I believe the facts are that Lee inherited them from his wife. Seems I've
read somewhere that she stopped the manumission so that she would not live
alone while he was about his soldiering. If actions speak louder than
words, then Mrs. Lee's refusal to accept a black US soldier as guard when
Richmond fell, indicates her feelings on the subject of Negroes. She was
most ungracious!

                                 Anne

At 03:41 PM 2/22/03 -0500, you wrote:
>         There is no historical evidence that I am aware of (and I speak as a
>long time REL-ophile) that Lee ever purchased/sold/owned slaves or was in the
>passionate, pro-slavery milieu.  The best evidence of this is the fact that
>Mr. Lincoln offered Lee the command of the Union army at the start of
>hostilities.  I doubt the Lincoln/abolitionist wing of government would have
>done so in the case of someone perceived to be a staunch pro-slavery man.
>
>        Many have tried to demonize Lee as the evil leader of the pro-slavery
>wing of the South....none have succeeded based on any factual record.
>
>JDS
>
>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html

Anne Pemberton
[log in to unmask]

http://www.erols.com/stevepem
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html