1. 4) It was his home
1.1. His family has been there for generations
1.2. Very prestigious family
1.2.1. Father was one of Washington's favorite generals and later Virginia governor
1.2.2. Mother comes from a long line of wealthy planters
1.2.3. Married relative of George Washington, his hero
2. Why did he fight for Virginia?
2.1. Thesis: To see why Lee fought for his family and state, it is important to know about Virginia around the Civil War, his military career, his family, his upbringing, and his people.
3. 5) Fought for Virginia because of his upbringing
3.1. Lee families had strong emphasis on family.
4. Paragraph 1) Virginia
4.1. Was pro-Union
4.2. On the boarder of the North
4.2.1. Battleground for much of war
4.3. After Fort Sumter and Lincolns call for troops, seceded
5. 2) Military Career
5.1. Was called “the army’s most promising officer.”
5.2. In Texas fighting outlaws when division began happening
5.2.1. Nothing exciting since Mexican war
5.2.2. Meager $4000 a year
5.3. Offered command of troops for Union and Confederacy
5.3.1. Choose Confederacy
6. 3) For slavery?
6.1. Peoples first assumptions are that he fought to protect slavery
6.2. He did own slaves but they were inherited from his mother
6.2.1. They were a few house slaves that were treated well
6.3. Not well acquainted with brutal slavery. Mostly knew house slaves
6.4. Did not fight for slavey
6.4.1. He was against slavery
6.4.2. Helped colonizing movements of wife
6.4.3. “In this enlightened age there are few, I believe, but what will acknowledge that slavery, as an institution, is a moral and political evil…I think it, however, a greater evil to the white than to the black race, and while my sympathies are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former.”