The myth of the kindly General Robert E. Lee

[fskimospy]

he was no fan of slavery and he freed his slaves when he died.

Yes, he freed them when he could no longer gain the benefit from their labor. How noble.

 

[OutHouse]

To be fair, I see a lot of Brits and Europeans commenting about how they disavowed slavery so long ago, and openly criticized the slave trade in the US for so very long....but never while mentioning that all of Europe was wholly dependent on the southern sugar and cotton plantations. They openly and gleefully endorsed the practice for as many decades as the US, but as one of the earlier forms of NIMBYs. It is no different than how labor rights and child labor laws and building codes cleaned up the factories here in the US c. Industrial Revolution....but that only meant that we exported these exact conditions to modern day Singapore and Bangladesh and China. (The Brits and Spanish and French gave us the slave trade, but comfortably disavowed their own use of it simply because it was no longer on their own soil--never-mind their complete dependence on it). Nothing has changed. We pat ourselves on the backs for cleaning up our own streets because it's easier to look the other way when it isn't happening in your back yard.

the british supported the south.

 

[OutHouse]

Yes, he freed them when he could no longer gain the benefit from their labor. How noble.

in that time. yes it was a very noble and brave thing to do.

 

[woolfe9998]

I actually studied the American Civil War in university (Canadian history is for the most part pretty unexciting). I focused more on the political side of things - Lincoln/Douglas debates and Lincoln's leadership through the war - but I've always been curious as to the romanticization of the South that's held strong until only recently. Frankly, to me, it sounds like the kind of wistful excuse-making that Germans made after their concession of defeat after WW1. Anyways, read on.

This is a myth spawned by American popular culture. You can credit Margaret Mitchell, among others.

Good article on Lee by the way. A lot of the information in it was new to me.

 

[fskimospy]

in that time. yes it was a very noble and brave thing to do.

Where did you get that idea from? Serious question.

 

[OutHouse]

Where did you get that idea from? Serious question.

history dude. try reading about it.

 

[fskimospy]

history dude. try reading about it.

I read about it all the time! I have never heard someone make the argument that freeing your slaves after you died was a particularly brave thing to do.

 

[pmv]

I read about it all the time! I have never heard someone make the argument that freeing your slaves after you died was a particularly brave thing to do.

I for one intend waiting till after I'm dead to become brave. I shall be fearless indeed!
It's on my post-bucket list. 50 things to do after you are dead.

 

[J.Wilkins]

the british supported the south.

Nope, the support for the Union was fairly weak apart from the Manchester mill workers but that was the only support there was, for the north.

There is a reason why there is a statue of Lincoln in Manchester.

 

[J.Wilkins]

in that time. yes it was a very noble and brave thing to do.

No, the right thing to do would be to not own slaves and the noble thing would be to work to end slavery.

He did the wrong thing.

 

[realibrad]

Weren't you the guy whining that kids these days aren't taught a fair and balanced view of history. Did you know that some africans were in the slave trader so it there's more than enough blame to go around? Same for a bunch of jew who helped nazis oppress their own. Your political allies love that shit:

Whaaaa?

When was I talking about fair and balanced anything? Clearly we have an example of someone being taught Lee was a better person vs what is historically accurate.

Wait, did you just accuse me of something you know I did not do to get attention? Aww buddy. I would give you a big hug if you were next to me.

 

[realibrad]

Nope, the support for the Union was fairly weak apart from the Manchester mill workers but that was the only support there was, for the north.

There is a reason why there is a statue of Lincoln in Manchester.

Well, the government supported the south more than the people did.

 

[J.Wilkins]

Well, the government supported the south more than the people did.

LOL, no, the government was neutral and the people were with the North.

There was an upper class movement that did support the South to begin with but that support quickly ended when they realized that the South would never support them back.

 

[agent00f]

Whaaaa?

When was I talking about fair and balanced anything? Clearly we have an example of someone being taught Lee was a better person vs what is historically accurate.

Wait, did you just accuse me of something you know I did not do to get attention? Aww buddy. I would give you a big hug if you were next to me.

No, you were:
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/the-banality-of-evil.2515627/page-4#post-39033472

Agreed. People in the south are fed a narrative that the war was not just about slavery and it was about many other things. The fact that there were other issues gives enough support to allow those people to buy into that idea so they dont feel so bad defending a culture.

This is not limited to the south either. How many people believe that Native Americans were a fun loving group of people who loved nature and got along before the white man? People love to change history. The best thing to do is use facts and context. Many in the south are not racists, they have just bought into something that they do not know the full history about.

Degens do love to lie.

 

[realibrad]

No, you were:
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/the-banality-of-evil.2515627/page-4#post-39033472



Degens do love to lie.

So wait, me saying that people should be taught an accurate view of history, and not an inaccurate view, that is me saying fair and balanced? HAHA.

So cute.

 

[agent00f]

So wait, me saying that people should be taught an accurate view of history, and not an inaccurate view, that is me saying fair and balanced? HAHA.

So cute.

Surely someone of your political conviction would agree it's accurately fair and balanced to complete the view with natives were primitive, the blacks weren't much better, and so on.

 

[realibrad]

Surely someone of your political conviction would agree it's accurately fair and balanced to complete the view with natives were primitive, the blacks weren't much better, and so on.

So because Native Americans were violent, yet many believe they were non-violent, it means the blacks weren't much better?

 

[agent00f]

So because Native Americans were violent, yet many believe they were non-violent, it means the blacks weren't much better?

Degens sure have a high iq for playing dumb.

 

[Ichinisan]

Enter agentf00l.

 

[FIVR]

Not enough false equivocation in this thread. I expected better.

 

[J.Wilkins]

Enter agentf00l.

And the thread turns to shit, just like very single other thread in this fucking forum.

 

[FIVR]

And the thread turns to shit, just like very single other thread in this fucking forum.

Why are you here if you think such things? Are you not one of the most prodigious recent contributors to this forum?



Seems all you need to do is look in the mirror to find the "shit" that makes this forum "shit".

 

[agent00f]

Enter agentf00l.

And the thread turns to shit, just like very single other thread in this fucking forum.

Revealing these people don't think that way about those who used to make every other thread a rant about black criminals, muslim terrorists, and mexican rapists. You know, those they can really get used to. And now they're understandably very unhappy it's not like that anymore.

 

[realibrad]

Revealing these people don't think that way about those who used to make every other thread a rant about black criminals, muslim terrorists, and mexican rapists. You know, those they can really get used to. And now they're understandably very unhappy it's not like that anymore.

Wait, are you not the one who made a comment about Native Americans into something about black people?

 

[agent00f]

Wait, are you not the one who made a comment about Native Americans into something about black people?

Too bad they never taught about analogies in community college.