UNIT 9 Grant and Lee:

A Study in Contrasts

Bruce Catton Bruce Catton (1899 —

1978) was a journalist and a notable historian of the American Civil War.

He won a Pulitzer Prize for history in 1954 for A Stillness at Appomattox, his study of the final campaign of the war in Virginia.

American Civil War

The American Civil War was fought from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession.

The North: Industrialized

The South:

Slave-owning

Rich

Poor

Division of the Country

Blue represents Union states, including those admitted during the war; light blue represents Union states which permitted slavery; red represents Confederate states. Unshaded states had not been admitted to the Union at the time of the War.

Ulysses Simpson Grant An American

Civil War general & hero

The inexperienced 18th (1869–1877) President of the United States(1822 – 1885)

•Good generals don't always make good Presidents.

Unconditional Surrender Grant

"No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted."

Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822 – 1885) was an American Civil War general and the 18th (1869–1877) President of the United States.

Grant won many important battles, rose to become general-in-chief of all Union armies, and is credited with winning the war.

Although he was a successful general, he is considered by historians to be one of America's worst Presidents, who led an administration plagued by severe scandal and corruption.

Robert Edward Lee(1807-1870)

An almost god like figure

A paradox

Graduated 2nd in West Point & his record of no demerits while being a cadet

By contrast, Grant graduated middle in West Point and with a record with demerits.

Robert Edward Lee ( 1807 – 1870) was a career army officer and the most successful general of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War.

He eventually commanded all Confederate armies as general-in-chief. Like Hannibal and Rommel, his victories against superior forces in a losing cause made him famous. As a result, he is more widely-known than Ulysses Grant, the general who defeated him.

Virginia

•The Virginian rejected the command of the Union's

• field forces on the day after Virginia seceded

•in 1861.

Robert. E. Lee didn’t like war and served in the north army before Civil War.

Appomattox Surrender

Through contrast and comparison, the article shows that despite their differences, what the two generals had in common made their encounter at Appomattox a fruitful historic event.

Three basic patterns

1. Subject-by-subject patternThis pattern allows time enough to discuss one subject fully before the second is dealt with in a similar way.

This pattern is most effective where the comparison is brief and the issues are not so complicated.

2. Point-by-point patternUsing this pattern, the writer moves back and forth between the two things and the reader is continually reminded of the two things being compared.

This pattern is suited to subjects whose likeliness and differences are more balanced.

3. Subject-by-subject plus point-by-point patternIn this pattern, you can interweave statements about both subjects and group those statements under general topics. It can also help avoid the monotony from the steady use of subject-by-subject or point-by-point pattern.

Paras.1-3

Paras. 4-11

Para.12

Para.13

Paras.14-16

Para.1 When Ulysses S. Grant and Robert

E. Lee met in the parlor of a modest house at Appomattox Court House’, Virginia, on April 9, 1865, to work out the terms for the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, 1a great chapter in American life came to a close, and 2a great new chapter began.

1,2: What do “a great chapter” and “a great new

chapter” signify?They signify the ending of slavery system and the establishment of an industrial capitalist system.

They signify the ending of slavery system and the establishment of an industrial capitalist system.

Para.2 These men were bringing the Civil

War to its 1virtual finish. To be sure, other armies had yet to surrender, and for a few days 2the fugitive Confederate government would struggle desperately and vainly, trying to find some way to go on living now that its chief support was gone.

1virtual finish: finish in essence though not formally

1virtual finish: finish in essence though not formally

2the fugitive: the escaping

2the fugitive: the escaping

But 3in effect it was all over when Grant and Lee signed the papers. And the little room where they wrote out the terms was the scene of one of the 4poignant, dramatic contrasts in American history.

3in effect: practically3in effect: practically5poignant:

adjectivecausing or having a particularly sharp feeling of sadness; deeply moving e.g.

The photograph awakens poignant memories of happier days.It is especially poignant that he died on the day before the wedding.

5poignant:

adjectivecausing or having a particularly sharp feeling of sadness; deeply moving e.g.

The photograph awakens poignant memories of happier days.It is especially poignant that he died on the day before the wedding.

Para.3 They were two strong men, these

oddly different generals, and they represented the strengths, of two conflicting currents that, through them, had come into final collision.

