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Originally Posted by nhtexasrn
There are many things about Lee that obviously you don't know. For instance, Lincoln offered him command of the United States Army. He refused because of loyalty to his home state saying he could not raise a sword to the state of his home and birth. Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War, and served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy. Countering Southerners who argued for slavery as a positive good, Lee in his well-known analysis of slavery from an 1856 letter called it a moral and political evil. It was said of Lee, "He was a foe without hate; a friend without treachery; a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression, and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices; a private citizen without wrong; a neighbour without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guile." Yes, he was born into a certain culture and that's all he knew at the time, but it's so much more complicated than what you have stated. He and his wife were both disgusted by slavery even though they were born in to that culture.
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You are spot on. What is ironic and obvious to me is even after 156 years those from northern states are the ones that refuse to let the Civil War be over. It was the same during Reconstruction. To this day they want to put their thumb on southerners. They want to portray southerners as ignorant, they insist that we publicly condemn our ancestors as traitors while portraying themselves as conquering heroes which we know is a joke. They would have never fought the war if it was to end slavery. Even Lincoln wasn’t for racial equality. But the northern libs won’t stop until we kneel at the monument of political correctness. The cause of slavery was wrong and southerners admit that. But you must judge those from the past by the customs and mores of their time, not by the present. Regardless of which side you were on during the war Robert E Lee had the respect of both sides both as a General and as a man of honor. Time will not erase the truth. I have read several biographies of R E Lee. I disagree with taking statues down but it will never change my opinion of him. And I won’t bow to those that disagree. As a matter of fact I will now have a portrait of Lee hanging on a wall of my home. When I’m asked who it is I will tell the truth. An honorable man that could not raise his sword against his own state. Even though he disagreed with their cause.