to come back together. There was a sense of unity between the Confederacy and the Union. The South realized they needed the North's industry and business to survive. The North needed the South's agriculture to feed and clothe. So when things came back together, they all said "Thank God you are still there, let's do business". US Grant saw to it that this would be the end game for the conflict.
From the description, "During the civil war, the South had Robert E. Lee leading its armies right from the very beginning." No, that is completely untrue. Lee did not have a field command until the Seven Days Battles in 1862. Before that he was just Jefferson Davis's military advisor. His command was solely over the Army of Northern Virginia. Davis refused to appoint a general in chief over all Confederate armies. The Confederate Congress did finally force him to appoint Lee to that role, but it was in 1865, when it was far too late to make any difference.
This Lee felt ridiculous. He looks like Beck Bennett with an over-long fake beard. And his accent was bizarre. (Did they speak like that in Virginia? The Confederate officers in this thing all sounded preposterous.) And somehow I doubt Lee would have gone for this strange daydreamy gaze-at-the-wall routine at Appomattox.
there was a part when Grant asked Lee to persuade the other confederate generals to end the war, he said thats not to him, thas for his president, and Grant answers that there is only one president now, the president of the United States, i loved that moment
Actually fun fact Lee refused to shake hand with Parker he thought he was African American but he went back to shake hand with Parker when he was told he is native American.
Lee coasted on a few easy victories he got over comedically incompetent generals who weren't willing to fully commit to battle. Once he fought someone who was actually willing to fight back and more concerned with winning the war and ending the pointless bloodshed perpetuated by rich aristocrats who thought they should be allowed to own people he collapsed like a house of cards.
I think Lee was an excellent warrior, and worthy of his military respect. But he was a Virginian and slave owner. Also a relic from times past (this video...) He did not fit the Union mold.
Usually when a northern army was beaten or stalled in a battle they'd retire. Grant just kept coming he'd be stopped at a battle and would execute a flanking maneuver to the left. Forcing Lee to keep falling back towards Richmond.
Grants army was well fed, well provisioned, and always reinforced by fresh troops. Lee’s army was literally starving. The first thing the Union troops did at Appomattox was set up mess tents and feed the rebel soldiers.
@@leekessler3995 What kind of idiot commits themselves to a battle knowing they are under supplied and his troops are malnourished. Some vain glorious idiot. Basic warfare, an army fights on its belly.
Failing to put Lee and all the confederate leadership on trial for treason was a colossal strategic mistake. I understand the sentiment and reasoning for not doing so but it allowed the south to develop a farcical false narrative about the cause of the war, what they were fighting for and that allowed the defeated rebels to morph into the Klan, establish the Jim Crow laws and terrorize black Americans for more than a century after their total military defeat. I was born and raised in southern Virginia by the way and still live here. Lincoln and Grant failed miserably by not punishing those who committed treason and sparing the lower ranks from going through a reeducation process. We STILL are seeing the results of this failure. Tell me of another country that had a civil war of this magnitude where the LOSING side gets to erect monuments and name half their infrastructure after their treasonous leaders?
...and then, less than 5 days later, President Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre, while watching the play "Our American Cousin", by John Wilkes Booth...and died the next morning. The Northern part of the United States was plunged into sorrow... Again.
It always makes me roll my eyes when I hear southerners still feeling raw about the end of the Civil war. Do they not realize what the Union could have done to their ancestors in the immediate aftermath of the war? There could have been hundreds and hundreds of hangings. The Union could have carried out a brutal campaign of retribution and left the south even further in ruins. They showed mercy, and a willingness to make the country whole again. But I guess when you have millions of people who didn't (and sadly still don't) want the country to be whole in the first place, you end up with a recipe for decades and decades and decades of resentment and anger.
The resentment comes twofold. First, the immediate aftermath for the south was a continuous struggle against carpetbagger Republicans (the party became infamous for corruption for a decade or two) who bought up land and material for cheap. So while Grant and pals were magnanimous, the same could not be said of politicians and opportunistic civilians. Second, the modern conversation is built on a great deal of ridicule for the south. There's an annoying amount of talk about the Civil War that typically ends with a bunch of people singing Union Dixie without a sliver of good faith. Understandably, that breeds a certain kind of disposition against the Union.
You do understand that even before the U.S. was a country, there were people who didn't want it to be whole. In other words, "wholeness" is not something that is unfamiliar regarding the United States.
@@chaspfrank Yeah they were pretty good friends and would serve alongside each other in government during Grants presidency. A very uncommon friendship
@@lewisbrelandMaybe the Russo-Japanese war. Before the smashing victory of Admiral Togo, most of the battles were "draws" (read: massacres where nothing was acheived but mourning families)
The best thing to take away from the surrender was that Grant was not happy, not smug, not angry, not punitive. He was actually more somber and sad than anything, knowing what it had cost everyone to reach this point. That's one reason why he was so lenient and gave gracious terms. Just put down your guns, and go home.
The end of this terrible war was an act of God, the two leaders of two nations divided by politics came together and started to put the one Nation under God together again
The "Under a god" part did not come to be until 1954, thanks to McCarthyism. The Founding Fathers were clear the United States is not a Christian nation.
I want to THANK YOU Colonel Doug Douds for acknowledging the presents of and telling a bit of who wrote up the surrendering document! Brigadier Colonel Ely Parker whom was a Seneca Indian. And gave the best come back out of respect to Gen Lee after Lee looked at him and said "Finally a real American" and Ely's reply was "Were all American's"!!! At the McClean house is a pencil drawing by Ely Parker of all that was in that room that day also!. Another story of Indian history that should be taught! Thanks Sir!
Grant was a great leader and he definitely knew he had to walk a fine line with reconciliation. Push too hard and he would have created a deep resentment that would have boiled over and created another uprising. A prime example of this is the French demanding that the Germans suffer humiliation after the Great War. Their demands at Versailles is one of the biggest causes that allowed one of the most evil men in history to rise.
Even though they fought each other but and the end they put aside the past and became the one. That's how you make peace, that's why I love America even though I'm not the one.
We didn’t “become one”. The south went back almost immediately to oppressing, terrorizing and exploiting Americans they saw as inferior. The peace was ruined by Johnson. Lee should have hanged along with Davis, every piece of Confederate property seized and the power of the Southern planters annihilated. Traitors like to call it a war between brothers; it was a war between patriots and slaving traitors
Grant’s eastern campaign was not great. It did follow what he had learned at both Vicksburg and Shiloh, press the battle at all costs. The reason this worked in the west - and ultimately in the east - was that the CSA generals, including Lee did not expect it as every other USA general had always withdrawn when they were held to stalemate or were forced to retreat. Lee could not adjust to Grant’s tactic which ultimately led Lee to the conclusion that he needed to surrender. In effect, Grant “out generated” Lee by doing the unexpected. Lee was able to delay the inevitable, but only at great cost to his forces. He knew the Union forces were losing more personnel than he, but he started out with fewer than Grant to begin with. The delay was more a tribute to Lee’s forces being able to be more agile than Grant’s than it was to Lee’s leadership. Had Lee been saddled with green troops, they would not have been as able to move to build the defensive works that allowed them to block the Union attacks and deliver withering blows to the Union soldiers.
Lee was the man of the times, he rejected guerrilla warfare, to try to bring the best peace, but the Radicals later forced the issues and the KKK came and 12 years of guerilla warfare,in which the South defeated Reconstruction, the South rose again,
🎶 Away down South in the land of traitors, rattlesnakes and alligators 🎶 Right away! Come away! Right away! Right away, come away! 🎶 Where cotton’s king and men are chattels Union boys will win the battles . . .
