6. Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, managed and benefited from enslaved labor at Arlington House and other estates. After his father-in-law’s death in 1857, Lee took control of the estate, which included nearly 200 enslaved individuals. To settle debts, he hired out some of them, leading to family separations and increased tensions. In 1859, three enslaved people attempted to escape; upon recapture, Lee ordered them to be whipped, a punishment he later privately denied but did not publicly refute (washingtonpost.com).
