I have not been a member for long, so the site hasn't swayed me to anything, per-se, but on a related note, I have recognized some changes in my opinions over the years. I wouldn't so much say that I have been swayed, but that I have a better understanding now than I did say, when I was fifteen.
Growing up, Robert E. Lee practically walked on water in my eyes. He was a genius, the perfect and most skilled general, and could do no wrong. Now that I am older, I am able to see that he, like everyone else in this world, had his flaws. At first, it hit me like a ton of bricks, like it did when I realized that my father wasn't perfect like I always believed him to be, but as I got older, I realized that nobody was perfect, so to expect Lee (or my father, for that matter,) to be so was unrealistic.
I used to think of McClellan as a bumbling, pompous and bombastic idiot, scared of his own shadow. But now I also know that he was an efficient organizer, and that he cared greatly for his men.
Also, growing up, we were taught (wrongly, of course) that the South fought for slavery, and that was it. They made no mention of any other factors, and portrayed all who sided with the Union as being staunch abolitionists. Of course, with my seemingly excessive interest in the Civil War, and having many ancestors that fought for the Confederacy, (some for the Union as well, but most were Confederate) I knew better than what they taught us in school- but I never realized exactly how wrong they were until I got older. By this, I mean that it wasn't all as black and white as they tried to make us believe. Not everyone in the north held abolitionist sentiments (in fact, the hard-core abolitionists were somewhat of a radical minority at the time. Also, think of McClellan and his views on abolitionism) and not everyone that fought for the South was necessarily fighting to keep the Negro down, as they tried to teach us. There were far many more factors than the schools let on.
As others have stated in this thread, I try to leave myself open to learning, even if it's not something I want to hear. To remain open to new knowledge is to grow, and the day I stop growing is the day I start dying.
I have, in my short time here, received a bounty of new information, and have purchased several books recommended by fellow members. I am eagerly awaiting them in the mail- oh, and by the way, purchasing secondhand books from Amazon is the way to go!