Dont wanna talk Grant down. But he was just the next in a long list of the commanders of the northern army. And he just happened to be in command when the south was done. He certainly did better than some of his predecessors. But he gets overpraised in this documentary. The plan that defeated the south actually was the one from Winfield Scott. The legend who already served as brigadier general in the war of 1812. First his plan was laughed at and most thought the CSA would be defeated quickly. Scott already knew that this will take some years and made his anaconda plan. After everyone else accepted the fact they realized Scotts plan of strangling the CSA by blocade and cutting through its territory. It was the Mississippi campaign and the buring of Atlanta, Richmond and other important CSA cities that broke their neck. Lee never was defeated in a decisive battle to end the war. The war was decided behind his back. Grant just came to the honor of bringing the terms. And that he did well, as explained.
i mean sure, the anaconda plan definitely played a massive part in the eventual downfall of the confederacy, but mind you all the stuff you mentioned later, aka the mississippi campaign, the capture of atlanta, richmond, etc... that was grant. whilst sherman is often credited with capturing atlanta/savannah and the rest of the carolinas, he did so under grants orders. grant's strategy when he took over was to hit the confederacy on every single front, giving them absolutely zero chance to recover or transfer divisions to different theatres as they had been doing throughout the war, most notably at chickamauga and forts henry/donelson. not to mention, grant also decisively beat the confederates out of kentucky, tennessee and mississippi, and successfully cut the confederacy in two by capturing all the major strongholds along the mississippi river with the exception of new orleans. so yes... whilst scott's plan was very effective (and wasn't laughed at ever... not sure where you read that... in fact, the war department implemented scott's plan almost immediately, the issue however was that the union didn't possess a navy large enough to blockade the entirety of the confederacy), grant absolutely deserves to be credited with breaking the confederacy's neck.
The people were Celebrating that Robert E Lee and his army we’re surrendering from general grant American Civil War had ended in 1865 and the slavery was over
At the time you basicly were. The camera you needed to stay still while it took the shot. It most cases people did not smile for photos because it took a while for the shot to be made that you would begin to fatigue and if you began to lose the smile it would alter the shot. I know that's not the most detailed explanation.
Definitely a very important moment in our country's history. The terms of this surrender were indeed lenient, and I actually agree with this happening because it wasn't a time for gloating or prosecutions regarding treason or anything like that, it was about the nation going though the healing process "together". To get past this tragedy because in all honesty, nobody ever wins a civil war, the whole country always looses regardless of which side or faction won and which side lost. Also I'd like people's opinion but from what I researched? had the confederate General, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson not died on May 2 1863 after the course of the war likely would of possibly gone in a totally different direction, while its not certain if that would of ended up changing which side would of won the entire war, but I agree with what many civil war historians believe, is that had Stonewall Jackson not been accidentally shot or had he not contracted "pneumonia" or survived his wounds, either the Confederates would of won the battle of Gettysburg or that battle might not of even happened at all. Not sure if it would of prevented this fateful battle, but very possibly it would have been a confederate victory. I think many would agree that it was a major setback for the Confederate army considering Stonewall Jackson was one of their best millitary officers. What do you think?
It's impossible to know if Jackson's death had any major effect on the outcome of the war. But claiming it would is like claiming "The South would have won if every bullet fired by Union soldiers had missed", or "the South would have won if Sherman had suffered a fatal heart attack before he captured Atlanta." Such hypotheticals are either silly or simply impossible to determine for sure. The war was far too complex and lengthy to reasonably claim that it all came down to the death or the choices of a single man.
It's a difficult question. Jackson *was* a damn good commander who distinguished himself in many circumstances...but let's not forget that his record was not untarnished. He had multiple devastating losses handed to him, he and his armies found themselves *lost* more than once whilst trying to regroup with Lee, and his death lands him in the nostalgic category of military officers who we will never know their true capabilities of. Could certain things have changed if Jackson had survived? Perhaps. But as many historians point out, the majority of Southern military command did not understand the war as it needed to be fought. Lee himself failed to see the forest for the trees, he failed to see that winning individual battles and skirmishes were not the key to forcing a Union peace negotiation. I would argue that as soon as Grant got into command and both he and Sherman got their strategies down, it was too little, too late for the South. They just didn't have the men, the resources, and the time to fight a Union army that had finally gotten their shit together instead of being run by a clown like McClellan, who could've potentially ended the war or at least crippled Southern governance early on if he'd just grown a pair.
@@TheStapleGunKid here’s a fun little fact to dwell during the battle of Fredericksburg General Meade actually broke through Stone wall Jackson’s line and had he gotten any support instead of the constant assault on Marye’s Heights that battle would have had quite the different outcome.
@@Can_O_Crayola Johnston and Clebourne seemed to be among the few who understood a the importance of strategy and manpower, but both were ignored and/or silenced by Confederate leadership. One might say that the hubris which led to secession also contributed to CSA's ultimate demise.
Johnson botched Reconstruction. Grant should have taken Lees sword and tossed it on the dirt with contempt. The South was broken after the War. They were occupied. The undeserved kindness of the war allowed rats like the KKK to arise and terrorize Americans the traitors and the their spawn saw (and see) as inferior. Grants softheartedness and Johnson’s racism have left a festering wound in the nation
@@eq1373 he most certainly didn’t; he was at constant odds with the Republican Party who were trying to do Reconstruction; to the point they almost impeached him. Stop making up history to feel better about your loser ancestors
The magnitude of this generosity and humility of grant can not be explained to students today, I have tried. They can’t see past the cruelty of slavery, they say they should have killed every confederate. Focusing only on the blood drawn from the lash and not paid for with the sword.
Soldiers aren’t born into soldiering. Soldiers don’t spend every breath of their lives from birth to death being soldiers. Soldiers are paid. The civil war lasted for 4 years. Slavery had gone on for centuries. Centuries of children born living suffering and dying under the lash, seeing their family and friends sold off never to see them again, making men disgusting like Lee fat and wealthy and happy. Every confederate officer, should have been should have dangled after it was made they had the honor of sewer rats.
Because they see what Grant and Lincoln did not. The consequences of allowing former confederates to return to their positions of social, political, and economic power created the conditions for the failure of reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the despicable violence of the civil rights era up to now. Allowing a soft peace allowed the lost cause farce to take root.
@@evelynkolk9129 - No, it's because they are, more than likely, members of Gen Z who have been brainwashed to hate everything and anything about the Confederacy.
You really should read more about grants campaigns especially Vicksburg, he is unironically one of the greatest generals in world history and even developed tactics used in ww1 when foreign observers saw both sides. Lee was not the great general the south props him up to be suffering more inconclusive and lost battles than wins.
George Thomas is pretty damn close to Grant and is largely unknown…just as he’d like it. Lee was too hidebound to his precious Virginia, and let the rest of the Confederacy melt away to protect Virginia…which he didn’t even do too well even at that.
Letting the federated leadership walk away free, instead of prosecuting and punishing their traitorous actions , was an error of judgement of catastrophic proportions. The nation is still paying for that error today.
The Union side had 4x more people, 5x more industrial output, 3x more soldiers, 2x the agricultural output, naval dominance, etc That it took 4 years to win, and with such losses, was nothing but an embarassment for the Union.
Lincoln wasn't a saint dude multiple times he violated the Constitution, people's right's and planned on sending all the freed slave's back to Africa that's why Liberia exists.
@@kommando5562 I'm reading a biography on Grant and the first time Secretary of War Stanton went to meet Grant, he mistook a Medical Officer for Grant, shaking his hand. Stanton hadn't expected Grant to be so short, to have such a plain uniform and an unassuming appearance! On a couple of occasions, Grant actually let newspaper reporters and crowds of people mistake his medical officer for him so that he could escape the crowds. Grant wasn't one for speeches or being the center of attention.
Narrator: (Giving detailed analysis of the events and people involved) My Brain: "Ulysses S. Grant! You invite me to lunch and show up an hour late, DRUNK!?!"
