Letter to His Son

I am assuming this is a letter let Lee wrote to his son during the time right before the civil war. You can tell that Lee feels a bit uneasy about the whole situation happening in the country right now. Nobody knows what is about to happen and the country is on the edge between peace and war. Lee goes into saying how much he loves his country and would do nearly anything for it, "It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation." (Lee) He truly misses how the country used to be such a perfect patriotic place. I think in a way this agrees with and disagrees with Thoreau. Yes, Thoreau did say stand up for what you believe in. Do what you think is right and ignore the others. Lee would do anything for his country. But, Thoreau did hate the government of America. He thought they were too controlling. Thoreau wanted peace and freedom for all and not war. Lee sounds like he really believes a war is about to spark. Based on what I've read about Emerson and Thoreau they seem like they would be completely against the concept of war. Emerson didn't believe in discrimination so of course he wanted slavery to end one way or another but I highly doubt that war would be his way to go. Emerson thinks that there is danger in conformity. It sounded like the people wanted everything to be the same and each state across the whole country to have the same rights and societies. The south and the north are clearly different during this time period. The south needed slaves for agricultural purposes and people in the north most likely understand this need because there weren't huge plantations up north. Though they are one in the same country they are two different areas. It was be nearly impossible to conform them into being exactly like one another. But, Lee would support any men that went to fight in the war that was about to come. Lee believed in war and that was the way the issues had to be solved, "Still, a Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets." (Lee) Even though Lee shows so much support for the war he said he would not fight himself. Which I find rather odd.

Lee, Robert E. "Letter to His Son." Wikispaces. Publicroad. Web. 14 Feb. 2012.