Note that this paragraph serves as the preliminary step leading to the process of contrast and

comparison.

Para.4 1Back of Robert E. Lee was the

notion that the old aristocratic concept might somehow survive and be dominant in American life.

1Back of: behind, at the back of ( The sentence means “what backs Lee up was the belief that …”)

1Back of: behind, at the back of ( The sentence means “what backs Lee up was the belief that …”)

Para.5 1Lee was tidewater Virginia, and in

his background were family, culture, and tradition… the age of 2chivalry transplanted to a New World which was making its own legends and its own myths. 3He embodied a way of life that had come down through the age of knighthood and the English country squire.

1Lee was tidewater Virginia: Lee was representative of the better-developed coastal region of Virginia.

1Lee was tidewater Virginia: Lee was representative of the better-developed coastal region of Virginia.

2chivalry : the qualities of knights and institutions and values of the mediaeval Europe

3. Lee represented a way of life embedded in the tradition of aristocracy and feudalism.

3. Lee represented a way of life embedded in the tradition of aristocracy and feudalism.

America was a land that was beginning all over again, dedicated to nothing much more complicated than the rather 4hazy belief that all men had equal rights and should have an equal chance in the world. In such a land Lee stood for the feeling that it was somehow of advantage to human society to have a 5pronounced inequality in the social structure.

4hazy: vague, indistinct, unclear e.g.

Hazy sunshine

Hazy memories

4hazy: vague, indistinct, unclear e.g.

Hazy sunshine

Hazy memories

5pronounced :

•adjectivevery noticeable; strongly marked or certain:I'm told I have a very pronounced English accent when I speak French.She's a woman of very pronounced views which she is not afraid to air.

5pronounced :

•adjectivevery noticeable; strongly marked or certain:I'm told I have a very pronounced English accent when I speak French.She's a woman of very pronounced views which she is not afraid to air.

There should be a leisure class, backed by ownership of land; in turn, society itself should be 6keyed to the land as the chief source of wealth and influence. It would bring forth (according to this ideal) a class of men with a strong sense of obligation to the community; men who lived not to gain advantage for themselves, but to meet the solemn obligations which had been laid on them by the very fact that they were privileged.

6keyed to: look to ;depend on ， be in harmony with…

6keyed to: look to ;depend on ， be in harmony with…

What is the logic reasoning

behind this statement?

(The implication)

Society depends on the land.

But land is in the hands of the leisure class.

Therefore, society depends on the leisure class.

Society depends on the land.

But land is in the hands of the leisure class.

Therefore, society depends on the leisure class.

From them the country would get its leadership; to them it could look for the higher values --- of thought, of conduct, of personal deportment --- to give it strength and virtue.

The implication of this statement:

They were the very people who were capable of steering the country to the right direction and who set the nation fine examples in terms of thought and behavior.

The implication of this statement:

They were the very people who were capable of steering the country to the right direction and who set the nation fine examples in terms of thought and behavior.

Para.6 Lee embodied the noblest elements of

this aristocratic ideal. Through him, the 1landed nobility justified itself. For four years, the Southern states had fought a desperate war to uphold the ideals for which Lee stood. 2In the end, it almost seemed as if the Confederacy fought for Lee; as if he himself was the Confederacy... the best thing that the way of life for which the Confederacy stood could ever have to offer.

1. The noble class with land in its control proved its value of existence.

1. The noble class with land in its control proved its value of existence.

2. The implication:Lee almost became the incarnation of the Confederacy.

2. The implication:Lee almost became the incarnation of the Confederacy.

3He had passed into legend before Appomattox. Thousands of tired, underfed, poorly clothed Confederate soldiers, long since past the simple enthusiasm of the early days of the struggle, somehow considered Lee the symbol of everything for which they had been willing to die.

3. Paraphrase: He had become a legendary hero before his meeting for the surrender at Appomattox.

3. Paraphrase: He had become a legendary hero before his meeting for the surrender at Appomattox.

But they could not quite put this feeling into words. If the Lost Cause, 4sanctified by so much heroism and so many deaths, 5had a living justification, its justification was General Lee.

