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Robert E. Lee and His Position on Slavery

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January 6, 2011
Robert E. Lee and his Position on Slavery and Secession

In the spring of 1861, our country faced a great turmoil caused by the incendiary issues of slavery and secession in the southern states. Abraham Lincoln, the newly elected president, was faced with the prospect of presiding over half a nation. Slavery was the key issue for the southern states but in Lincoln’s opinion the more pressing issue was the preservation of the Union. If not the issue of slavery, than some other issue at some other time would be reason enough for the states to try and secede. Lincoln’s fervent hope was that he could avoid a war by keeping the state of Virginia in the Union. “Lincoln declared to the U.S. Congress, “The course taken in Virginia was the most remarkable-perhaps the most important.” This simple statement expresses Virginia’s exceptional place in the history of the secession movement and the eventual coming of civil war in America. Virginia was important for two major reasons: first, the especially prominent and distinguished role it played in early American history and, second, its strategic location. For these reasons Virginians were truly torn over the decision of whether or not to secede. Because Virginia was not only sandwiched geographically but also economically, socially, and culturally between the North and the South, her decision to leave the Union was a tumultuous, long-fought battle.”(Gillian Cote, pg. 1) One of the ways Lincoln hoped to keep Virginia in the Union was by offering command of his army to Robert E. Lee. Lincoln believed Robert E. Lee to be the best soldier in America, a committed, dedicated man with strong belief in the importance of the Union. Lincoln’s rationale was that if he chose Lee as his commander in chief of the Union army, this choice would send a message to the rest of the South that maybe they needed to rethink

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