A lot of modern historians miss the fact that, at the time, it's hard to quantify the Southern states actions as treason. Before the Civil War began, there was a heated debate as to whether or not the United States was more of a single unified nation state (the union) or more of a confederation where states gathered together because they consented to be governed. A lot of the laws and precedents that unite us now as a unified, Federal Republic were encoded after the Civil War and probably encoded in order to clarify the nature of the United States. However, what the Southern states did wasn't really unprecedented at the time. In the War of 1812, the New England states had largely sat out the war. Many New England states continued to profit handsomely from trade with the British Empire. While they hadn't formally seceded, they had done everything but and in a time of war no less. The reason was primarily because a war with Britain was viewed as potentially ruinous to the New England maritime-based economy. Sound familiar? Well, the Southern states largely seceded because the abolition of slavery was likely to be ruinous to the Southern agrarian-based economy. Therefore, under a more anti-Federalist viewpoint, the Federal government had ceased to guard and nurture the interests of the southern states, therefore the contract was broken and the southern states should consider themselves as free to leave the union. Ultimately, the US obviously benefitted from maintaining the Union. However, I find that many modernist views ignore the actual situation at the time in favor of takes that are heavily colored by modern perceptions and post-Civil War statutes. I personally view the Civil War as sort of the ultimate culmination of the Federalist/Anti-Federalist debate. We are now seeing this debate resurface under a different guise and different names in the modern era where states are challenging the laws of the Federal government. Ultimately, I tend to support a more Anti-Federalist approach. I've lived all over the United States. Policies that benefit the people in a large state or heavily urbanized states do not necessarily benefit the people in a smaller or more rural state. Each state should set the laws that its citizens deem best, with a few commonalities binding us together.
The South also had a native American leader who was one of the last ones to surrender and a slave owner so quit trying to play like the North was only one who cared about the natives. It was the North and the Union policy that put those natives in camps
Fun Fact: Ulysses Simpson Grant was not the General's actual name. He was born Hyrim Ulysses Grant. To be appointed to West Point one must be officially sponsored by one's U.S. Senator. The Senator who wrote the appointment letter for Grant was a family friend and wrongly believed him to be named after his mother's maiden name which was Simpson. His name was never legally changed. A similar mistake was made during the West Point appointment of Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower. His birth name was David Dwight. But he had his name legally changed some time after his appointment to West Point and before becoming President.
Lee could have saved thousands of lives by accepting the military leadership offered by Lincoln. He choose instead to defend slavery. That should be his lasting legacy.
People do not understand how significant General Grant's actions in the surrender. Grant went beyond what would have been his military authority by declaring no Confederate solider or officer that was surrendering would ever be prosecuted as a traitor.
Despite all of this generousity, the South formed the KKK and continued oppression of blacks with segregation. It still continues to thia day with Confederate flags hidden behind "heritage" and statues of sessionist leaders all over the south
These men fought lived through hell in a war against each other, and when it came time to end it...They were genteel. It puts our current divide in perspective.
The Southern veterans then went on to form the KKK and torture and murder Americans they saw as inferior. You dress a monster up in a suit and teach him what fork to use but it’s still a monster
Interesting because this is not at all how it happen. The US army occupied the south from 1865-1877. But southerners were supposed to go home and live in peace while the occupation help suppress the elections for over a decade and took advantage of southern people. Interesting perspective they have.
@@cchappell06Reconstruction wasn’t generous…reconstruction was sabotaged. In the years between 1865 and 1873 African Americans were being given the ability to fully economically and politically integrate. The Freedman’s Bureau insured their rights were protected, land was appropriated for their use. The old southern slaveocracy may have very well died; but by allowing the traitors the ability to meddle in national politics the were able to strong arm the liberal half of the nation into pulling out of the South. Reconstruction died and Jim Crow was born
@@CherryCokeNixon Lincoln died before he could have much of an impact. Johnson was handing out pardons left right and center to every slaver and traitor who kissed his ass properly, when the slaveocracy should have been getting stretched necks and having every inch of land confiscated. The only people who think the kindness shown to the South was good are either children or sympathizers to the racist treason of that scum.
Fun Fact: The farm where 1st Bull Run was fought in 1861 was owned by Wilmer McLean. After that battle, McLean moved his family "way out west in Virginia" to be away from all of the fighting. He bought a house in a little town call Appomattox, and it was in this house that Grant accepted Lee's surrender. So the war started in his yard, and ended in his parlor.
Wow what are the odds 😂😂. History is so awesome studying rn to become a teacher thx for this
Yep, I watched Ken Burn's Civil War, too.
@@thatdoyleguy wish i could have the narrator narrate my life
Yes I watched oversimplified so I know this. ;-;
Hurry up martha,there's another war out here
--Wilmer McLean
If I recall correctly in this surrender at Appomattox, Lee mentioned that his men were starving, so Grant gave the order to send food to Lee's men. Doing so allowed for negotiations to run more smoothly.
Grant asked how many men Lee had, and if they needed rations. Lee told him he had no idea how many men he still had, but that he was sure they were all hungry.
@@Zinj1000he also sent foot for there horses also.
When Lee saw General Parker he was a bit shocked. Parker was the first Native American general in American history and a close friend of Grant’s.
Lee then walked over to Parker and outstretched his hand saying “At least there is one real American here.” General Parker shook Lee’s hand and replied “We are all Americans here.”
What is your source for that?
@@dhdusd Arthur C. Parker, The Life of General Ely S. Parker: Last Grand Sachem of the Iroquois and General Grant's Military Secretary Buffalo, New York: Buffalo Historical Society, 1919, p. 133
@@dhdusd Can't tell if you're genuinely interested or want to challenge the information
Why, do you have another source that corroborates? I've read volumes on Lee and never heard of this. Sounds contrived.
@@dhdusd a lot of the stuff written about Lee is lost cause myth propaganda designed to make Lee seem like a hero and Grant and his staff like a bunch of drunken fools
They probably left this out since it made Lee look bad and Grant and his staff good. Lost cause myth writers can’t have that in their books on Lee
Fun Fact: General Grant, and Confederate General Longstreet, were best of friends. After the war, Grant appointed Longstreet to a number of positions within his own cabinet and presidency. Longstreet would go on to work for Teddy Roosevelt, and William McKinley in their presidencies, even being appointed the U.S. Marshal (highest law enforcement officer in the country) for the state of Georgia.
He also served as US Ambassador to France under Grant.
Well, Grant was married to Longstreet's cousin and Longstreet was Grant's groomsman at the wedding.
Fun fact, many of the generals on both sides served together, went to school together and were personal friends. The civil war was an intensely personal war, where friends and acquaintances looked at each other through a rifle sight. It was an interesting time to be alive.
@Ddgi-u73 pretty much all the generals knew each other from west point.
@@orion3706 Not France, the Ottoman Empire.
It’s amazing how they were able to resolve the matter like true gentlemen. Grant did not belittle Lee for surrendering and treated him and his men respectfully and the same with Lee as well.
680,000 dead wasn't exactly courteous.
If they settled this disaster of a war like gentlemen it would never have happened and the south would have and should have accepted slavery needed to go and not rebelled.
@@oceanofoil That's a figure estimated over a century ago. It's believed at least 820,000 casualties were formed. Civillian numbers could take that to over a million people.
We're talking about the ENDING of the conflict.
@@Anomaly-uz9pr It’s not fair to place the blame for a war on the men who fight on the front lines. The blame belongs with the leaders who start said war. The men on the ground are simply doing their duty.
@@TheNightWatcher1385 I’m a soldier I know this these generals are some of the leaders they supported the political aspects of the confederacy They supported slavery and keeping the way of life they thought was justified but it doesn’t make them correct I had family on both sides of the civil war they killed each other over this
Grant telling his men to not celebrate was a quality of humility but also, it was a tragic war. Granted, all wars are tragic but this war was more of mourning then a sense of pride after the victory.
Brothers fighting brothers, Northern and Southern Americans dying over the rights of large plantation owners' ownership of human beings to work their property and get filthy rich off of them. The 99.9% of Americans fighting over the rights of the 0.1% of Americans.
This wasn't compassion. The Union knew that they had no moral high ground here. The states joined the Union voluntarily, and like the Mafia the Union's position was that you can't leave. They also knew that the South had sympathy because they were literally fighting the same fight that founded the country, against unjust taxation in a revolutionary war. So job #1 came to be to give the war some kind of moral justification, and so history was rewritten that racist white Northerners were actually dying to free black slaves, which doesn't pass the smell test.
@@BoopSnoot "unjust taxation" XD don't make me laugh. The greatest joke of the century, the South fighting against taxation🤣🤣
@@cobytang or the South was fighting for Civil Liberties despite wanting to hold onto a belief that infringes on the civil liberties of all humans.
