On My Birthday, September 30th, I Shall Salute Ulysses S. Grant!!!

President U. S. Grant's Speech (Researched and edited by Jim Allison)

On September 30, 1875 President Ulysses S.Grant delivered a speech before the convention of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee meeting in Des Moines, Iowa.

"Now, the centennial year of our national existence, I believe, is a good time to begin the work of strengthening the foundations of the structure commenced by our patriotic forefathers one hundred years ago at Lexington. Let us all labor to add all needful guarantees for the security of free thought, free speech, a free press, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and of equal rights and privileges to all men irrespective of nationality, color, or religion. Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar, appropriated for their support, shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian schools. Resolve that neither the State nor Nation, nor both combined shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford to every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistical dogmas. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the Church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the Church and State forever separate. With these safeguards, I believe the battles which created the Army of the Tennessee will not have been fought in vain." *

FOOTNOTE
* New York Tribune, October 1, 1875, p.1; Chicago Tribune, October 1, 1875 p.; The Index, October 28, 1875, p. 513

Source of Information:

The National Reform Association and the religious Amendments to the Constitution, 1864-1876. An unpublished Masters Thesis by Steven Keith Green Esq., Ph. D., University North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1987. p. 83-84.)

"Leave the matter of religion to the family
altar, the church, and the private school
supported entirely by private contribution.
Keep the church and state forever separate."



Ulysses S. Grant, 18th
President of the U.S.
(Source: Library
of Congress)

President Ulysses S, Grant, Speech to veterans of the Army of Tennessee (September 30, 1875)

“Resolve that neither the State nor the nation shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child the opportunity of a good common-school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistic dogmas. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school supported entirely by private contribution. Keep the church and state forever separate.”

(Source: Jean Edward Smith, Grant, p. 570)

At a time when the debate over public support for  sectarian education and religious exercises in public schools was being hotly contested, President Grant waded into the subject. At the time it was largely a Catholic-Protestant dispute, as many American Catholics were trying to battle the overtly Protestant tone of public school education.

Grant’s views were remarkable at the time, as Grant biographer Jean Edward Smith wrote:

The President’s demand for the separation of church and state took the wind from militant Protestants advocating a pro-religion amendment to the Constitution.

(Grant, p. 570)

Ulysses S. Grant died on  July 23, 1885. His New York Times obituary appeared on July 24, 1885. At the time of his death, Grant was one of the most admired men in American and when he was later entombed in New York City, more than one million people lined the streets to view the passing of his body.

Americans United for Separation of Church and
State Nashville Chapter
PO Box 210005 . Nashville TN 37221

President Ulysses S. Grant:

"Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of money shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that neither the state nor nation shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistical dogmas. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate."

(Speech to veterans of the Army of Tennessee, Sept. 30, 1875.)

So, once again, this was back on September 30,1875 which makes my birthday on September 30th kind of special, and I will be 62 years old.

And so . . . . . To honor, and salute Ulysses S. Grant, I'm going to celebrate my birthday by having a barbeque. Back in February I was still living on the 6th floor in a 9 story highrise apartment building.

Then I moved into a nice ground level one bedroom cottage that is much bigger than my old studio apartment. Eventually, I'm going to decorate my new home to look like a coffee house.

But now, I have a patio, and I'm going to invite my friends over for a barbeque on my birthday. A friend of mine from the local Democratic Headquarters, my Therapist (my shrink who make house calls) and two more friends, and my home health care provider, she will be there because it's on a Monday. I call her my adopted baby sister. We have become very close friends.

Anyway . . . . . before we start cooking on my charcoal grill, we're each going to have a straight double or triple shot of Old Crow. Last week I had ordered a box of General Grant Cigars for the occasion. They're small cigars about 5 inches long, and the 30 cigars came in a cute little wooden box made of red ceder.



Before we drink, I'm going to read from General Grant's speech, then we're going to raise our glasses of Old Crow, and say . . . SALUTE!!!

Then, I'm going to pass out the cigars to each one of us, and then we'll start cooking on the grill while smoking our cigars out on the patio.

We'll have hamburger, chicken thighs, Polish sausages, and ribs.

Since my health care provider doesn't drink alcohol, I'll have apple cider for her, and although she doesn't smoke, she actually loves the smell of my Black Cavendish pipe tobacco, and my good cigars. She doesn't mind those at all. In fact, she enjoys the smell of my best cigars, like my General Grants and my Free Cuba Toros and my Free Cuba Churchills. She says the General Grants almost smell like honey.

I like to honor General Grant on my birthday, because he supported public education, science and math education, and spoke out against attempts to have religion inserted into public schools. And he liked whiskey and cigars!

Although I'm a Democrat, my favorite Republicans were Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant

If these two gentlemen were alive today, they would be shocked and appalled, by what the Republican party has now become!

Well anyway . . . . . . . I'm looking forward to my birthday this coming September 30,2013 when I'll be 62 years old.

And thanks to what I have learned about Ulysses S. Grant's speech on September 30,1875 it makes my birthday all the more special.

SALUTE!!!