archieclement
Colonel
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2011
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- mo
Again I wouldn't characterize remaining silent on something you have absolutely no say in at all as "sulking".I'd bet he used that same type of conditional loyalty when he was sulking.
Again I wouldn't characterize remaining silent on something you have absolutely no say in at all as "sulking".I'd bet he used that same type of conditional loyalty when he was sulking.
Be careful, 150 years from now you will be accused of being sullen and bitter for staying home quietly and trying to earn a living in your elder years. You should be out traversing the country, speaking to everyone you can about gang violence.Deleted
I think you're overstating the expectations of post-war Lee a bit. No one expected him to be a 24/7 public advocate for reconciliation. But some people hoped he would have helped the healing process more than he did. His post-war testimony to congress was not helpful for extending civil rights to black Americans.Just going to say, this thread is a perfect example of revisionist history.
Lee rejected the notion of continuing the war as a guerrilla or fleeing to personal safety but instead chose to face the music and formally surrender himself and his army. Not knowing whether he would be hung for treason or jailed, he returned to a quiet and productive civilian life as much as his health would allow, and set an example of reconciliation with his former enemies that is well documented and was universally lauded for well over 100 years.
Now, in the last few years, because he didn't take the public stage and wipe out 300 years of race prejudice (existing both north and south), many want the record to read that Lee was bitter, or sullen, sulking, and vindictive in defeat, when he was none of those, at least not where it mattered; in public.
I think the attempt to put horns on every Confederate now somehow puts angel wings and halos on every member of the Union army and helps dumb down the war to "good vs evil" in many minds.
I am quite late jumping in here but my research on Lee in the post war years indicate his net worth to be about $1 million in today’s money.Lee experts! Had two questions for the forum.
1) In the post-war years, would you characterize Lee as being bitter towards the USA? What did his writing and post war career suggest?
2) Did Lee live a comfortable and wealthy post-war life? Or did he struggle? Were his means his own, or did he depend on generosity from Southern admirers?
Mike
I wonder if hanging Davis, and/ or Lee, cabinet members, major Southern generals would have produced a better Reconstruction, or would the South have been so mad as to create guerrilla war that went on for years/ decades.
I think the attempt to put horns on every Confederate now somehow puts angel wings and halos on every member of the Union army and helps dumb down the war to "good vs evil" in many minds.