@@BoopSnoot the problem with your argument of "racist white Northerners" is that you are generalizing. I'm not saying there wasn't racists in the North, there were, but there's no way of truly knowing how many of the 300k in the Union were racist. Further proof of that was Robert Gould Shaw
The origional terms did not allow enlisted men to keep their horses. After Lee asked for a clarification on this point, Grant admitted he didn't realize how many confederate soldiers had their personal horses with them, and changed the terms without Lee having to formally ask. This was an amazing gesture on Grant's part
They should have taken the horses. They went on to terrorize freedmen.
@@jeremybstudentpilot5315when a war concludes you have the option of rubbing salt in the wound, military tribunals and the like. History has shown this usually sows the seeds of the next war.
@@jeremybstudentpilot5315 Get over it.
@@Francis-m2d well I will tell you to get over oppression.
@@jeremybstudentpilot5315 You really think the horses made the difference in those individual's desires?
Just last year, I had the unique opportunity to visit Grant’s Tomb in New York City. I’ve had a deep interest in the Civil War all my life; since I was in elementary school. Now here I was 40 years later standing inside the tomb of Grant himself. It was incredible.
The Man that saved the Union!
Have always wondered who’s buried there.
The most important lesson to be learned here: Be Dignified in Defeat, and be Gracious in Victory. ✌🏼
Maybe if the French had learned that lesson at the end of WW I, WE could have avoided WW II
@@dalepeto9620 EXACTLY!!! THANK YOU!!!! 🙏🏼
@@dalepeto9620 It wasnt just the french fault. dont blame everything on them
Losers say nothing and winners say less
@@JohnSmith-rw8uh The way they treated Germany after WW1, yeah it was.
In a letter home to his parents, my great-grandfather writes about how his cavalry unit is dispatched to Appomattox. The letter is dated around the time of this meeting. However, my great-grandfather lost his horse in a battle, and thus missed out on attending this meeting.
Such as shame would’ve been awesome to have a relative who witness history guessing by your comment he didn’t die in war hope he got to live a happy live
@@fredericfrancoischopin1178 He did. :)
One of my 3rd great grandpas was actually there with the 1st New York Light Artillery.
@@rc59191 I had a 3rd great grandfather there too at Appomattox and a 6th cousin US Grant
What regiment ?
Lee was a fellow graduate of West Point like Grant. He was a graduate in 1829 though, whereas Grant graduated in 1843. Lee graduated 2nd in class at West Point, while Grant only graduated 21st in his class.
And yet Grant was a far better strategist.
Only 21st? That's pretty good. Also intelligence can't be the only prerequisite for success in life. There are a lot of factors.
@@brianwalsh1401 I know, but standing might mean more at a military school in terms of discipline, though Grant was obviously a good General himself.
@@easyenetwork2023 there is a big diference between being the best in the class and being the best in performing the job. Those two do not always coincide and Lee and Grant are the perfect example.
@@brianwalsh1401 21st out of 39. So about middle of his class.
Grant was very gracious in his treatment of lee and the defeated confederate soldiers
He was going on Lincoln's recommendations. That said, I have always thought that, if he had lived, race relations, a lot of things would be better even today.
Lincoln and Grant thought by treating them more than fairly, given what they had wrought, the country could begin the healing process. Wise men.
@@brianwalsh1401 I agree, but I really thing that letting the CSA leaders vote again was a down fall. They just started JC laws and had the KKK to enforce them. Lincoln had a good idea
In hindsight, they didn't deserve such magnanimity. After the surrender, Lee made a speech to his men essentially saying that he only lost because of sheer numbers; and the former rebels made up a bunch of romanticist BS to tarnish Grant's reputation while painting themselves as "tragic heroes" when they were anything but. They should've been hanged.
@@pyromania1018 What Lee said was, he surrendered to Lincoln's kindness as much as Grant's numbers. After the war he did a try as a leader to mend relations between the north and south. That said, the revisionist could not say that the couldn't say they died for slavery so they created the great lost cause. Against all odds, they knew they couldn't wend. It was really got going by the UDC and the SCV. The south was hit so hard during the war they couldn't stand on there on til about 1900, the CW vets were dying out and the statues went up. But if you notice the ones who got all the crap started, excused themselves with the 20 slave law, along with being in the rear to bring up supplies for the army. I think hanging would have just been to much, it would have made a guerilla war.
unconditional surrender grant
You have to admit that's a great nickname for his initials. I'm glad he softened up with it by the end of the war and was able to create the surrender him and Lincoln came up with. It was much better for everyone given there was a lot of animosity given how brutal the war was.
Well it could have easily became a guerilla war....or easily could have been a "great terror," level of violence and killings
my two faorite generals surrendered to grant at that ginale moment of the war and longstreet told lee we have to surrender lee was like id die a thousand deaths than surrender to grant but longstreet convinced lee to surrender ;ee and longstreet were friends longstreet was grants best man at his wedding grant and longstreet were both friends
@@DarthVaderReturns1This is so wrong it would bother me if I didn't say anything. When Lee received Grants letter offering to meet and negotiate the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia he handed Longstreet the letter without saying anything then Longstreet read it and said NOT YET. Soon after Lee received word from General Gordon that he had "fought my corps to a frazzle" and could do nothing nothing without help of the majority of Longstreet’s troops, who were not able to support because it would mean leaving open a crucial section of the front. Lee then said "Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths." This statement referred to the famous Shakespeare line "A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once." Before he rode through the lines... Longstreet told Lee that even though he thought Grant would give good terms, if he didn't Lee shouldn't hesitate to leave the meeting and continue the fight.
If Lee and Longstreet are your two favorite Generals then learn more about them and what they actually did don't disrepect Darth Caedus by telling incorrect history.
I always thought that was a joke by Oversimplified
My favorite part of the surrender, is that they purposefully gave the white flag to chamberlain, because lee really respected him
Chamberlain ordered the soldiers salute from the northern soldiers to the southern. He and Grant both wanted them all to be brought together as Americans
I didn't know that. Thanks
Grant was aware of Chamberlain's education, being a college professor, which is why Grant wanted him to witness the surrender ceremony. He knew Chamberlain would write a very scholarly piece as a matter of military record. So Grant knew the event would be recorded accurately as a historical record. Chamberlain was a one star General at the time.
Also Chamberlain was feared to be mortaly wounded at the Battle of Petersburg and I believe that's when they promoted him to General. The crazy thing is he went on to live a long life only to eventually pass away due to his wound.@golfhound
@@crazybasser7066 I think Chamberlain is considered the last casualty of the war.
“With malice toward none, and charity towards all…” 😇
"War does not end when people put down their guns. It ends when they reconcile. Until then, war has only paused"
I love how Lee, upon discovering Parker to be a Seneca, remarks, "It is good to have one real American among us."
To which Parker replied, "We are all Americans.".
White Americans are really all from Europe.
Before Grant, Lincoln wanted Lee to lead the union. Lee denied. He was to loyal to his home of Virginia.
Then Sam Houston was asked. He denied but would not take up arms against the Union. I sometimes wonder how different all would have turned out if Houston did take command. He himself led the Texas army against the Mexican army and won even though he was greatly outnumbered
@@michellekinder3051 yes sir! I’m from Texas my family fought in the Texas Revolution. in the final battle of San Jacinto. His name was Ambrosio Rodriguez and was good friends with general Sam Houston.
Most Southern generals only joined the Confederate Army because their state seceded. It was more important to serve their state than country. If Virginia didn't secede there's a good chance the commander of the army of the Potomac would have been Robert E. Lee.
@steven smith protecting your land, home and family makes you a traitor? Sounds like something today’s government would say.
@@conservativetexan2289 Just keep in mind that there would be no need for said defense had the southern planter class not started a war so that they could keep people as property. Or to be more precise, so that they could expand the institution of slavery to new territories and thus fortify their economic and political dominance. Which is actually even worse.
I'm so glad they're finally doing Grant justice. I'm a reading a biography about him right now. The meeting with Grant and Lee was actually a little more awkward in real life, but it doesn't make for dramatic TV. I still think Lee is overrated. He was pretty bitter and snobbish at the meeting at Appomattox, but he has no choice as his army had almost completely melted away around after the retreat from Petersburg.
