The addresses are separated by three asterisks: ***
Dates of addresses by Ulysses S. Grant in this eBook:
December 6, 1869
December 5, 1870
December 4, 1871
December 2, 1872
December 1, 1873
December 7, 1874
December 7, 1875
December 5, 1876
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State of the Union Address
Ulysses S. Grant
December 6, 1869
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
In coming before you for the first time as Chief Magistrate of this greatnation, it is with gratitude to the Giver of All Good for the many benefitswe enjoy. We are blessed with peace at home, and are without entanglingalliances abroad to forebode trouble; with a territory unsurpassed infertility, of an area equal to the abundant support of 500,000,000 people,and abounding in every variety of useful mineral in quantity sufficient tosupply the world for generations; with exuberant crops; with a variety ofclimate adapted to the production of every species of earth's riches andsuited to the habits, tastes, and requirements of every living thing; witha population of 40,000,000 free people, all speaking one language; withfacilities for every mortal to acquire an education; with institutionsclosing to none the avenues to fame or any blessing of fortune that may becoveted; with freedom of the pulpit, the press, and the school; with arevenue flowing into the National Treasury beyond the requirements of theGovernment. Happily, harmony is being rapidly restored within our ownborders. Manufactures hitherto unknown in our country are springing up inall sections, producing a degree of national independence unequaled by thatof any other power.
These blessings and countless others are intrusted to your care and minefor safe-keeping for the brief period of our tenure of office. In a shorttime we must, each of us, return to the ranks of the people, who haveconferred upon us our honors, and account to them for our stewardship. Iearnestly desire that neither you nor I may be condemned by a free andenlightened constituency nor by our own consciences.
Emerging from a rebellion of gigantic magnitude, aided, as it was, by thesympathies and assistance of nations with which we were at peace, elevenStates of the Union were, four years ago, left without legal Stategovernments. A national debt had been contracted; American commerce wasalmost driven from the seas; the industry of one-half of the country hadbeen taken from the control of the capitalist and placed where all laborrightfully belongs--in the keeping of the laborer. The work of restoringState governments loyal to the Union, of protecting and fostering freelabor, and providing means for paying the interest on the public debt hasreceived ample attention from Congress. Although your efforts have not metwith the success in all particulars that might have been desired, yet onthe whole they have been more successful than could have been reasonablyanticipated.
Seven States which passed ordinances of secession have been fully restoredto their places in the Union. The eighth (Georgia) held an election atwhich she ratified her constitution, republican in form, elected agovernor, Members of Congress, a State legislature, and all other officersrequired. The