When General Grant expelled the Jews

From the Introduction...

The story of Genral Orders No. 11 and its lingering impact fills in a missing and revealing “Jewish” chapter in the biography of Ulysses S. Grant. But it also does much more than that, for the order and its aftermath also shed new light on one of the most tumultuous eras in American history, the era of the Civil War and Reconstruction. During these years—America’s “Second Founding,” as one historian terms it—the definition of what America is and the determination of who “we the people” should include convulsed the country.3 Most of the debate naturally centered on the status of African Americans but, more than generally recognized, there was likewise substantial debate concerning the Jews. Though they formed far less than 1 percent of the population at that time, Jews were the most significant non-Christian immigrant group in the nation and their numbers had been increasing rapidly—from about 15,000 in 1840 to some 150,000 on the eve of the Civil War. General Orders No. 11 implied that these Jews formed a separate “class” of Americans, distinct from their neighbors, and subject, especially when suspicions of smuggling fell upon them, to collective forms of punishment, including expulsion. The National Reform Association, which was particularly active during the 1870s, went further, seeking to “declare the nation’s allegiance to Jesus Christ and its acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian religion, and so indicate that this is a Christian nation.”4 A “religious” amendment, proposed repeatedly during the Grant years, looked to write Christianity directly into the Constitution itself.

Against this background, Ulysses S. Grant’s surprising embrace of Jews during his presidency takes on new significance. Through his appointments and policies, Grant rejected calls for a “Christian nation” and embraced Jews as insiders in America, part of “we the people.” During his administration, Jews achieved heightened status on the national scene. Judaism won recognition (at least from him) as a faith coequal to Protestantism and Catholicism. Anti-Jewish prejudice declined, and Jews looked forward optimistically to a liberal epoch characterized by sensitivity to human rights and interreligious cooperation. In the president’s mind, a direct parallel existed between the treatment of Blacks under Reconstruction and the treatment of Jews. He sought to create new opportunities for members of both minority groups.