I agree. Grant has been denigrated and Lee overrated by Lost Cause historians (and ultimately collective memory) since the war. We hear that Lee was great but only lost to Grant's butchering of countless soldiers. In reality, Grant proved great at strategy and operations. While he was capturing Vicksburg in an incredible operation with feints and dashes, Lee was sending his men charging in the open at Gettysburg in a frontal assault that stood no chance, with a very poor strategy (going into Pennsylvania). Bonekemper's books on this are good.
@Emil.Fontanot Grant may have had the advantage in numbers, but Lee had advantages of knowing the terrain better, having Virginian civilians feed him intel, and being on the defensive and able to entrench their positions.
It's really absurd how people claim Lee is a military genius because he exploited his advantages, while at the same time arguing Grant is pedestrian because he exploited his advantages.
And yes, Lee was old school. You pretty much admit as much when you say his inspiration was Napoleon. The Napoleonic wars ended almost half a century before the Civil War. Also, Moltke was an innovator, he didn't just use outdated Napoleonic strategies like Lee did.
@Emil.Fontanot Do you even hear yourself? "Lee wasn't old school, he followed doctrine from 50 years earlier. Moltke wasn't an innovator, he just innovated stuff."
Look, Lee was a good tactician. Grant was a good strategist. While Lee was always thinking "how can I win this battle," Grant was always thinking "how can I win this war." You claim that Lee's only real mistake was Pickett's charge, but that's thinking small picture. The mistake there was invading the North, a mistake Lee had already made, and should have leaned from. Upon leaving Virginia, Lee loses some of his biggest advantages, and it cost him dearly both times. He was never going to threaten Washington, it was one of the most heavily fortified cities on earth at the time. Lee could have instead sent troops to aid in Vicksburg, which ended up being an absolutely crushing strategic defeat for the confederates. Lee's poor strategic thinking led to losing control of the Mississippi river in the west, and vast, irreplaceable casualties in the east.
When Americans fight Americans their is no winner...let us never divide again!!
Grant and Lee thought formidable enemy during the American Civil War have deep yearning for peace and great respect for each other! Salute! K
Lee was pleased with the generosity of Grant's terms of surrender, but didn't respect Grant as a general.
Fun fact: Grant was an Ardent abolitionist.his father-in law had granted him I slave when he married he tired to free him immediately but the law of the state he was living in at the time stated that he had to pay a “manumission fee.” Grant being poor could not afford it, however he saved up for a year and freed that slave as soon as he had the money. During the time which he was a slave Grant would not let that man work on his farm because he thought it was morally wrong to profit off his labor. After the slave was freed he and Grant remained life long friends. Double fun fact. Fredrick Douglas gave a eulogy at grants funeral and said he was “ “a man too broad for prejudice, too humane to despise the humblest, too great to be small at any point”. Triple fun fact Grant’s parents refused to attend his wedding because that family of the girl he was marrying owned slaves. Quadruple fun fact: Robert E Lee was know by his contemporaries to be an especially brutal slave master.
Summary: The virgin lee vs the chad Grant
When Lee's father-in-law died, his will stipulated that his slaves should be freed. Lee forged it to say "in 5 years", but when the deadline came close, he tried to extend it in a court case, as everyone who knew him expected him to honor it, even fellow slaveowners. The (pro-slavery, white supremacist) judge called him out on his BS and ordered him to abide by the will, but he kept dithering and making excuses, then used the war to distract people from the issue, to the disgust of his contemporaries. One slave got fed up and ran away, and when he was brought back, he was flogged and covered in salt water to make the wounds hurt more.
Is this true?
Another interesting fact: Arlington National Cemetery is on Robert E. Lee's plantation. The government buried the war dead there to forever say to Lee: "These men died because of you."
@@mrcheeto1006partially. It's only slightly embellished
Grant built a barn in Ohio with slave labor.
Grant is a legend and thanks to him America is they way it is today, thank you General/ President Grant !
America has become a federal centralized socialist disaster. Technically, after November 3rd 2020 it no longer exists. You are now controlled by a "VICHY GOVERNMENT" which in turn is controlled by the chicoms, bankers and globalists. Sorry to burst your bubble.
@@zackthebongripper7274 ok there bud maybe lay off the weed for a little bit, you clearly can’t handle it
@@jake2001c Not an argument. Come back when you can address my points in detail. Until then you lose.
@@zackthebongripper7274 i don't think anyone would want to waste their time on your bullshit
You LIKE the way things are now?
1:02 the South had Indian officers and generals as well, General Stand Watie was the last Confederate General to surrender… and was a full blood Indian. Two of my great uncles were full Colonels, who were Indian and commanded all Indian Confederate regiments. The South also had Hispanic, Jewish and even Asian soldiers.
Even the Irish came and formed the Irish brigades to help with the cause
More than 150 years since this happened, and I feel emotional about this.
They all saw so much death and violence that celebrating must have been hard to fathom.
It reminded me of the story of a North Vietnamese soldier who returned to his home after the war. He simply sat down to a quiet dinner with his mother. That was the only celebration he wanted. And the two never spoke of it again.
It was when Lee remarked to the Seneca Indian that “It is good to see a real American here” and the Senecan replied back with “we are all Americans” the wounds truly began to heal.
0:56 there were many American Indians who fought in the Confederacy. Actually the only American Indian General in the Civil War was Confederate General Stand Watie, a full blood Cherokee. He also was the last Confederate General to surrender. Two of my great uncles were Creek Indians and both were Confederate Colonels in all Native American regiments. The were also many Confederate Jews, such as Confederate Secretary of War, Judah Benjamin. There where also many Hispanic Confederates and even a few Asian American Confederates.
This is true. But few and far between. It almost seems like your putting up these examples because you are on the defensive. Don't shill for the Confederacy.
@@mr.larocca5150 Any and all Native American’s that served in the federal army during the civil war were traitors to their people. That’s why most of them that fought, chose to do so with the Confederacy.
You were believable until you said Asian Confederates.
Lost Causers are insufferable.
@@mr.larocca5150 😮😅😂
Lee also married into George Washington's descendant.
Lee’s wife was Washington’s granddaughter
@@JohnnyRebKy Exactly. Which came with some profitable perks.
His dad signed the Declaration of Independence and was Washingtons best horse soldier
I'd like to think that it was much simpler than this video would present. Two old warriors, tired of war. A very matter of fact, gentlemanly dealing. Grant treated Lee with the utmost respect, and Lee returned the favor and walked away from the matter with his head held high. It was said the Union soldiers lining the streets removed their hats in respect to Lee and his men for fighting so hard. More importantly, the war was over. Many a man was free. Those under the chains of slavery, those under the chains of military bond, were free to go and do as they pleased. Many black folks were released from their bonds on this day, only to realize that nothing had really changed - the whole country still looked down upon them, North and South, and it was up to them to go and make their own, and that they did. A monumental time in history.
The colorization of Lincoln is stunning.
The actor that played Grand did really well
He was incredible. Blew my mind when I heard his British accent lol.
@@andrewwestman2407 I believe the actors who portrayed Teddy Roosevelt and FDR were Brits as well. They are just objectively better actors than us Americans.
The things about the surrender is there is a measure of COMPASSION, the need to heal and the time to come back together. There was a sense of unity between the Confederacy and the Union. The South realized they needed the North's industry and business to survive. The North needed the South's agriculture to feed and clothe. So when things came back together, they all said "Thank God you are still there, let's do business".
US Grant saw to it that this would be the end game for the conflict.
From the description, "During the civil war, the South had Robert E. Lee leading its armies right from the very beginning." No, that is completely untrue. Lee did not have a field command until the Seven Days Battles in 1862. Before that he was just Jefferson Davis's military advisor. His command was solely over the Army of Northern Virginia. Davis refused to appoint a general in chief over all Confederate armies. The Confederate Congress did finally force him to appoint Lee to that role, but it was in 1865, when it was far too late to make any difference.
Two of my Great-Great-Grandfathers rode with Grant at Vicksburg. Iowa Cav. hurrah!
They couldn’t find a actor that looks more like Lee than that ?
Don't look like grant either
looks more like sherman
@@matthewtew3182 Agreed, but the actor's cool. He really grew on me.