4. Made holy

5. Had a reason or value for its existence

Translation:如果说，许多人英勇奋斗、流血牺牲使这个行将失败的事业变得神圣起来并有其存在的价值 /( 理由 )的话，那么李将军便是这价值所在。

Para.7 1Grant, the son of a tanner on the

Western frontier, was everything Lee was not. He had come up the hard way and embodied nothing in particular except the eternal toughness and 2sinewy fiber of the men who grew up beyond the mountains.

1. What does this statement mean? Please paraphrase it.

2. Strong muscle

Ans.: Grant was completely different from Lee.Ans.: Grant was completely different from Lee.

He was one of a body of men who owed reverence and obeisance to no one, who were self-reliant 3to a fault, who cared hardly anything for the past but who had a sharp eye for the future.

3to a fault: to an extreme degree; excessively e.g.

Generous to a fault, he was noted for his hospitality.

3to a fault: to an extreme degree; excessively e.g.

Generous to a fault, he was noted for his hospitality.

Para.8 These frontier men were the

precise opposites of the tidewater aristocrats. Back of them, in the 1great surge that had taken people over the Alleghenies and into the opening Western country, there was a deep, implicit dissatisfaction with 2a past that had settled into grooves.

1. great surge of westward settlement1. great surge of westward settlement

2. A life characterized by fixed routine2. A life characterized by fixed routine

They stood for democracy, not from any reasoned conclusion about the proper ordering of human society, but simply because they had grown up in the middle of democracy and knew how it worked. Their society might have privileges, but they would be privileges each man had won for himself. 3Forms and patterns meant nothing. 4No man was born to anything, except perhaps to a chance to show how far he could rise. Life was competition.

3. Ranks or titles of nobility were meaningless to them.

3. Ranks or titles of nobility were meaningless to them.

4. No man came into this world with privileges but was endowed with only a chance to show how successful he could become.

4. No man came into this world with privileges but was endowed with only a chance to show how successful he could become.

Six basic American values:

Self-reliance/ hard struggle;

Equality of opportunity/ competition;

Independence/ material wealth

Six basic American values:

Self-reliance/ hard struggle;

Equality of opportunity/ competition;

Independence/ material wealth

Para.9 Yet along with this feeling had come a

deep sense of belonging to a national community. The Westerner who developed a farm, opened a shop, or set up in business as a trader, could hope to prosper only as his own community prospered --- and 1his community ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada down to Mexico.

1. What does “his community” refer to ?

If the land was settled, with towns and highways and accessible markets, he could better himself. 2He saw his fate in terms of the nation’s own destiny. As its horizons expanded, so did his. 3He had, in other words, an acute dollars-and- cents stake in the continued growth and development of his country.

2. He linked his own destiny with that of his country.( i.e. He was a nationalist.)

2. He linked his own destiny with that of his country.( i.e. He was a nationalist.)

3.He had great confidence in the ever-growing expansion and development of his country.

3.He had great confidence in the ever-growing expansion and development of his country.

Para.10 And that, perhaps, is where the

contrast between Grant and Lee becomes most striking. 1The Virginia aristocrat, inevitably, saw himself in relation to his own region. He lived in a static society which could endure almost anything except change.

1.Lee linked his fate with that of his region.(i.e. He was a regionalist)

1.Lee linked his fate with that of his region.(i.e. He was a regionalist)

Instinctively, his first loyalty would go to the locality in which that society existed. He would fight 2to the limit of endurance to defend it, because in defending it he was defending everything that gave his own life its deepest meaning.

2to the limit of

•In full (capacity, energy, resources, etc.)e.g. The sailors struggled to the limit against the wind and wave.

2to the limit of

•In full (capacity, energy, resources, etc.)e.g. The sailors struggled to the limit against the wind and wave.

Para.11 The Westerner, on the other hand,

would fight with an equal tenacity for 1the broader concept of society. He fought so because everything he lived by was tied to growth, expansion, and a constantly widening horizon.

1. What does it suggest?

What he lived by would survive or fall with the nation itself. He could not possibly stand by unmoved in the face of 2an attempt to destroy the Union. He would combat it with everything he had, because he could only see it as an effort 3to cut the ground out from under his feet.

2an attempt to destroy the Union:

This refers to “secessionism”or

“splittism”

3to cut the ground out from under his feet. To destroy the chance of success; to destroy the foundation of one’s existencee.g. by challenging the traditional beliefs of mankind we cut (dig ,sweep) the ground out from under our own feet.

