Posted on 01/18/2003 9:06:10 PM PST by stainlessbanner
Lee was a supporter of slavery -- perhaps in the same way that Jefferson did -- not able to see a better way.
Lee refused to consider black Union POW's as equal to whites in 1864. That is why the POW exchange cartels were not re-established at least in the eastern theater.
In a January 11, 1865 letter, he said the best relationship between whites and blacks was that of master and slave.
Walt
Her surname was Custis, not Curtis.
I know this as I was born and raised just a few miles from the illustrious Custis-Lee Mansion, "Arlington House" in the Virginia county named in its honour.
For this reason alone, Northern Virginia should not be called not part of the south...by you southerners who live further from Lee's home.
There is no remote indication of that. The Supreme Court ruled also in 1862 that secession was unlawful, even referring to the "so-called Confederate states." See The Prize Cases.
Unilateral state secession is treason and revolution.
Walt
"He failed to rise above local professional concerns and view the war as a whole, displaying little interest or understanding of the overall strategic situation, demonstrating a predilection for Virginia - and Virginians - to the exclusion of all other theaters."
--"A Civil War Treasury" by A.A. Nofi
Walt
I think that the war itself proved that any state or group of states has the right to secede as long as they can whip the states remaining in the union. If they can’t, for all practical purposes, they don’t have a right to secede.
And, I still don’t think you could get an unbiased opinion from any late 19th century court. I do think that, if a conviction for treason was possible against any of the secessionist, it would have been passed down at that time.
By the late 1860's no one wanted to pursue treason convictions. The idea was to reunite the different sections, after all.
Had Stanton wanted to hang somebody immediately after the war, they would have been hung.
Walt
That is exactly right.
But secession is not legal under U.S. law.
Walt
In the things that he really cared about Lee was already very much a part of the political world of men. He wasn't going to stand by and watch the Union enforce its authority over Virginia, leaving the matter in the hands of God. But he was content to do so where slavery was concerned.
The conclusion has to be that he wasn't against slavery in any practical, political way. I suspect he regarded it more as a private vice, like drinking or smoking or sexual misconduct, that had to be put up with until, in the fullness of time, God or social evolution had rendered it obsolete. That's a coherent view of the matter and quite sensible in terms of alcohol or tobacco, but not one that we'd call anti-slavery today or regard as particularly praiseworthy -- and not much comfort to the slaves themselves.
When whites were captured, taken prisoner by Indians, they were separated from their families, and Indians would keep them, let's say, hoeing corn. Rhetorically, Mrs. Stowe asked, Is escaping a sin? Are the Indians now "your masters"? Are you now "their servants"? duty-bound to stay with them? to not escape?
Is that God's will for you?
If opportunity to escape occurs, is escaping a sin? or taking Indians' food or supplies for the journey with you?
Instinctively, Northerners understood Mrs. Stowe's point: There were no masters, none authorized by Bible or Constitution, and so, no obligation to obey them.
And, indeed, a right to escape, use standard self-defense methods, and, for others, a right to rescue.
I don't know how far I'd go along with Harriet Beecher Stowe, but she does put things in a different light.
"Distance does not lend enchantment to the old fellow's greatness I assure you. The nearer he comes, the higher he looms up. It is plain, simple, unaffected greatness. It is just as natural and easy for him to be great as it is for me to be ordinary, and there is probably less affectation about it." ---General John Bratton, CSA, commenting on Robert E. Lee in a letter to his wife in 1865.
Should you make a visit to South Carolina I highly recommend the restored antebellum plantation at Brattonsville. It was used in many scenes in "The Patriot".
Patriotism burns deep and true there. And decidedly NOT the stupid, shallow, knee-jerk psuedo-patriotism one encounters in so many venues ;^)
If I can help you as a fellow follower of the Risen Christ, please give me a holler.
Paul
Stratford Hall, Lee's birthplace, might have some more information and resources for you.
I hope you can trace your lineage back to General Lee - he was a gentleman and leader for all time. There is much to learn from our beloved Marse Robert.
Welcome to FR, Tisha419
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