I get it. I get it. I get it.
I’ve seen this meme on countless posts across the social media landscape over the past two days.
There is a lot of frustration out there and downright anger, but the message contained in this viral Internet meme makes very little sense. There is zero connection between Trump and Lee. We don’t learn a thing about either Trump or Lee or the confiscation of Arlington House and what we might hope happens to Mar-a-Lago at some point in the future.
First things first.
Arlington House and the surrounding grounds were not confiscated because Robert E. Lee was deemed to be a traitor. It was confiscated out of military necessity. Anyone who visits the home today cannot but be impressed with the view of Washington, D.C., just across the Potomac River.
At the beginning of the war, it was feared that Confederates might occupy the ground and shell the city. Artillery could easily have hit buildings in what today is known as the Federal Triangle—an area formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW.
Early in the war, the home was utilized as a headquarters for a number of generals, including Irvin McDowell, Winfield Scott, Montgomery Meigs, and George McClellan.
The federal government justified the seizure of the property on the grounds that the property taxes had not been paid. In 1863, the federal government assessed $92.07 in property taxes on the estate. When Mary Lee sent an agent to pay the taxes in person, authorities refused to accept payment from her, requiring the owner to appear in person.
Mary Custis Lee died in 1873 without regaining formal control of the property. Her eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, inherited the claim to the estate under his grandfather's will. He sued the U.S. government, arguing the tax seizure was illegal. In 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Lee (106 U.S. 196) that the government's seizure of Arlington without due process was unlawful, returning the title to the Lee family. Facing an estate already filled with thousands of military graves, Custis Lee sold the property back to the federal government in March 1883 for $150,000, permanently transferring the title to the United States.
I have absolutely zero idea of what, if anything, should be done with Mar-a-Lago once President Trump is out of office. Whatever happens, I assure you that it will have nothing at all to do with the story of Robert E. Lee and Arlington House.
For a number of reasons, it’s become popular to frame Trump as a ‘Confederate president.’ I’ve seen a number of historians that I respect play this card over the years, but the comparisons almost always leave me confused and just a little concerned for their own integrity.
It’s certainly an easy way to score social media points.
If you want to read about Lee and the story of Arlington House, check out Allen Guelzo’s wonderful biography as well as John Reeves’s * The Lost Indictment*, which covers the seizure of Arlington and the postwar legal case that resulted in the government’s purchase of the site.
I’ve always believed that we should try to use social media to advance historical understanding and not cloud the distinction between history and politics.
I am certainly not always perfect, but we can and must do better.
