Robert E. Lee Statue

The Robert E. Lee statue is located at Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama. The statue was built in 1908 and moved to Lee High School in 1960. Robert E. Lee, a confederate general, is who the statue is portraying.

           Robert Edward Lee was born on January 19, 1807 in Stratford Hall, Virginia. He would grow up to become a famous general who served in the American Civil War on the side of the Confederates. He was the commander of the Virginia forces of the Confederacy and would eventually receive the title of general. Lee became a prominent Confederate figure due to his status and involvement in battles such as the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville. He would also be remembered for how he lead the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee would take over command of the Army of Northern Virginia due to the previous commander, Gustavus Woodson Smith, having a nervous breakdown. He is credited for organizing the army and preparing the soldiers in his army for battle. Robert E. Lee was never officially an abolitionist or pro-slavery, but he did believe that slavery was not unjust for African Americans. In a letter to The Times, Lee mentioned, “But he added that slavery was ‘a greater evil to the white man than to the Black race’ in the United States” (Fortin 2017, 8). So, why was the Civil War being fought, who were the confederates, and who were they fighting against?

           The American Civil War took place from April 12th, 1861 to April 9th, 1865. The war was being fought because eleven states, mainly in the south, wanted to secede from the Union. The states wanted to secede from the Union because slavery was an important industry in the South and Abraham Lincoln and the Union states wanted to abolish slavery. The Confederate States of America, known as the Confederates, were the eleven states who wanted to secede from the Union. They were up against the Union, which was the rest of the United States of America. The Union won the Civil War, and the Confederates rejoined the United States.

Even though the Confederacy had the lost the war, the Confederates were still memorialized. The reason why they were memorialized is mainly because of the "Lost Cause" ideology. The "Lost Cause" ideology is the idea that the cause of the Confederate states wanting to separate from the Union was just and heroic. Robert E. Lee became the face of the "Lost Cause". The Confederates in the South saw him as a hero even though they had lost. " 'After his death, I think he became a symbol of ‘nice guys can lose,’ that we have at least a hero, if not a victory … someone who is sacrificed for the greater values – the greater values being, in part, white supremacy but other things too,' Emory Thomas, a historian and modern Lee biographer said." (Hardiman, 2020).

           In 1908, The Robert E. Lee statue was located in Lee Circle in Montgomery, Alabama. The statue was built by W.H. Mullins Company based in Ohio. In May 1960, the statue was moved to Lee High School. At the time of the move, Lee High School was an all-white school. During the 60s, there was a push for African American civil rights. The civil rights they were fighting for were to help bring an end to racial discrimination and segregation. Alabama was prominent in the Civil Rights Movement. Montgomery, Alabama was the site for the Montgomery bus boycott, which resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation on buses was unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court ruling did not end discrimination and segregation in Montgomery. In 1960, there had been several attempts to integrate schools in the Montgomery School District. After these attempts had been made, the decision to move the statue was made.

           Historians, civil rights activists, and people in the area view the move of the Robert E. Lee statue to the Lee High School as an attempt to undermine the ideas of the Civil Rights Movement. People view the move in this way because of the controversy surrounding monuments and statues of Confederate soldiers. There is controversy surrounding the Confederates because of the reason why they wanted to secede from the United States. Confederates supported slavery, which was based on enslaving people and forcing them to do labor. Slaves were treated poorly and not seen as equals. Slavery in America was a period of injustice for African Americans and a dark period in American history. Confederate soldiers and people who supported the Confederacy are labeled as racist and indecent people. Recently, there has been a call to remove Confederate statues and monuments from public spaces. Some people have taken it upon themselves to remove the statues and monuments themselves. In the case of the Robert E. Lee statue at Lee High School, it was removed by activists for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. On June 1st, 2020, the statue was toppled. The statue was toppled during Black Lives Matter protests because of the death of George Floyd.

           In the past, Robert E. Lee statue was viewed as a symbol of a great general and man who lived. The statue was also a symbol of the Confederacy and what the Confederacy stood for. When the statue was moved to the high school, it was used as a tool to promote white supremacy and racial segregation. Today, the statue is viewed as a symbol of racism and hate. Confederate statues across the United States have been defaced, especially in recent years. Negative public opinion about the Confederacy and its members has always existed but those opinions are now being expressed into actions. 

Hardiman, Samuel. Confederate monuments: Robert E. Lee, the general who became the face of 'Lost Cause' mythology, Commercial Appeal. July 30th 2020. Accessed November 4th 2020. https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2020/07/30/robert-e-lee-confederate-general-lost-cause/5385969002/.

Staff, WSFA. 4 charged after statue toppled at Montgomery’s Robert E. Lee High School, WSFA 12 News. June 2nd 2020. Accessed November 4th 2020. https://www.wsfa.com/2020/06/02/charged-after-statue-toppled-montgomerys-robert-e-lee-high-school/.

Wright, Carolyn. Statue came from Lee Place, Montgomery Advertiser. April 12th 2014. Accessed November 4th 2020. https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/life/2014/04/13/statue-came-from-lee-place/7620189/.

Wise, Jennings Cropper. The Long Arm of Lee. Volume One. Lynchburg, Virginia. J.P. Bell and Co, 1915.

Fortin, Jacey. What Robert E. Lee Wrote to The Times About Slavery in 1858, The New York Times. August 18th 2017. Accessed November 4th 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/us/robert-e-lee-slaves.html.

EJI. A Robert E. Lee Statue and the Legacy of White Supremacy, Equal Justice Intiative . June 3rd 2020. Accessed November 4th 2020. https://eji.org/news/robert-e-lee-statue-and-the-legacy-of-white-supremacy/.