This is the story of how Robert E. Lee spent his remaining years working tirelessly to rebuild the South, seeing it as his duty to create the next generation of Southern leaders and restore the land he loved after it was ravaged by war. Beginning in Richmond immediately after Appomattox, I trace his post-war career through the ravages of Reconstruction and military occupation, first to a peaceful life at Derwent, then to his post as President of Washington College. From there, I show how he became a great educator in addition to a great general through his efforts to reshape the college’s curriculum to better build future leaders, and how he created the honor system to mold the next generation of chivalric Southern gentlemen. Finally, I show how he sought to reunite North and South in the postwar years, and how the country showed its love for him in the months before his tragic passing.
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Sources Referenced in this Episode:
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