What about Arlington house and property that was stolen from Robert Lee?
What about it? The biggest mistake they made was not hanging Lee and all the other traitors after the war, exiling their families from the country and demonizing them in the history books.
"The biggest mistake they made was not hanging Lee and all the other traitors after the war",
Though I'm of the left I disagree about war graves, and particularly your statement above.
As I understand it Robert E Lee was offered the position leading the Union Army but declined. His reason - he was born in Virginia and his state had voted to secede from the Union. He was allowed to get on his horse and ride off across the Potomac to join his troops at Richmond, Virginia. The Union powers in office at the time did nothing to try and stop him. Indeed they could have Court Martialed him. Charged him with Treason and hung him within a few days but they didn't. How many Americans would fight against their own state, friends, family, and the town they were born in?
Lincoln had no intention of freeing the slaves before the war started. It was just a tactic to cause maximum disruption once Sherman had pushed deep into Georgia.
As for pulling down statues, I think each must be looked at on their own merits or lack of as the case may be.
Confederate statues definitely not. The southern states and industrial northern states had grown apart. I fail to understand why the founding fathers didn't write a right to secede from the Union into The Constitution. Who would sign into a club you can't leave. In fact, I can't see how denying the right to secede is legal.
Very few of those rebel soldiers had slaves, they were simply fighting for the right of their state to determine their own future. The Civil War was a major part of US history and shaped the country into what it is today. Erasing your own history isn't a good idea for any country.
I have no objection to the removal of Edward Colson. He was a slave trader and that's it.
He wasn't known for anything else. All Bristols fine buildings however should have a plaque stating how much each cost to build them and where the money came from - slave trade in Jamaica.
Statues and memorials are important. Why else would you have them at Auschwitz, Belson, Dachau, etc These graveyards let the world and particularly the young know what happened there. An introduction for further study.
So as I see it, it is all about education to ensure some aspects of a nation's history are not repeated.