though married into one of the foremost families of virginia, the cost of arlington, arlington overlooked facing the national capitol, not virginia. his in-laws allies the nation first of state loyalty "afterwards". we could not more in 18612 factors. first, harry lee for all of his revolutionary fame had been our clock husband and father and left family when robert was only six years old. the shadow harry cast over the lee name was one of robert struggles to redeem the broad street of perfectionism in his behavior. robert also yearned to briefly of his father's reputation and otherwise. he wanted independence and wanted to be his own man and one sense his marriage was an attempt to stake out a room for himself but he also yearned for security. the security his father denied him so while most of lee's contemporaries left the army as soon as i received their taxpayer provided college degree decently resigned and go into private engineering practice other professions, stays with him as the one certain profession could count on. a huge factor in this pursuit of independence, security and per

even more so at arlington, when he marries into the customs property at arlington. but there's also two other properties along the river. all told there is something like 190 slaves who are part of those properties. and robert lee benefits from that. when he marry so that he benefits from their work, their labor. he has a family who is one of the custis slaves. hurries wife has slaves who will wait on her. and they will assist with the children. they go on vacation. so, lee certainly benefits from the slave system even if he doesn't himself have personal title to large numbers of slaves. he doesn't. the curious thing is he really says nothing about slavery for years and years and years. not until the 18 fifties when slavery is becoming a crisis issue in american politics. and it's issuing to interesting that he talks about it at all because li had learned very early in his political career, military career, not to talk about politics. soldiers who talked about politics or who got mixed up in politics usually suffered for it. he saw that happen in the case of his fir

and then to be part of that system and even more so in arlington with the main testis property at arlington and those others at the monkey river. and all told there is 190 slaves who are a part of those properties. robert lee benefits from that. and benefits from their work and their labor and is one of the custis slaves, his wife has slaves. and they will assist with the children and go on vacation in the slaves go with them. so lee certainly benefits from the slave system even if he doesn't himself have personal title to large numbers of slaves which he doesn't. he says nothing c for years and years not until the 18 fifties when slavery is becoming a crisis issue in american politics but it's interesting that he talks about it at all. because we had learned in his military career not to talk about politics. soldiers who talk about politics are got mixed up in politics usually suffered. and happened in the first of the mentor and with winfield scott. and yet slavery by the 18 fifties and then to start writing about it in a letter to his wife and he comes out to say slavery is a moral evil

arlington itself benefited from the enslaved labor. and at the same time, he's a voracious public private correspondence. write thousands of letters. she also ties that disapproval because it's bad for white people really this crazy rationalization happening there and despite his expression of disapproval , his family was supported in large part by enslaved labor so can you talk a little bit about lee's thinking around slavery and how he drove to those rationalizations and conclusions ? >> lee grows up so to speak with slavery. his parents owned slaves. his mother owned slaves when they were living in alexandria even though there were reduced circumstances. there were at least six slaves in the lee household in alexandria. when and carter dies in 29, part of her estate is the disposition of the slavesin that estate . some slaves are appointed towards her two daughters. in this case and marshall lee . i'm sorry, and kim lally. she becomes an lee marshall and her sistermildred lee . but one slave family is willed to robert, or at least i

and though lee married into one of the foremost families of virginia, the costas of arlington, arlington overlooked the potomac, facing the national capital, not virginia. and his if-laws were wigs who had the nation first and state loyalties afterwards. but lee could not ignore however in 1861 were two factors. first, light horse harry lee, for all of his revolutionary fame, had been a hard luck husband and father. and left his family for the west indies when robert was only 6 years old. the shadow that light horse harry cast over the lee name was one that robert struggled to redeem. hence that broad streak of perfectionism in his behavior. robert also yearned to breathe free of his father's reputation in other ways. one in independent and his own man and his marriage to mary custas was a way to stake out realm for himself. but he also yearned for security. the security his father had denied him. so while most of lee's contemporaries at west point left the army as soon as they had received their taxpayer provided college degree and could go into private engineering practice or some othe

i should mention before we get into that, there are a significant number of unknowns buried at arlington from the civil war, more than 2000 remain in a large memorial, we could get into that a little later but you get to the spanish-american war fought farther from location than the civil war, mexican american and revolutionary war of 1812 and you have a policy and acted, repatriation bringing back the remains of deceased service members who died fighting barry closer to home. that conflict did not last quite as long had significantly fewer casualties than the first world war which placed decision-making how to deal with repatriation and the importance of a tomb of the unknown soldier. before we get to that, i will mention in 1913, congress approved and authorized spending for the government to create a new memorial amphitheater at arlington national cemetery. the cemetery had been civil war and they recognize the need for a larger more somber space to accommodate the visitors who were there to pay tribute to their deceased loved ones so they appropriated funds and authorized spending to

the number i mentioned earlier, just at arlington, there are over 2000 unknowns from the civil war by the time you get to the first world war, there were again, i think that the number that hamilton fish mentioned was more than 1700 unknowns deceased from american service members fighting in the first world war. so in terms whether they were identified or unknown, that was really you know, pretty much whether they determined it when they fell in battle, who they work. and that is where the technology of our time has really for the evolution of technology, has really improved the way we can pay tribute more specifically read and we can identify people the dna technology which at this point had meant that most while we hope it is none but it's enabled us to identify to get that last measurable devotion in terms of the actual selection, i can tell you that before the world war i unknowns, like a symptom of the gathered these unknowns military personnel from different military cemetery set up quickly in france. they brought them to and apologized any french-speaking listeners here, and th

he offered the legislation to create the tomb of the unknown soldier and place it at arlington national cemetery just across the river from our capitol city as a monument for the nation to mourn those lost, whether they came home or not. so, as i mentioned, there were a great number of unknown soldiers who had perished by the end of the first world war. and the selection process was actually really rather fascinating. i should mention that they gathered from several different major battlefields, different unknown soldiers who had fallen in battle, and they brought them to a small town in the champagne region of france where one of the highest decorated enlisted soldiers, enlisted veterans of the war made the final selection of the anonymous flag-draped coffin to be the unknown soldier to rest at arlington in eternal memory and glory as a symbol, as a tangible representation of all of those other unknowns and all of those others who were intered across an ocean from their families and loved ones. this image you see here is a soldier being brought ashore. and he's brought to shore from th

the designer for the city of washington laid in state when at arlington national cemetery. on his way, they paused so that he could receive state honors to the capitol building. they felt it was that important as they were paying tribute to a figure who had, for a brief time, fallen into obscurity and was buried in a pauper's grave. and then relevant to world war i, the admiral of the navy george doey was laid in state in 1917 before we get to the world war i unknown in 1921. congress also played a role in supporting the memory and the preservation of and the tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, the last full measure of devotion to our country. in 1862, the omnibus act, which included a provision here. you can see from the national archives, an image of it and a transcription, and it provided the president with the authority to acquire land and create national cemeteries for those who gave that last full measure of devotion, those who died in service of the country. and ever since, the congress has been involved in preserving the memory and supporting thos