Posted on 01/19/2005 7:38:59 AM PST by Valin
After 140 years there are still wounds that haven't healed and those that wave the bloody shirt are still with us. That we should never forget is good but it's more important that what we remember is true. Good and bad on all sides but men such as Robert E. Lee should be thought of in proper context of their times and by true measure of their spirit. He was one of the most vibrant men of the 19th century and for his memory and honor to be stained or tainted by ignorant remarks is not proper and something that falls beneath contempt.
Thanks for the reminder Valin.
Welcome to the continuum of history. Now, you were saying?
Slavery in America
The first slaves arrived in Virginia around 1619, and slavery existed in America for the next 250 years. Africans made up the largest number of migrants to the New World during the colonial era, especially during the eighteenth century. During the four centuries of the Atlantic slave trade, an estimated 11 million Africans were transported to North and South America.
In the United States, slaves had no rights. According to the Constitution, a slave was considered three-fifths of a person--so every 5 slaves were counted as 3 people. A slave could be bought and sold just like a cow or horse. Slaves had no say in where they lived or who they worked for. They had no representation in government. Slaves could not own property and were not allowed to learn or be taught how to read and write.
Even the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 did not end slavery. Slavery continued in the states that were part of the Union forces. Slavery came to an end in 1865 when the 13th Amendment was ratified after the end of the Civil War.
Amen, May God bless the memory of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Deliberately misquoting people does no honor to your cause. What Lincoln actually said, in context, was:
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 22, 1862.
Hon. Horace Greeley:
Dear Sir.
I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptable [sic] in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.
As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.
I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.
Yours,
A. Lincoln.
"If this war was about slavery I would fight for the South." - Ulysses S. Grant
I've seen this quote in several occasions, but never a date for it or the quote in context. I don't suppose you have that information, do you?
This war was not about slavery, even though your communist schools taught you so.
If this is an indication of your understanding of the times then it's easy to see where you come to that conclusion.
Lee-Jackson Day bump
He did a great thing at the end of the war by calling on Southerners to lay down their arms and not continue a bloody guerilla war.
Now I COULD be wrong, but I don't believe that's Robert E Lee. :-)
There's an old saying here that you're not a REAL FReeper until you've been flamed.
You probably also run around at Christmas time KMC1 tearing down nativity scenes?
Does it bother you when others wish to commemorate the birthday of a confederate military commander, a man of giant religious principle who "dwarfed" his union opponents on the southern battlefields?
I guess it really bugs you that everyone does not think like you and, within days of martin luther kings birthday are actually celebrating Robert E. Lee. What a queer!
Were Lee's views regarding slavery and how it should be abolished radically different from the views of the average Northener at the time?
Your comment is unworthy of even an uneducated Yankee, and you seem to know little or nothing about the Civil War. States rights was the main issue of the war, not slavery. What you should do is read a book on the Civil War and Robert E. Lee's role in that war before showing your ignorance in this forum.
Your comment is unworthy of even an uneducated Yankee, and you seem to know little or nothing about the Civil War. States rights was the main issue of the war, not slavery. What you should do is read a book on the Civil War and Robert E. Lee's role in that war before showing your ignorance in this forum.
It would depend on who you talked to. Abolition societies were well established in the North, but the average Northerner probably had no interest in ending slavery and no more liking for blacks than the southerners did.
Is it possible then that Lee's views regarding slavery were somewhat enlightened in comparison to most of the country's population?
Amen. Happy birthday, sir.
No one is 'still fighting the civil war' but there is such a thing a 'Southern Culture'. It has nothing to do with flags, dueling banjos or Jeff Foxworthy stereotypes. It's an attitude of gracious respect for another persons opinions and open hospitality towards guests as long as they deserve it. Your 'friendly advice' is soaked in the tone of condesension expected of hollow earth society members towards flat earth society folks. I take no resentment at it since I am mental and teasing me only tickles... I have to take my meds now and move on to the other offerings of Free Republic where I can take the posts seriously.
That it was good for blacks, ordained by God, and necessary for the South? Possibly. You tried to show that Lee was opposed to slavery. And I do not believe that the letter showed that.
Robert E. Lee wasn't a racist - and before you get on your Yankee high horse, might one remind you of the blacks hung from lampposts in NY, the racist/discriminatory policies in the North (against Blacks, Irish, Italians, etc) - you know the deal - glass house + stones...
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