He did for most of his life, both his own and those his wife was given or inherited.
If Lee had commanded the Northern armies and won the war quickly, the Union would have been preserved with slavery still intact. How much longer would it have lasted under those conditions?
“He did for most of his life, both his own and those his wife was given or inherited.”
I knew Lee managed slaves from the estate of his wife, I was not aware that he acquired slaves of his own outright.
Lee’s father died a pauper; Lee lived on an officer’s salary most of his life. He may have inherited slaves from some other source.
Can you provide documentation of where Lee purposefully aquired slaves of his own?
“Lee did not own slaves, did he??” “He did for most of his life, both his own and those his wife was given or inherited.”
This isn’t accurate, but no surprise considering the source.
If he had owned slaves they would show up in census records. You don’t see DoodleDawg posting those records. Guess why.
Lee’s mother Ann owned six slaves at the time of her death in 1829. Ann listed the slaves she bequeathed to her daughter. There is no record of her bequeathing any to Lee or his two older brothers. In 1829 Lee had just graduated from West Point to begin his Army career.
Lee was an Army officer the majority of his life. He moved around the country, didn’t own a farm, had no need for slaves, and there is no record of him buying any. If there was a record of any you’d sure be seeing their names.
His wife, the g-grandaughter of Martha Washington, inherited her father’s slaves and property upon his death in 1857. Her father’s will made Lee the executor of the estate, and instructed Lee to emancipate the slaves within five years of GW Parke Custis’ death. The Arlington estate was in debt, and the debtors could claim the slaves if the debts were not paid off. So they weren’t freed right away, but were by 1862 when the debts were extinguished. A year before Lincoln’s emancipation order.
Lee was from a poor family. His father got into several get rich quick schemes and lost what money they had. If there were any slaves held, it would have been a few house servants. After he married Mary Custis he became involved in helping his father-in-law put his plantations on a solid financial footing. However Lee was an active duty army officer and was out west much of the time. When Mr. Custis died Lee went on leave to try and fix the solvency issue. The will stated that the slaves were to be freed when all debts owed were paid. Lee got the estate problems solved and as late as 1862 was trying to get the papers to the freed slaves so they would not be picked up.