There is a movement in California to remove the name of Robert E. Lee from several public buildings. Lee has defenders, of course, who support Lee with imaginary facts culled from misinformation they've been taught about the Civil War. One of their claims is that Lee freed his slaves.
The truth is that Lee was wishy-washy about the institution of slavery, which he believed had been authorized by God. In time, Lee held, God would free the slaves but on his own schedule.
The slaves Lee freed were not his own. He had inherited them from his father-in-law, a better man than Lee. A descendant of Martha Washington's family, the father-in-law stated in his will that his slaves were to be freed over a five-year period. George Washington had done something similar in his will. The five year period gave the enslaved human beings time to learn trades and make plans.
Lee did, slowly, free the slaves as ordered, but apparently some of them grew impatient and were failing to follow orders with alacrity during the five years. Finding them insolent, Lee ordered three of them (two men and one woman) whipped. After the Civil War, five or six people who had been present (or whipped) wrote about the incident. Lee's overseer gave 50 lashes to each of the men but refused to whip the woman. Lee sent for county official who gave the woman twenty stripes as Lee supervised.
We should keep in mind that Lee got a lot of his own men killed in mindless charges against fortified American positions. Statistics show that it was more dangerous to be a private in Lee's army than in Grant's army. Lee was defeated in battle by Gen. Meade, a sound but second-rate leader, and then was beaten like a drum by Grant, an innovative military genius. Lee was a traitor to the United States, which had educated him at no cost to himself and then employed him until 1860. It makes no more sense to name state buildings for Lee than for Benedict Arnold or Braxton Bragg.
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4 comments:
I am a little confused over the sudden focus on Robert E. Lee and the removal of statues, street names etc related to him. Following are notable founding fathers who owned slaves: Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, Patrick Henry. So you want to get rid of all their statues? Robert E. Lee quote, "I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union." "If I owned four millions of slaves in the South I would sacrifice them all to the Union but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia my native state." Every Southerner I know, and as one myself I know plenty, abhor that slavery existed. I have researched and find it interesting that in the 21st Century there have been no race riots in the South. However there have been riots in Cincinnati 2001, Ferguson MO 2014 and Baltimore MD 2015. I am proud to be a Southerner, where in this century we are one people. I believe it is much more productive for the rest of the country to find a way to solve their race issues and stop blaming the South.
Patricia, you (like most of my generation) were taught what is now called "the lost cause" version of American history, in which Lee was portrayed as an admirable person and the Civil War was supposedly about noble cause, state's rights. Historians no longer believe that, which is why Lee has come up as a topic. We have no evidence that Ben Franklin or George Washington had a slave woman whipped, as Lee did. The difference between Lee and the founders of this country is that they founded this country, while Lee was a traitor who helped found a ghastly war to defend the enslavement of human beings. If you look at the documented acts of secession passed by every Southern state, you will find that they openly say that they are leaving the Union in order to maintain slavery. I believe you when you say that you abhor slavery, but America needs to get the history straight. Thanks to modern historians, that is finally happening.
The Civil War was horrible and I have never considered that it was noble. So many victims, such loss and waste. I have seen the story about Lee beating the slave as well as articles refuting that it happened. But, if removing statues of Lee would erase all the pain and bring about racial accord in this country then I would support it. History and current day events prove, unfortunately, that racism exists throughout our nation. We are each, individually, in our communities and as a nation responsible for creating unity.
Patricia, I agree that each of us is responsible for creating a good nation that treats everyone fairly. Racism in only one problem, although it is a huge problem and not confined, of course, to the South. Historians now often say that the Confederates lost the war but won the peace (via Jim Crow, voter suppression, the lost cause mythology, etc.) Maybe today the South is beginning to face up to the wrongs done by their Confederate ancestors. It will help if the South repudiates the
Confederate cause and then moves on.
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