Drawing by Ulysses S. Grant of a trader displaying a blanket to a Native American...

Drawing by Ulysses S. Grant of a trader displaying a blanket to a Native American family, the original artwork in collection of the United States Military Academy aka West Point. Grant was a cadet at West Point and graduated as an Army officer in 1843, leading to his career as a military hero, leader of the Union Army, and President of the United States. Grant was sympathetic to the unjust treatment of America’s indigenous people and the drawing may be a specific reference to an episode in 1763 when British colonists gave blankets infected with smallpox virus to Shawnee and Lenape Indians with intention of genocide or biological warfare. In a speech in1869, as President of the United States, Grant said that “the proper treatment of the original occupants of this land—the Indians—[is] one deserving of careful study. I will favor any course toward them which tends to their civilization and ultimate citizenship.” Grant had limited interactions with Indigenous people as a young officer in the United States Army. His attitude at the inauguration reflected a genuine desire to reform federal Indian policy, but also a desire to change the customs and lifeways of the various Indian nations in the West. Photo by Ted Spiegel