Blog 6

When I was looking for Robert E. Lee’s letter to his son, I saw that he had written many letters to his family members. He wrote letters to his wife, sister and his son during the civil war.

In the letter that Robert E. Lee wrote to his son, he talked about how much he did not want the union to be divided. “It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation” (Lee). Robert E. Lee feels very strongly that the union should stay together.

Another thing that Robert E. Lee feels strongly about is that if a nation has to fight to preserve itself, then it is not a good nation anyways. Although Robert E. Lee feels that the nation should stay together, he does not think that it is worth it if he has to continue fighting for it. “Still, a Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets, and in which strife and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness, has no charm for me” (Lee).

In his letter, Robert E. Lee talks about how he is proud of his country and he says that he would do what ever it takes to defend it. “As an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity and institutions, and would defend any state if her rights were invaded.” (Lee).

Robert E. Lee was fighting in the civil war so that his country could stay together and not be divided. Robert E. Lee was against slavery and so was Ralph Waldo Emerson. This is a philosophy that both of these men shared. Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that owning slaves and enslaving people was immoral and wrong. He did not own slaves and he had sympathy for the anti- slavery movement. “It was because the life of the American people was low,vulgar,mean, that slavery was possible” (Cooke). Emerson believed that people were valuable and that the only reason that slavery existed was because American people had very bad morals.



Bibliography

Cooke, George Willis. Ralph Waldo Emerson His Life, Writings, and Philosophy. Boston: J.R. Osgood and, 1881. Print.

Lee, Robert E. "Letter To His Son." 23 Jan. 1861. Wikispaces. Web. 14 Feb. 2012.