3to cut the ground out from under his feet. To destroy the chance of success; to destroy the foundation of one’s existencee.g. by challenging the traditional beliefs of mankind we cut (dig ,sweep) the ground out from under our own feet.

Para.12 So Grant and Lee were in complete

contrast, representing two 1diametrically opposed elements in American life. Grant was the modern man emerging; beyond him, ready to come on the stage, was the great age of 2steel and machinery, of crowded cities and a restless burgeoning vitality.

1.completely

2steel and machinery, of crowded cities This refers to the great age of industrialization and urbanization

2steel and machinery, of crowded cities This refers to the great age of industrialization and urbanization

3Lee might have ridden down from the old age of chivalry, lance in hand, silken banner fluttering over his head. Each man was the 4perfect champion of his cause, drawing both his strengths and his weaknesses from the people he led.

4.

staunch defender of his faith, completely reliant on the people he led

4.

staunch defender of his faith, completely reliant on the people he led

3.

•The readers will be easily reminded of an image of a knight in the middle ages, an image of feudalism.In former times, a knight was a warrior who followed a nobleman or a nobleman who followed a king.

3.

•The readers will be easily reminded of an image of a knight in the middle ages, an image of feudalism.In former times, a knight was a warrior who followed a nobleman or a nobleman who followed a king.

Today a knight is a person who has been given a royal recognition. In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth nations the knight is styled Sir.

Today a knight is a person who has been given a royal recognition. In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth nations the knight is styled Sir.

Para.13 Yet it was not all contrast, after all.

1Different as they were — in background, in personality, in underlying aspiration --- these two great soldiers had much in common. Under everything else, they were marvelous fighters. Furthermore, their fighting qualities were really very much alike.

1. Although they were different…

Note that this paragraph serves as a transition from “contrast” to “comparison”.

Note that this paragraph serves as a transition from “contrast” to “comparison”.

Para.14 Each man had, to begin with, the

great virtue of utter tenacity and fidelity. Grant fought his way down the Mississippi Valley in spite of acute personal discouragement and profound military handicaps.

Lee 1hung on in the trenches at Petersburg after hope itself had died. In each man there was an 2indomitable quality… the born fighter’s refusal to give up as long as he can still remain on his feet and lift his two fists.

Persisted;held on

2. unyielding

Para.15 1Daring and resourcefulness

they had, too; the ability to think faster and move faster than the enemy. These were the qualities which gave Lee the dazzling campaigns of Second Manassas and Chancellorsville and won Vicksburg for Grant

1. What effect can result if this sentence is changed into “They had daring and resourcefulness ,too.”?

1. What effect can result if this sentence is changed into “They had daring and resourcefulness ,too.”?

Para.16 Lastly, and perhaps greatest of all,

there was the ability, at the end, to turn quickly from war to peace once the fighting was over. 1Out of the way these two men behaved at Appomattox came the possibility of a peace of reconciliation.

1.The peace of reconciliation became possible as a result of what the two men did at Appomattox. ( i.e. working out the terms for the surrender)Why inverted order?

1.The peace of reconciliation became possible as a result of what the two men did at Appomattox. ( i.e. working out the terms for the surrender)Why inverted order?

It was a possibility not wholly realized, in the years to come, but which did, in the end, help the two sections to become one nation again…after a war whose bitterness might have seemed to make such a reunion wholly impossible. 2No part of either man’s life became him more than the part he played in this brief meeting in the McLean house at Appomattox.

Nothing in the life of either of the two men could show his greatness more than his behavior in the McLean house at Appomattox.(…than the role/part he played in the brief meeting in the McLean house at Appomattox.)

Nothing in the life of either of the two men could show his greatness more than his behavior in the McLean house at Appomattox.(…than the role/part he played in the brief meeting in the McLean house at Appomattox.)

3Their behavior there put all succeeding generations of Americans in their debt. Two great Americans, Grant and Lee — very different, yet under everything very much alike. Their encounter at Appomattox was one of the great moments of American history.

3.

Because of their contribution, the succeeding generations of Americans owe a great deal to them.

3.

Because of their contribution, the succeeding generations of Americans owe a great deal to them.