![Lee died in 1870, just five years after the Civil War ended, contributing to his rise as a romantic symbol of the "lost cause" for some white southerners. But while he was alive, Lee stressed his belief that the country should move past the war. He swore allegiance to the Union and publicly decried southern separatism, whether militant or symbolic "It's often forgotten that Lee himself, after the Civil War, opposed monuments, specifically Confederate war monuments," said Jonathan Horn, the author of the Lee biography,"The Man Who Would Not Be Washington." "It's often forgotten that Lee himself, after the Civil War, opposed monuments, specifically Confederate war monuments." In his writings, Lee cited multiple reasons for opposing such monuments, questioning the cost of a potential Stonewall Jackson monument, for example. But underlying it all was one rationale: That the war had ended, and the South needed to move on and avoid more upheaval. "As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated," Lee wrote of an 1866 proposal, "my conviction is, that however grateful it would be to the feelings of the South, the attempt in the present condition of the Country, would have the effect of retarding, instead of accelerating its accomplishment; [and] of continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labour The retired Confederate leader, a West Point graduate, was influenced by his knowledge of history. Lee believed countries that erased visible signs of civil war recovered from conflicts quicker," Horn said. "He was worried that by keeping these symbols alive, it would keep the divisions alive."](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/286/493/7f7.jpg "Even Robert E. Lee himself didn't want statues to the Confederacy!")
Even Robert E. Lee himself didn't want statues to the Confederacy!
Uploaded by BrentD15 Aug 18, 2017 at 03:52PM EDT
confederate statues robert e. lee participation trophies lost cause
Origin Entry: Confederate Statue Removals Controversy
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