Argumentative Essay: Loyalty In The United States

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Merriam-Webster defines loyalty as, "…faithfulness to something to which one is bound by pledge or duty…" One could argue that loyalty has a conflicting component, because when humans make decisions there will be a driving force to what one is "bound" to do. Part of that driving force is how people value loyalty, hard work, morality, etc. Loyalty is a prevalent quality in the human experience because of the decisions of where we place our loyalties; but why is there such conflict in which one’s loyalty should be towards? Humans often encounter conflicting decisions in their experience and it is the idea of loyalty in which many of these decisions clash with one another. Research on loyalty is not a new topic. It has been explored by philosophers …show more content…

He was one of the most prestigious army generals known in the United States. During the civil war the north wanted Lee to be the leader of their army, but the hang up is that he was from Virginia. His family is from Virginia, but it was also a state that was going to succeed from the Union. In short Robert E Lee has two options to fight for the United States or to fight as a general of the confederate army. It could be argued that off course he should fight for the United states to abolish slavery, but then what about his family who live in the southern state of Virginia. Do you fight against members of your family? One could relate this situation to the idea of the grass being greener on the other side. If he fights for his home state and with his family he doesn’t have the risk on his conscience of killing family members, but on the other side he has his moral obligations to do right and justly. The question then becomes to whom are you going to be more loyal to? "As used in political discourse, the concept of loyalty occupies the ground between patriotism and obligation” (Sills 484). To whom is Robert E Lee obligated to fight for? He has the conflict of dual loyalties family or nation. As we know he fought for the confederate army, so it is known where his values and obligations lie. As humans going through different experiences we could say oh that is so awful what he did and only

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