Ulysses S. Grant - how the Japanese depicted the US Civil War:

[IcyPeas]

In 1879, author Kanagaki Robun & illustrator Kobayashi Eitaku published a paean to...Ulysses S. Grant. They did so following Grant's stop in Japan as part of a post-presidency world tour. If you're curious how the Japanese depicted the US Civil War, do I have a thread for you 1/

While the material focuses principally on the Civil War, it also offers something of a coming of age story of Grant himself. Here he is as a youngster in Ohio, his father, Jesse, by his side.

In many respects, the document reads as a celebration of US-Japan relations. For Japan, a freshly forged nation still enduring paroxysms of civil unrest (e.g. the Satsuma Rebellion) the story of Grant and the US Civil War had perhaps more salience than we fully appreciate.

lots more at the twitter link.

Link to tweet

[elleng]

1. Thanks

[Karadeniz]

2. Very interesting...thanks!

[NNadir]

3. Thanks much. The respect paid to President Grant internationally was a great part...

...of his outstanding (but bizarrely maligned) Presidency.

I am personally thrilled that he is finally being reevaluated by historians to flesh out the huge role this man played in making our country worthy of its ideals, particularly in this time, where banal and evil men, are attacking those ideals and trampling them.

[benld74]

4. History channel 3 part Grant finished last night

Very interesting
Grant from childhood to death

2term president
He & wife traveled afterwards.
Japan was a stop
EVERY stop was met by hundreds of thousands of people
He was the US Rockstar of the time

I will be reading his book once the libraries reopen

[stuffmatters]

5. Yes, yes! GRANT was inspiring & educational. Hope it reruns frequently.

I'm urging my Republican friends & relatives (those who still cling to " but,but Lincoln was a Republican&quot to watch it & with their children if they're parents

[rickyhall]

6. He was every bit an American hero as President Eisenhower, but maligned by Confederate Sympathizers.

[BigOleDummy]

7. I STILL and will forever...

... think Mr. Lincoln made a huge tragic mistake by not having the leaders of the Confederacy tried and hanged as the traitors they were. Not doing so allowed the ridiculous canard of "The Lost Cause" to take root. We see today the consequences of this decision. Yes yes, I know all the arguments against doing what I said. But if everyone from Jefferson and his cabinet down to ..... colonels or hell even captains was tried for their traitorous actions and hung, the racist scum wouldn't have been able to 1. form the K.K.K. at least (Nathan Bedford Forrest) 2. publish any number of whitewashed "histories" to cloud the issue and 3. rehabilitate their image so that they could still appear "respectable".

Mr. Grant was a top notch general who sadly trusted his aides and cabinet as much as he trusted his generals/colonels etc. My 2 cents worth.

[Mr.Bill]

9. I agree totally.

[MRDAWG]

10. Please explain to me the difference between...........

If the 13 colonies had a right to declare their independence and fight for it, why didn't the South have the same right? Don't get into the slavery issue as it was a horrible thing. I am asking about the right for a people to form a new government.

Unfortunately, the war is still on. Trump would not be president if not for Southern states.

[BigOleDummy]

11. Well, I guess the main

Point would be..... they had already sworn allegiance to this country and to our Constitution. They milked the northern more affluent states and then when it was time to pay the bills (abolish slavery) they said oh noooooooooo. WE didn't finish the job then and as you say , we are still fighting that war.

I believe that if Mr. Lincoln had done as post WWII Germany did, tried the ringleaders and punished them and banned the symbols of that regime i.e. hung Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Lee and hundreds of others and banned the confederate battle rag then we may not be in as bad a shape as we find ourselves in today.

Again, my 2 cents.

[MRDAWG]

12. How do you know they sworn anything? George Washington must......

have sworn allegiance to the British Crown. He was an army officer.

Once again, how is this different from the 13 colonies succeeding?

[BigOleDummy]

15. Ok

The Colonies won. How about that? Pure and simple, they won their revolt. I have to ask though..... why are you so adamant to compare the traitorous scum from the confederacy with the colonialists? Yes, maybe the colonists fell short of the ideals expressed in the Constitution but at least their ideals were lofty. What was lofty about the confederacy?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

17. Sorry to intrude here

IMHO it was a fundamental axiom that the federal union was permanent. Union without unity is impossible. It was a guiding premise for both Grant's actions at the surrender and Lincoln's afterward fostering reunification. Lincoln's guidance articulated in the Gettysburg Address directed the attention of the Union to be reunification.

The seceding states had improper foundations expressed among their interests in leaving the union. For example, South Carolina and others gave sovereignty (if states can join the union, they can also leave) or state's rights as a justification. The problem with that was for one, Southern States did not accept the decision of Northern States to recognize escaped slaves as free. Moreover, it is plain in the Constitution that governments, neither state nor federal, do not possess rights. While states have sovereignty, those powers are maintained and reinforced by the federal union. Just as individual rights are not absolute, neither is the sovereignty of the states.

Lincoln believed that allowing states to secede would lead to other states finding reasons to leave the union rather than working to keep the union together.

The US was rather isolationist during the 19th century. As the country grew in size, population and economy it was future minded to see that isolationism would end. Today despots are tried for war crimes not merely killed for losing a war. After the war slaves were freed, farms and plantations lost and laws changed.


Thoughts on this:
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK
"Peace comes when you talk to the guy you most hate. And that's where the courage of a leader comes, because when you sit down with your enemy, you as a leader must already have very considerable confidence from your own constituency." - Desmond Tutu
"An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot." - Thomas Paine
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Paul the Apostle

[rpannier]

14. The answer is simple... Because the confederates lost and in case of Am Rev we won

It is the way things are
I think it was Ben Franklin who said of treason, "It is the excuse for hanging the losers."

[BigOleDummy]

16. lol Beat me to it

I should have read your post before replying. I answered from the top "my posts" tab so didn't see your reply. Please excuse me for that as I meant no plagiarism. While I think Mr. Franklin is being a mite simplistic if he indeed was the author of that quote.

[obamanut2012]

13. 100% agree

Including every officer over a certain rank.

[dalton99a]

8. Kick

Link to tweet

https://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/bunko11/bunko11_a0470/