are you arguing Lee was not the son (and grandson) of a great slaveholder? It is
odd that he was in "the process" of freeing slaves.  What does that mean?  did he
ever finish the process?

[log in to unmask] wrote:

> In a message dated 2/22/03 11:53:45 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> > the officer
> > corps, on the otherhand, was made up to the sons of great slaveowners, or
> > great
> > slaveowners themselves
>
> could you state some facts on this...Lee didn't not ...he was in fact freeing
> some of His wife's slaves....Jackson did not own slave....Longstreet
> didn't...so what about the field grade officers and company level
> officers...yes some of them own slaves but a lot didn't. The fear the South
> had was other parts of country would control them ( the slave issue yes, the
> trade issue yes, control in Congress yes)....when the Union called for Vols.
> then did Va. leave the Union...a feeling of oppression maybe...they did feel
> that the North was invading their state...remember most people in south
> thought first of their state then on the Union. This issue of why is as
> complex today as it was then.....and we each understand that in the end the
> right thing happened. Slavery most likely would not have survived much longer
> in Va.. From what I remember reading Virginia Senate that started to talk of
> freeing the slaves well before the war but was shelved after a slave revolt.
>
> WC Buser
>
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