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Yupster

(14,308 posts)

19. Lee wanted to arm the slaves because

Mon May 15, 2017, 03:08 AM

May 2017

he had run out of white men to arm.

He was an engineer. He had lived much of his adult life in the north including the New York City area. He could do math. He was under no illusions about numbers. His thinking was pretty similar I think to another famous Lincoln quote.

I think Lee would have not armed the slaves if he could win independence without doing it. If it took arming the slaves to win independence, then he would do it.

To paraphrase Lincoln, it was something like "If I could preserve the union without freeing a single slave, I would do it. If I could preserve the Union by freeing every slave, I would do it."

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Analysis of a Robert E Lee quote about slavery seems pertinent to today's conversation [View all] ProudLib72 May 2017 OP

The protest was not in Richmond, it was in Charlottesville. Yonnie3 May 2017 #1

Jefferson's University of Virginia trof May 2017 #6

Yes and rally leader, white supremacist Richard Spencer, got a BA at UVA in 2001. n/t Yonnie3 May 2017 #7

Yeah, I think I just looked at where it was filed ProudLib72 May 2017 #8

This is local, so it jumped out at me. Yonnie3 May 2017 #10

My point is the absurd rationalization of racism ProudLib72 May 2017 #12

Ha! I was worried someone might think I was condoning them. Yonnie3 May 2017 #15

The south truly was devastated by the war Yupster May 2017 #17

Most of those there are from elsewhere... Demsrule86 May 2017 #22

The city is not redneck but Yonnie3 May 2017 #24

That is true...but Charlottesville area is becoming an extension of Northern Virginia. Demsrule86 May 2017 #26

Yes, but blue mostly near the city. Yonnie3 May 2017 #27

I wonder if he died still rationalizing evil. Boomerproud May 2017 #2

Isn't every age Yupster May 2017 #18

I think he was trying to rationalize something in a different time. kentuck May 2017 #3

By the end of his life Lincoln did. Thaddeus Stevens was always there. DemocratSinceBirth May 2017 #4

We would have been treestar May 2017 #5

Today is not all that different ProudLib72 May 2017 #9

I like your posts, but disagree on this point: raccoon May 2017 #29

I didn't explain that correctly in the previous post ProudLib72 May 2017 #32

Just before the end of the Civil War, Yupster May 2017 #33

Wow. Now that is interesting. nt raccoon May 2017 #35

It was a very interesting tid-bit of US history Yupster May 2017 #37

What did Lincoln (and congress) make of Grant pulling rank? ProudLib72 May 2017 #38

Yes, Grant was pushing Lincoln to do what he thought he wanted to do anyway Yupster May 2017 #39

Historians call it Yupster May 2017 #20

Why were there generals like Grant who truly believed in the cause they were fighting for? DemocratSinceBirth May 2017 #23

Lee was an unreconstructed racist. Buzz cook May 2017 #11

I agree ProudLib72 May 2017 #13

Revisionists keep trotting out the "arm the slaves" letter Buzz cook May 2017 #16

Lee wanted to arm the slaves because Yupster May 2017 #19

He was a traitor, plain and simple, and quite frankly, what we now call white priviledge is... brush May 2017 #28

It was only fitting that his inherited estate became Arlinton Cemetary. Scruffy1 May 2017 #14

Which general do you think would have done significantly better than Lee Yupster May 2017 #21

My Confederate ancestor survived Pickett's charge... VOX May 2017 #25

Interesting post. That's good that you know so much about him. raccoon May 2017 #30

True. He wasn't on the muster sheet until April, 1862... VOX May 2017 #34

Sadly, it wasn't only a Southern ideology. Caliman73 May 2017 #31

Lee was speaking from the ignorance engendered by his privilege. n/t Orsino May 2017 #36