He was the Commander of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  Robert E. Lee was born in January of 1807 in Virginia and joined the military in 1825.  He served for decades in the military and worked his way up the ranks as an engineer.  In Lee's aristocratic upbringing, he was around many slave owners.  Robert E. Lee believed that slavery was ok because blacks were far better off in the U.S. than in Africa.  Robert E. Lee felt that their torturous treatment was "necessary for their instruction as a race".  Robert E. Lee is held up as a hero by many in the South.  After the war, Lee taught at a segregated college that is now known as Washington and Lee University.  They admitted one black student in 1795, but went back to being 100% segregated after that.  They did not admit another black student until 1966.