Were George Washington and Robert E. Lee really that different?

[BaronChocula]

13. In my humble opinion

The era in which you were born gives you limited license. Add to that, there was only a 75 year difference between Washington and Lee. there are 79 years between FDR and Obama. FDR's "era license" excuses him from the exclusion of African Americans from many New Deal benefits in exchange for Southern Democratic votes. How much license does Washington get for those 75 years. In the decade after his death, Virginia became more stringently pro-slavery. If he were a "man of his time" in Lee's era, he would have certainly would have been just as pro-slavery as Lee was.