Lee loathed slavery (and that is a fact) through his own experience with it and he thought it would give the southern cause more sway with England. Queen Victoria and her consort were noted opponents of the peculiar institution although lovers of the southern cotton balls that kept the Liverpool mills spinning millions of pound notes.
My memory may be wrong on this so I’m hoping that others may correct or confirm what I am writing. And please, leave that chore to others, Ms. Dog. I’d hate to see you pawing through that vast liberry of yours.
The British position was that they opposed the 'Slave Trade' and used their navy to stop it.
What was actually happening was that they were using Indian indentured servitude that was slavery in all but name as forced labor while denying other countries access to that cheap agricultural labor source.
Britain didn't have to force their way to access to Southern cotton which was a big part of the Southern strategy, they had other sources.
Lee's opposition to slavery was tepid at best.
My memory may be wrong on this so I’m hoping that others may correct or confirm what I am writing. And please, leave that chore to others, Ms. Dog. I’d hate to see you pawing through that vast liberry of yours.
No fear of that. I don't believe in wasting time looking up things I already know is wrong.
"Loathe" is too strong a word. Lee wasn't happy about slavery, but he was able to live with it.
He thought it had work to do, civilizing the slaves, and that God would do away with it in his own good time.
Lee did refer to slavery as "a moral and political evil" in a private letter, but he felt that for the time being it was a necessary evil.