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I wonder what the penalty would have been, had Jackson been caught teaching a black man to read, illegally?

You do so love your Southron myths, don't you? You are aware that Jackson was a slave owner much of his adult life, and was a slave owner the day he died?

Robert E. Lee letter dated December 27, 1856..

Yes, let's look at that letter. "The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially." Much better that they live a life in bondage in the U.S. than as free men in their own country. "The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their further instruction as a race, and will prepare them, I hope, for better things." Bear in mind that at this point blacks had been slaves for over 230 years in the U.S. How much longer was their preparation necessary? Forever as far as Lee was concerned. Those who would work for an end to slavery were wrong, so far as Lee was concerned, it was entirely up to God. And God forbid that they should upset the slave owner - of which Lee was one. In fact, Lee was so 'opposed' to slavery that in January 1865 he was writing, "Considering the relation of master and slave, controlled by humane laws and influenced by Christianity and an enlightened public sentiment, as the best that can exist between the white and black races while intermingled as at present in this country, I would deprecate any sudden disturbance of that relation unless it be necessary to avert a greater calamity to both. I should therefore prefer to rely upon our white population to preserve the ratio between our forces and those of the enemy, which experience has shown to be safe."

Lee's opposition to slavery was tepid at best and non-existent at worst. And his own words show it.