The removal of the Confederate Memorial at the Arlington National Cemetery may proceed, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, after finding that groups who tried to halt it failed to prove that keeping the monument was in the public’s best interest.
That’s basically what Arlington National Cemetery is. The union government seized the land of Robert E. Lee, and planning for if they couldn’t keep it after the war, decided to turn it into a cemetery to basically make it useless as a farm/estate. Lee’s heirs eventually sued and won the land back, but didn’t have much use for it, so they sold it back to the government.
That’s basically what Arlington National Cemetery is. The union government seized the land of Robert E. Lee, and planning for if they couldn’t keep it after the war, decided to turn it into a cemetery to basically make it useless as a farm/estate. Lee’s heirs eventually sued and won the land back, but didn’t have much use for it, so they sold it back to the government.