This Lee felt ridiculous. He looks like Beck Bennett with an over-long fake beard. And his accent was bizarre. (Did they speak like that in Virginia? The Confederate officers in this thing all sounded preposterous.) And somehow I doubt Lee would have gone for this strange daydreamy gaze-at-the-wall routine at Appomattox.
Too many Do-Nuts to be the real Lee
Y'all need someone older to depict Lee, that reenactor looks nothing like him.
there was a part when Grant asked Lee to persuade the other confederate generals to end the war, he said thats not to him, thas for his president, and Grant answers that there is only one president now, the president of the United States, i loved that moment
Actually fun fact Lee refused to shake hand with Parker he thought he was African American but he went back to shake hand with Parker when he was told he is native American.
Because Lee was a traitor with the honor of a dog with mange.
WTF is an "African American" and "Native American"? Quit being politically correct you mook. These are blacks and Indians.
He fought to keep black people in chains but apparently had never seen one
Lincoln, and Grant, understood that before and after the war those men were Americans and should be treated as brothers
Lee coasted on a few easy victories he got over comedically incompetent generals who weren't willing to fully commit to battle.
Once he fought someone who was actually willing to fight back and more concerned with winning the war and ending the pointless bloodshed perpetuated by rich aristocrats who thought they should be allowed to own people he collapsed like a house of cards.
I think Lee was an excellent warrior, and worthy of his military respect. But he was a Virginian and slave owner. Also a relic from times past (this video...) He did not fit the Union mold.
Usually when a northern army was beaten or stalled in a battle they'd retire. Grant just kept coming he'd be stopped at a battle and would execute a flanking maneuver to the left. Forcing Lee to keep falling back towards Richmond.
Grants army was well fed, well provisioned, and always reinforced by fresh troops. Lee’s army was literally starving. The first thing the Union troops did at Appomattox was set up mess tents and feed the rebel soldiers.
@@leekessler3995 What kind of idiot commits themselves to a battle knowing they are under supplied and his troops are malnourished. Some vain glorious idiot. Basic warfare, an army fights on its belly.
@@robrussell5329Lee was unsuited to the mission he took on. He achieved costly tactical victories when he needed to conserve his force.
Failing to put Lee and all the confederate leadership on trial for treason was a colossal strategic mistake. I understand the sentiment and reasoning for not doing so but it allowed the south to develop a farcical false narrative about the cause of the war, what they were fighting for and that allowed the defeated rebels to morph into the Klan, establish the Jim Crow laws and terrorize black Americans for more than a century after their total military defeat. I was born and raised in southern Virginia by the way and still live here. Lincoln and Grant failed miserably by not punishing those who committed treason and sparing the lower ranks from going through a reeducation process. We STILL are seeing the results of this failure. Tell me of another country that had a civil war of this magnitude where the LOSING side gets to erect monuments and name half their infrastructure after their treasonous leaders?
Sure and the war was just because of slavery right? How shallow
...and then, less than 5 days later, President Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre, while watching the play "Our American Cousin", by John Wilkes Booth...and died the next morning.
The Northern part of the United States was plunged into sorrow...
Again.
It always makes me roll my eyes when I hear southerners still feeling raw about the end of the Civil war. Do they not realize what the Union could have done to their ancestors in the immediate aftermath of the war? There could have been hundreds and hundreds of hangings. The Union could have carried out a brutal campaign of retribution and left the south even further in ruins. They showed mercy, and a willingness to make the country whole again. But I guess when you have millions of people who didn't (and sadly still don't) want the country to be whole in the first place, you end up with a recipe for decades and decades and decades of resentment and anger.
The resentment comes twofold. First, the immediate aftermath for the south was a continuous struggle against carpetbagger Republicans (the party became infamous for corruption for a decade or two) who bought up land and material for cheap. So while Grant and pals were magnanimous, the same could not be said of politicians and opportunistic civilians. Second, the modern conversation is built on a great deal of ridicule for the south. There's an annoying amount of talk about the Civil War that typically ends with a bunch of people singing Union Dixie without a sliver of good faith. Understandably, that breeds a certain kind of disposition against the Union.
You do understand that even before the U.S. was a country, there were people who didn't want it to be whole. In other words, "wholeness" is not something that is unfamiliar regarding the United States.
Dixiecrats, amirite?
@@robertswitzer990 MAGA*
@@RamonesFan201 No. I chose my words carefully and correctly, Johnny Reb
Grant knew what was coming with the Crimean War and WWI.
Crimean War came a decade before the Civil War. But yes, he was in tune with the changing times militarily.
Him and Longstreet were the only ones who really understood the war they were fighting.
@@rc59191 Longstreet was the Best Man at Grants wedding to Julia Dent.
@@chaspfrank Yeah they were pretty good friends and would serve alongside each other in government during Grants presidency. A very uncommon friendship
@@lewisbrelandMaybe the Russo-Japanese war. Before the smashing victory of Admiral Togo, most of the battles were "draws" (read: massacres where nothing was acheived but mourning families)
The best thing to take away from the surrender was that Grant was not happy, not smug, not angry, not punitive. He was actually more somber and sad than anything, knowing what it had cost everyone to reach this point. That's one reason why he was so lenient and gave gracious terms. Just put down your guns, and go home.
The end of this terrible war was an act of God, the two leaders of two nations divided by politics came together and started to put the one Nation under God together again
The "Under a god" part did not come to be until 1954, thanks to McCarthyism. The Founding Fathers were clear the United States is not a Christian nation.
How did Lincoln not only win the Civil War but won the second Civil War?
By winning the peace and ensuring there would be no second .
I want to THANK YOU Colonel Doug Douds for acknowledging the presents of and telling a bit of who wrote up the surrendering document! Brigadier Colonel Ely Parker whom was a Seneca Indian. And gave the best come back out of respect to Gen Lee after Lee looked at him and said "Finally a real American" and Ely's reply was "Were all American's"!!! At the McClean house is a pencil drawing by Ely Parker of all that was in that room that day also!. Another story of Indian history that should be taught! Thanks Sir!
Grant was a great leader and he definitely knew he had to walk a fine line with reconciliation. Push too hard and he would have created a deep resentment that would have boiled over and created another uprising. A prime example of this is the French demanding that the Germans suffer humiliation after the Great War. Their demands at Versailles is one of the biggest causes that allowed one of the most evil men in history to rise.
Even though they fought each other but and the end they put aside the past and became the one. That's how you make peace, that's why I love America even though I'm not the one.
We didn’t “become one”. The south went back almost immediately to oppressing, terrorizing and exploiting Americans they saw as inferior.
The peace was ruined by Johnson. Lee should have hanged along with Davis, every piece of Confederate property seized and the power of the Southern planters annihilated. Traitors like to call it a war between brothers; it was a war between patriots and slaving traitors
Grant’s eastern campaign was not great. It did follow what he had learned at both Vicksburg and Shiloh, press the battle at all costs. The reason this worked in the west - and ultimately in the east - was that the CSA generals, including Lee did not expect it as every other USA general had always withdrawn when they were held to stalemate or were forced to retreat. Lee could not adjust to Grant’s tactic which ultimately led Lee to the conclusion that he needed to surrender. In effect, Grant “out generated” Lee by doing the unexpected.
Lee was able to delay the inevitable, but only at great cost to his forces. He knew the Union forces were losing more personnel than he, but he started out with fewer than Grant to begin with. The delay was more a tribute to Lee’s forces being able to be more agile than Grant’s than it was to Lee’s leadership. Had Lee been saddled with green troops, they would not have been as able to move to build the defensive works that allowed them to block the Union attacks and deliver withering blows to the Union soldiers.
This is a great series.
The ending of war is always a good thing. It's sad that over 600,000 had to die for the 2 Generals to arrive at this conclusion.
600.000 died because a few thousand men in the south feared for the abolition of slavery.
"The ending of war is always a good thing."
Only if you are the victor.
@@JoefromNJ1 - 600,000 died because the United States government feared the dissolution of a union.
yea it did. and the south seceded because it feared the abolition of slavery. it always comes back to slavery my friend.@@ARyan-yk9qh
@@JoefromNJ1 - Very narrow view of things as the South chose to secede for a myriad of reasons, but I'm sure you already knew that - didn't you? /s
When you use all your experience points on “book smarts” rather than “bulldog determination.”
