Comparing and Contrasting Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee- Two Icons in American History

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No matter how much something can differ some characteristics are shared. As strange as it sounds it’s very true, both Grant and Lee are two different yet similar people. As these two fights for what they believe in, though their beliefs are different they share some qualities. Ulysses S. Grant wanted the nation to expand and look forward towards the future. Robert E. Lee thought that an old aristocratic way of life was the better choice and that it can survive and dominant in American life.

Ulysses S. Grant was a man who grew up the hard way. He was the son of a tanner on the Western frontier. He was a man that looked mainly towards the future and could careless about the past. Grant view everything as one, he wanted to unify the nation. He believed that only way he can flourish was if his community can also prosper. To Grant his community was all of America from coast to coast. Catton clearly states, Grant wanted expansion and not contraction with the nation: “The Westerner who developed a farm, opened a shop, or set up a business as a trader, could hope to prosper...

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