National Existence
August 18, 2020
President Ulysses S. Grant
Dear President Grant:
It is an honor to be writing to you for the first time. Many know you as the General who won the Civil War but what many do not know is that you were one of the most hardworking presidents fighting for civil rights. You worked for the ratification of the 15th Amendment which prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s race, color or previous condition of servitude. You realized how important this was at that time when the country could have slid back into another civil war due to the problems with reconstruction. This is evident in your quote.
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.”
What you are probably also aware of is that just about 150 years later this quote still speaks volumes. The problem I see is that today neither side would admit that they are on the side of ambition and ignorance. Both sides feel that they are patriotic and intelligent. I am not here to take sides but just to let you know what is going on and as always, to keep our for-bearers apprised of the job we are doing in preserving what they worked to put together and in your case fought to keep together for us first as a General and later as President.
I am sure you are aware of all the protests and violence that is taking place in our country today. What is ironic is that one side has even gone so far as to remove one of your statues, in the name of civil rights. They feel that they need to rewrite history instead of learning from it especially since they can learn so much from the wisdom of yourself and other forefathers. Not learning and knowing our history is a bit ignorant on their part and this leads to the dividing line which you referred to.
President Grant, both sides will claim they are in the right as far as patriotism and intelligence which neither side will admit that ambition is part of their makeup and this ignorance of their ambition is what can make both sides dangerous and further widen the divide.
This leads me to another quote by one of your predecessors, President Franklin Pierce.
“While men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent cannot be expected to hold the same opinions, they can unite in a common objective and sustain.”
President Grant, I am sure you know how much larger and ethnically diverse our nation has become since this statement was made by President Pierce. It makes for a far greater and wider number of opinions and what might be important to some is trivial to others. With this larger pool of opinions and issues to draw from, it should be easier to find common issues which would effect most of “We the People” and work on these issues to begin to resolve them for the benefit of all. If we can put aside political and personal ambitions, and educate to eliminate ignorance and work on common issues I have no doubt that we can avoid the contest which you refer.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Andrew J. DeMarco
Pelham, NY
Pen Pals from the Past 