Lee was the man of the times, he rejected guerrilla warfare, to try to bring the best peace, but the Radicals later forced the issues and the KKK came and 12 years of guerilla warfare,in which the South defeated Reconstruction, the South rose again,
My favorite Civil War historian is Shelby Foote
An interesting video! Thank you for sharing it. We need to respect the opinions of the north and the south.
No, Only the union.
Where can i watch this series??
You can watch this series on History Vault.
It should also be available for purchase on DVD.
This was well done. Will Grant be a movie?
🎶 Away down South in the land of traitors, rattlesnakes and alligators
🎶 Right away! Come away! Right away! Right away, come away!
🎶 Where cotton’s king and men are chattels Union boys will win the battles . . .
you horror af a man
Dont wanna talk Grant down. But he was just the next in a long list of the commanders of the northern army. And he just happened to be in command when the south was done. He certainly did better than some of his predecessors. But he gets overpraised in this documentary.
The plan that defeated the south actually was the one from Winfield Scott. The legend who already served as brigadier general in the war of 1812. First his plan was laughed at and most thought the CSA would be defeated quickly. Scott already knew that this will take some years and made his anaconda plan. After everyone else accepted the fact they realized Scotts plan of strangling the CSA by blocade and cutting through its territory.
It was the Mississippi campaign and the buring of Atlanta, Richmond and other important CSA cities that broke their neck. Lee never was defeated in a decisive battle to end the war. The war was decided behind his back. Grant just came to the honor of bringing the terms. And that he did well, as explained.
i mean sure, the anaconda plan definitely played a massive part in the eventual downfall of the confederacy, but mind you all the stuff you mentioned later, aka the mississippi campaign, the capture of atlanta, richmond, etc... that was grant. whilst sherman is often credited with capturing atlanta/savannah and the rest of the carolinas, he did so under grants orders.
grant's strategy when he took over was to hit the confederacy on every single front, giving them absolutely zero chance to recover or transfer divisions to different theatres as they had been doing throughout the war, most notably at chickamauga and forts henry/donelson.
not to mention, grant also decisively beat the confederates out of kentucky, tennessee and mississippi, and successfully cut the confederacy in two by capturing all the major strongholds along the mississippi river with the exception of new orleans.
so yes... whilst scott's plan was very effective (and wasn't laughed at ever... not sure where you read that... in fact, the war department implemented scott's plan almost immediately, the issue however was that the union didn't possess a navy large enough to blockade the entirety of the confederacy), grant absolutely deserves to be credited with breaking the confederacy's neck.
I didn't know that Santa Claus represented the Confederacy during this meeting. Lee must have been sick and had a Christmas wish still saved.
“There’s only one president, now”!!! Love that line!!!
The people were Celebrating that Robert E Lee and his army we’re surrendering from general grant American Civil War had ended in 1865 and the slavery was over
The way everyone is standing like they’re posing for a portrait. 😂
At the time you basicly were. The camera you needed to stay still while it took the shot. It most cases people did not smile for photos because it took a while for the shot to be made that you would begin to fatigue and if you began to lose the smile it would alter the shot.
I know that's not the most detailed explanation.
Definitely a very important moment in our country's history. The terms of this surrender were indeed lenient, and I actually agree with this happening because it wasn't a time for gloating or prosecutions regarding treason or anything like that, it was about the nation going though the healing process "together". To get past this tragedy because in all honesty, nobody ever wins a civil war, the whole country always looses regardless of which side or faction won and which side lost.
Also I'd like people's opinion but from what I researched? had the confederate General, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson not died on May 2 1863 after the course of the war likely would of possibly gone in a totally different direction, while its not certain if that would of ended up changing which side would of won the entire war, but I agree with what many civil war historians believe, is that had Stonewall Jackson not been accidentally shot or had he not contracted "pneumonia" or survived his wounds, either the Confederates would of won the battle of Gettysburg or that battle might not of even happened at all. Not sure if it would of prevented this fateful battle, but very possibly it would have been a confederate victory. I think many would agree that it was a major setback for the Confederate army considering Stonewall Jackson was one of their best millitary officers.
What do you think?
It's impossible to know if Jackson's death had any major effect on the outcome of the war. But claiming it would is like claiming "The South would have won if every bullet fired by Union soldiers had missed", or "the South would have won if Sherman had suffered a fatal heart attack before he captured Atlanta." Such hypotheticals are either silly or simply impossible to determine for sure. The war was far too complex and lengthy to reasonably claim that it all came down to the death or the choices of a single man.
It's a difficult question. Jackson *was* a damn good commander who distinguished himself in many circumstances...but let's not forget that his record was not untarnished. He had multiple devastating losses handed to him, he and his armies found themselves *lost* more than once whilst trying to regroup with Lee, and his death lands him in the nostalgic category of military officers who we will never know their true capabilities of.
Could certain things have changed if Jackson had survived? Perhaps. But as many historians point out, the majority of Southern military command did not understand the war as it needed to be fought. Lee himself failed to see the forest for the trees, he failed to see that winning individual battles and skirmishes were not the key to forcing a Union peace negotiation. I would argue that as soon as Grant got into command and both he and Sherman got their strategies down, it was too little, too late for the South. They just didn't have the men, the resources, and the time to fight a Union army that had finally gotten their shit together instead of being run by a clown like McClellan, who could've potentially ended the war or at least crippled Southern governance early on if he'd just grown a pair.
Another 'Lost Cause' narrative that romanticizes a myth
@@TheStapleGunKid here’s a fun little fact to dwell during the battle of Fredericksburg General Meade actually broke through Stone wall Jackson’s line and had he gotten any support instead of the constant assault on Marye’s Heights that battle would have had quite the different outcome.
@@Can_O_Crayola Johnston and Clebourne seemed to be among the few who understood a the importance of strategy and manpower, but both were ignored and/or silenced by Confederate leadership. One might say that the hubris which led to secession also contributed to CSA's ultimate demise.
I admire Grant almost as much as I admire Lincoln. Perhaps if Grant had had a successful Presidency, he'd be on Mt. Rushmore as well.
Ask Ferdinand Ward and his Ponzi scheme...
I think Grant handled well, it would have been a nightmare had he been unconcerned with the feelings & thoughts of the rebel forces, ie WW1..🤷🏻♂️
Johnson botched Reconstruction. Grant should have taken Lees sword and tossed it on the dirt with contempt.
The South was broken after the War. They were occupied. The undeserved kindness of the war allowed rats like the KKK to arise and terrorize Americans the traitors and the their spawn saw (and see) as inferior. Grants softheartedness and Johnson’s racism have left a festering wound in the nation
@@AFNTWMBJohnson tried to do just that. Grant threatened to resign if he did that.
Kind of sounds like you have a superiority complex yourself.
@@eq1373 he most certainly didn’t; he was at constant odds with the Republican Party who were trying to do Reconstruction; to the point they almost impeached him. Stop making up history to feel better about your loser ancestors
The magnitude of this generosity and humility of grant can not be explained to students today, I have tried. They can’t see past the cruelty of slavery, they say they should have killed every confederate. Focusing only on the blood drawn from the lash and not paid for with the sword.
Soldiers aren’t born into soldiering. Soldiers don’t spend every breath of their lives from birth to death being soldiers. Soldiers are paid. The civil war lasted for 4 years. Slavery had gone on for centuries. Centuries of children born living suffering and dying under the lash, seeing their family and friends sold off never to see them again, making men disgusting like Lee fat and wealthy and happy. Every confederate officer, should have been should have dangled after it was made they had the honor of sewer rats.
Because they see what Grant and Lincoln did not. The consequences of allowing former confederates to return to their positions of social, political, and economic power created the conditions for the failure of reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the despicable violence of the civil rights era up to now. Allowing a soft peace allowed the lost cause farce to take root.
@@evelynkolk9129 - No, it's because they are, more than likely, members of Gen Z who have been brainwashed to hate everything and anything about the Confederacy.
You really should read more about grants campaigns especially Vicksburg, he is unironically one of the greatest generals in world history and even developed tactics used in ww1 when foreign observers saw both sides. Lee was not the great general the south props him up to be suffering more inconclusive and lost battles than wins.
