Ulysses S. Grant, eighteenth President of the United States, was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822. At the age of seventeen he entered the Military Academy at West Point, and was graduated in 1843. He served with distinction in the Mexican war; but his first national reputation was won by the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson. From that time he rapidly rose in rank, and in March, 1864, was appointed lieutenant-general and general-in-chief of the Union army. [Illustration: Ulysses S. Grant.] [Sidenote: =The Pacific Railroad.=] 2. The first great event of the new administration was the completion of the PACIFIC RAILROAD. The first division of the road extended from Omaha, Nebraska, to Ogden, Utah, a distance of one thousand and thirty-two miles. The western division reached from Ogden to San Francisco, a distance of eight hundred and eighty-two miles. On the 10th of May, 1869, the work was completed with appropriate ceremonies. 3. Before the inauguration of President Grant two additional amendments to the Constitution had been adopted. The first of these, known as the Fourteenth Amendment, extended the right of citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and declared the validity of the public debt. Early in 1869, the Fifteenth Amendment was adopted by Congress, providing that the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This clause was proclaimed by the President as a part of the Constitution on the 30th of March, 1870. 4. In the first three months of the same year, the reorganization of the Southern States was completed. On the 24th of January, the senators and representatives of Virginia were readmitted to their seats in Congress. On the 23d of February a like action was taken in regard to Mississippi; and on the 30th of March the work was finished by the readmission of Texas. [Sidenote: =Growth of the Nation.=] 5. In 1870 was completed the ninth census of the United States. Notwithstanding the ravages of war, the past ten years had been a period of growth and progress. During that time the population had increased to thirty-eight million five hundred and eighty-seven thousand souls. The national debt was rapidly falling off. The products of the United States had grown to a vast aggregate. American manufacturers were competing with those of all nations in the markets of the world. The Union now embraced thirty-seven States and eleven Territories. The national domain had spread to the vast area of three million six hundred and four thousand square miles. Few things have been more wonderful than the territorial and material growth of the United States. [Sidenote: =San Domingo Commission.=]