The Values Embodied by Grant and Lee - Essay Example

On April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, the Civil War came to the edge of an end. It was a moment in history when a nation was going to be born sans slavery, sans right of succession, and abiding by everything ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’ meant in essence. However, the constant collision of ideologies that preceded this conclusion for about five years of the Civil War (1861-65) is interesting.

Lee and Grant: Two Different Men
Lee came from Virginia, and family values, culture, traditions, chivalry, and knighthood, were the elements around which his people and his life revolved and evolved. That stratification was a convenient and apt way to construct the social order – he firmly believed in. That ‘land’ is the primary and only source of wealth and influence – was the motivation behind all his actions. That the privileged who owned the lands shouldered responsibility towards the rest of the community as well as possessed the power to monitor the actions and occupations of the community – he upheld it. Slavery and the right to succession were corollaries to the beliefs of the ‘land lord’. And the belief in ‘landed nobility’, was the guiding factor for thousands of elite men from the Southern states who plunged into war, willing to die, willing to sacrifice their everything for the cause that Lee believed in. However, the day Lee surrendered at Appomattox, it was the culmination of ‘landed nobility’ and the cause was lost. (Catton, pp. 17-44)
On the other hand, Grant, who came from the Western Front, was the son of a tanner. His background signified everything he was, and believed in – in living life the tough way, in self-reliance, in forgoing the past and focusing on the future. He turned down the social order based on privileges that ran down the traditions and land ownership. He stood for democracy, equality, and competition. If privileges meant anything to him – those were the privileges that a man earned through his competitiveness. However, along with these beliefs, ran a strong sense of nationalism. He believed in living and working in a country where the nation supported the individual and individuals supported the nation – the prosperity of both being complementary to each other. To Grant and his people (the Westerners), ‘community’ meant the whole of the United States of America against the Southerners, to whom ‘community’ meant only their region. This striking line sets General Lee and General Grant and their respective people apart. (Catton, pp. 47-59)

Lee and Grant: Two Similar Leaders
Though Lee and Grant were as different as two men could ever be, the aspiration that ran beneath everything they did made them strikingly similar to each other – it was the aspiration to lead their people toward a future they believed in. The two leaders were no better fighters than each other – none gave up in the face of adversity. While despite his army’s and his personal handicaps Grant fought his way down the Mississippi valley, Lee hung on in a trench at Petersburg even when defeat stared him in his face. They both moved with resourcefulness and speed. Due to this, Lee won at Second Manassas and Chancellorsville, and Grant won at Vicksburg. And most importantly, the ability to reconcile (at Appomattox) was again something these two phenomenal generals shared in common. (Catton, pp. 89-100)

Lee and Grant in Modern Times
The strength of conviction that Lee and Grant had, no matter how disparate, is hard to find in today's leaders. While these two Generals stuck to their conviction throughout the war, without caring ‘only’ about the consequence (war or defeat), though that was a significant concern; the politicians and leaders of today crave power and position, and work towards their personal and party goals rather than wanting to take their people towards a golden future that they believe in. Nevertheless, the modern world is still full of two kinds of people – people who believe in freedom and equality; and people who believe in stratifying society in pursuit of being one of the upper strata who can rule over the layers below it. Even today, a lot of Lees and a lot of Grants are present in this world – and that perhaps is the reason why humanity is still not as equal as Abraham Lincoln desired it to be. Read More