George Thomas is pretty damn close to Grant and is largely unknown…just as he’d like it. Lee was too hidebound to his precious Virginia, and let the rest of the Confederacy melt away to protect Virginia…which he didn’t even do too well even at that.
Letting the federated leadership walk away free, instead of prosecuting and punishing their traitorous actions , was an error of judgement of catastrophic proportions. The nation is still paying for that error today.
agreed.
Grant was not only a badass but he also was undoubtly base
I'm not American (Canadian) but the magnanimity, mercy, and forgiveness displayed by Grant and Lee makes me cry. It gives one hope for humanity.
Name of this documentary????????? Looks good!
The Union side had 4x more people, 5x more industrial output, 3x more soldiers, 2x the agricultural output, naval dominance, etc
That it took 4 years to win, and with such losses, was nothing but an embarassment for the Union.
Was wondering where the confederaboos where in the comments.
You're leaving a few things out, Johnny.
@@inquisitorkrieger8171 Are you talking to me?
It is truly incredible they kept the fight up for so long.
@@paulverse4587 Of course you are.. Don't deny your pride.
Please, someone share the title of this documentary.
Where are these clips from so I can watch full videos??
'" A patrician of the Virginia caste society..." who fought to defend the right to own other human beings as chattels.
What about it? Would you say the same thing about the Founding Fathers for whom allowed the continuation of owning human beings as chattel?
@@ARyan-yk9qh Yes. Should have stayed with England
Fun Fact: Ely Parker is buried 100 yards from Rick James.
lincon and grant the greatest men in history
Lincoln wasn't a saint dude multiple times he violated the Constitution, people's right's and planned on sending all the freed slave's back to Africa that's why Liberia exists.
George Washington too
I wished this show was just a Mini series of Grant and not a docu series.
The guy that plays Grant looks more like General Sherman
The guy they have playing Lee looks more like Braxton Bragg.
@@kommando5562 Hahaha. Nice.
Was Lee really that tall?
Some say 6 feet, others 510 or near 6 feet.
@@edwardclement102 Which was fairly tall back then.
Rather, Grant was that short
@@chaosXP3RT Lincoln wrote that Grant was the strangest little short man he’d ever seen it’s kinda funny he wrote that
@@kommando5562 I'm reading a biography on Grant and the first time Secretary of War Stanton went to meet Grant, he mistook a Medical Officer for Grant, shaking his hand. Stanton hadn't expected Grant to be so short, to have such a plain uniform and an unassuming appearance!
On a couple of occasions, Grant actually let newspaper reporters and crowds of people mistake his medical officer for him so that he could escape the crowds. Grant wasn't one for speeches or being the center of attention.
Narrator: (Giving detailed analysis of the events and people involved)
My Brain: "Ulysses S. Grant! You invite me to lunch and show up an hour late, DRUNK!?!"
A lot of modern historians miss the fact that, at the time, it's hard to quantify the Southern states actions as treason. Before the Civil War began, there was a heated debate as to whether or not the United States was more of a single unified nation state (the union) or more of a confederation where states gathered together because they consented to be governed. A lot of the laws and precedents that unite us now as a unified, Federal Republic were encoded after the Civil War and probably encoded in order to clarify the nature of the United States. However, what the Southern states did wasn't really unprecedented at the time.
In the War of 1812, the New England states had largely sat out the war. Many New England states continued to profit handsomely from trade with the British Empire. While they hadn't formally seceded, they had done everything but and in a time of war no less. The reason was primarily because a war with Britain was viewed as potentially ruinous to the New England maritime-based economy. Sound familiar? Well, the Southern states largely seceded because the abolition of slavery was likely to be ruinous to the Southern agrarian-based economy. Therefore, under a more anti-Federalist viewpoint, the Federal government had ceased to guard and nurture the interests of the southern states, therefore the contract was broken and the southern states should consider themselves as free to leave the union.
Ultimately, the US obviously benefitted from maintaining the Union. However, I find that many modernist views ignore the actual situation at the time in favor of takes that are heavily colored by modern perceptions and post-Civil War statutes. I personally view the Civil War as sort of the ultimate culmination of the Federalist/Anti-Federalist debate. We are now seeing this debate resurface under a different guise and different names in the modern era where states are challenging the laws of the Federal government. Ultimately, I tend to support a more Anti-Federalist approach. I've lived all over the United States. Policies that benefit the people in a large state or heavily urbanized states do not necessarily benefit the people in a smaller or more rural state. Each state should set the laws that its citizens deem best, with a few commonalities binding us together.
Then let all the states become Soveriegn countries.
Today I learned that a youtube comment knows more than "a lot of modern historians." The more you know.
The South also had a native American leader who was one of the last ones to surrender and a slave owner so quit trying to play like the North was only one who cared about the natives. It was the North and the Union policy that put those natives in camps
This war created a lot of outlaws, especially Jesse James
Tombstone as well was a big proponent of this surrender
The war out West doesn't get near enough the attention it deserves especially the war between Jayhawkers and Bushwhackers.
Abolitionists and Secessionists broke the Union.
Grant and Lee saved the Union.
Poetic Justice!!!
The character of war didn't change, Lee was just a dandy while Grant was a warrior
Fun Fact: Ulysses Simpson Grant was not the General's actual name. He was born Hyrim Ulysses Grant. To be appointed to West Point one must be officially sponsored by one's U.S. Senator. The Senator who wrote the appointment letter for Grant was a family friend and wrongly believed him to be named after his mother's maiden name which was Simpson. His name was never legally changed.
A similar mistake was made during the West Point appointment of Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower. His birth name was David Dwight. But he had his name legally changed some time after his appointment to West Point and before becoming President.
You don’t let your enemy just go home you destroy him
What happens when those guns get turned on YOU?
This could swing both ways as there were many battles in which Lee allowed the Union to go into full retreat and didn't destroy them.
Lee could have saved thousands of lives by accepting the military leadership offered by Lincoln. He choose instead to defend slavery. That should be his lasting legacy.
If Virginia hadn’t succeeded it would’ve turned out different lots of people back then were loyal to their own state first
agreed
People do not understand how significant General Grant's actions in the surrender. Grant went beyond what would have been his military authority by declaring no Confederate solider or officer that was surrendering would ever be prosecuted as a traitor.
Despite all of this generousity, the South formed the KKK and continued oppression of blacks with segregation.
It still continues to thia day with Confederate flags hidden behind "heritage" and statues of sessionist leaders all over the south
General Parker’s name was Ely, not Eli. The historian was incorrect as were the subtitles.
And it seems we're about to do round 2 soon enough 😔
These men fought lived through hell in a war against each other, and when it came time to end it...They were genteel.
It puts our current divide in perspective.
The Southern veterans then went on to form the KKK and torture and murder Americans they saw as inferior. You dress a monster up in a suit and teach him what fork to use but it’s still a monster
I met Ulysses grant once. Nice man
The one who died 138 years ago?
Interesting because this is not at all how it happen. The US army occupied the south from 1865-1877. But southerners were supposed to go home and live in peace while the occupation help suppress the elections for over a decade and took advantage of southern people. Interesting perspective they have.
letting the Confederacy off Easy is the cause of most of our Political Problems Today!
Absolutely. They should have been punished for their treason and we shouldn't have been so generous in reconstruction.
@@cchappell06Reconstruction wasn’t generous…reconstruction was sabotaged. In the years between 1865 and 1873 African Americans were being given the ability to fully economically and politically integrate. The Freedman’s Bureau insured their rights were protected, land was appropriated for their use. The old southern slaveocracy may have very well died; but by allowing the traitors the ability to meddle in national politics the were able to strong arm the liberal half of the nation into pulling out of the South. Reconstruction died and Jim Crow was born
Clown take. Lincoln was a hero for building a reconciliation.
@@CherryCokeNixon Lincoln died before he could have much of an impact. Johnson was handing out pardons left right and center to every slaver and traitor who kissed his ass properly, when the slaveocracy should have been getting stretched necks and having every inch of land confiscated.
The only people who think the kindness shown to the South was good are either children or sympathizers to the racist treason of that scum.
What show is this from ? I love these
History Channel - U.S Grant