Letter to His Son by Robert E. Lee

About the Author (Robert E. Lee)

• Robert E. Lee had a distinguished career in the U.S. Army, but when his home state of Virginia seceded (left the Union), he was forced to choose between his state and his nation.
• Ultimately, he chose his state and became a general in the Confederate army.
• Today, he is one of the Confederacy's greatest heroes.

Summary

• The letter's date is January 23, 1861. The Civil War was about to begin.
• Lee recognizes the South has been aggrieved (oppressed) by the North, but believes they should opt for redress (reconciliation), as the dissolution of the Union would be the greatest calamity the country could experience.
• Lee is willing to sacrifice everything EXCEPT honor for the preservation of the Union, so he hopes all constitutional means will be exhausted before force is needed.
• Lee says "secession is nothing but revolution."
• Lee talks about how much effort the framers of the Constitution put into it, and how it was not meant to be broken at will by the Confederacy. It was intended for "perpetual union."
• It could only be dissolved by revolution (leads to anarchy), or by the consent of all the people in convention assembled.
• Lee also says he does not want a Union that can only be maintained "by swords and bayonets, and in which strife and civil war take the place of brotherly love and kindness."
• If the Union is dissolved and the Government disrupted, Lee will go to his native State, share the miseries of his people, but will only draw his sword in defense.
• Lee feels torn between his personal belief in the preservation of the Union and supporting his family and his state in secession.
• Since the Constitution is a pact that can't be dissolved, secession is revolution and unconstitutional.