Robert E. Lee Was Actually Against Confederate Monuments. Here’s Why.

The latest debate in our polarized society involves whether or not Confederate monuments should be taken down. The Charlottesville protests were centered around protecting a statue of Robert E. Lee. Ironically, Lee was actually against putting up Confederate monuments.

According to Jonathan Horn, a Lee biographer, Lee opposed proposed Confederate memorials as president of Washington College because he thought that they would only open wounds in a country that was in the process of healing after the bloody Civil War.

“As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated; 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; & of continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labour,” Lee wrote in an 1866 letter.

That reasoning is akin to his reasons for rebuffing an invite to visit the site of the Gettysburg battle.

“Lee believed countries that erased visible signs of civil war recovered from conflicts quicker,” Horn told PBS. “He was worried that by keeping these symbols alive, it would keep the divisions alive.”

Horn added that Lee likely would have called for his own monument to be taken down, although you’d “have to ask why.”

“He might just want to hide the history, to move on, rather than face these issues,” Horn said.

Lee was also opposed to a memorial to Stonewall Jackson because he didn’t think it would be right to ask for money from the cash-strapped Confederate veteran families.

It’s worth mentioning that, according to PBS, Lee viewed slavery as a blight on the country but he felt that his state, Virginia, had the right to secede from the country.

There are certainly good arguments in favor of upholding Confederate monuments, with the main argument being that it’s important to keep such history, no matter how vile, crystallized so it’s not forgotten. But Lee was right to fear the divisiveness of such memorials, as now it seems they’re being used as political tools to tear apart the country.

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