Robert E. Lee's Family Background and Financial Struggles

Robert E. Lee was born into a family with a prestigious military lineage, tracing back to the Norman Conquest of England. However, his father, Henry Lee, was a financial failure and struggled with debt, eventually ending up in debtors' prison. The family was forced to move from their plantation to Alexandria, living in rental accommodations and later in a house owned by relatives. Henry Lee's attempts to improve their financial situation, including publishing a memoir, failed. He ultimately abandoned the family and moved to the West Indies, leaving Robert E. Lee and his siblings to be raised primarily by their mother.