I'm not great as far as personalities in the Civil War age. I think they were all overcome with insurmountable obstacles.
I don't think George Washington was some great guy and Robert E. Lee was the devil. Georgie may be a secret rat. I have not read much about them. And maybe Lee was despotic. Not sure.
I like to believe that our founding fathers were chosen by the Universe to lay down some very important spiritual laws that have held this country together since their inception. I think these men had to be high-minded to even get this idea passed. These ideas, set forth in the Constitution and the Amendments.
But Robert E. Lee? I don't know that much about him. Let me check it out.
Well, after reading this, it sounds like he was a total racist PIG.
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was an American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. A son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III, 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.
When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his desire for the country to remain intact and an offer of a senior Union command.[1] During the first year of the Civil War, Lee served as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. Once he took command of the main field army in 1862 he soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander, winning most of his battles, all against far superior Union armies.[2][3] Lee's strategic foresight was more questionable, and both of his major offensives into Union territory ended in defeat.[4][5][6] Lee's aggressive tactics, which resulted in high casualties at a time when the Confederacy had a shortage of manpower, have come under criticism in recent years.[7] Lee surrendered his entire army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. By this time, Lee had assumed supreme command of the remaining Southern armies; other Confederate forces swiftly capitulated after his surrender. Lee rejected the proposal of a sustained insurgency against the Union and called for reconciliation between the two sides.
After the war, Lee supported President Andrew Johnson's program of Reconstruction and intersectional friendship,[citation needed] while opposing the Radical Republican proposals to give freed slaves the vote and take the vote away from ex-Confederates. He urged them to rethink their position between the North and the South, and the reintegration of former Confederates into the nation's political life. Lee became the great Confederate hero of the War, a postwar icon of the "Lost Cause of the Confederacy" to some. But his popularity grew even in the North, especially after his death in 1870.[8] Barracks at West Point built in 1962 are named after him.
This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at August 16, 2017 12:00 PM MDT
He opposed giving freed slaves the vote, so that makes him racist, granted. Washington and Jefferson also owned slaves. His opposition to taking the vote away from ex-Confederates is commendable, nobody should be disenfranchised for any reason. Most members of the Confederate army, Lee included, didn't feel very strongly about secession, they merely followed their home State who had voted that way. As for the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who marched, let them - and let the counter-protestors do their thing, too. "I disapprove of everything you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"(Voltaire). Driving vehicles into anybody is a criminal act and should not be tolerated.
Actually Lee was trying to create a country too - the Confederate States of America, breaking away from the USA in not too dissimilar a fashion from British America eighty years earlier breaking away from England. Washington was a slave owning aristocrat. The motives BEHIND what each did may have been radically different, but their actions weren't entirely. Lincoln was a better man than any of them.
It was treason wasn't it? Granted we "Americans" fought to break away from British rule and be our own independent country. Lee and his cohorts turned on our country and fought to preserve the right to own slaves. Murdered people for that goal which was certainly not honorable to anyone but other racists. How many hundreds of thousands died on both sides because of the evil nature of those who wanted to belong to the Confederate States of America? Now we are on the brink of being a White Racist White Supremacist neo-Nazi Skinhead Militia KKK country. They are proud as he ** of their prez. When all power redounds to them lots of statues will go up everywhere. I would say slavery would become fashionable again but the goal of white supremacists is to make America white again so they will either kill or deport all non-whites. Whichever is easier . Absurd you say? That is what I heard one white racist say. Make America White again. How do you accomplish that without killing/deporting those who offend you? Stay tuned. Thank you for your reply Sbf and Happy Thursday.
Had the American Revolution failed, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin et al would have been hanged - for treason. The Confederate States were fighting to break away from Union rule and be their own independent country. The motives behind it were different, true. The Confederates were racists. Many Americans are bigoted towards their fellow Americans for various reasons. The white folks hate the black folks and the black folks hate the white folks. The poor folks hate the rich folks and the rich folks hate the poor folks. The Protestants hate the Catholics and the Catholics hate the Protestants and the Hindus hate the Muslims and everybody hates the Jews (thanks to Professor Lehrer). It ain't right - but there isn't a quick fix, either.
The difference is that Lee lost in seceding from the Union, while Washington and Jefferson won in seceding from England. It is lacking in objectivity, logic and education to say some worked to create a nation and another worked to destroy one. The USA destroyed the British Empire by withdrawing from it. Lee led a fight to secede from the Union just as Washington led a fight to secede from England. Washington was successful, but Lee was not. Samuel Houston was successful in separating Texas from Mexico. You are more emotional than logical and lack objectivity. Strong biases control your constant postings.
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH 