A Little Bit of History During Hannukah

Today, December 17th is an interesting day in history. In 1862 during the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No. 11, expelling all Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. It stated that “The Jews, as a class violating every regulation of trade established by the Treasury Department, are hereby expelled from the department within twenty-four hours from the receipt of this order.”

This was not the first time that Grant showed his bigotry, as on November 9 of that year he issued an order that said, “Refuse all permits to come south of Jackson for the present. The Israelites especially should be kept out.” And there were others from the alcoholic gentleman who later became president of the United States.

Thank God that the president that these orders were issued under, Abraham Lincoln, who, when he found out, rescinded them. He condemned the orders as an “enormous outrage on all laws and humanity…the grossest violation of the Constitution and our rights as good citizens under it.”

As a result, Grant revoked the orders three days later.