The Touchy Subject of Black Confederate Soldiers

[JoeB131]

How were your democrat confederates any different from George Washington?

Well, first, They weren't all "Democrats"

The racist Southern Democrats all became Republicans after Tricky DIck welcomed them in.

Secondly, the Southern States had representation in Congress. The whole justification for the Revolutionary War was that we were being taxed without representation.

 

[rightwinger]

So let's talk about what this is really about. This is about the usual "Lost Cause" nonsense that slavery and the Confederacy weren't so bad.

ya know…….Blacks owned slaves too
ya know…..Blacks helped capture slaves in Africa
ya know…..Blacks fought to defend the Confederacy
ya know…..most whites did not own slaves

So blacks are just as responsible for slavery as whites

 

[Robert W]

The racist Southern Democrats all became Republicans after Tricky DIck welcomed them in.

That is complete nonsense. If any converted to republicans, they were not racists. And we converted around 1980 and we hated
Nixon.

 

[Robert W]

ya know…….Blacks owned slaves too
ya know…..Blacks helped capture slaves in Africa
ya know…..Blacks fought to defend the Confederacy
ya know…..most whites did not own slaves

So blacks are just as responsible for slavery as whites

Well said. Very accurate.

 

[rightwinger]

Well said. Very accurate.

Lost cause propaganda overstating the role of blacks and diminishing the culpability of whites in the slave trade

 

[Robert W]

Lost cause propaganda overstating the role of blacks and diminishing the culpability of whites in the slave trade

Do you blame whites? If you do, you are racist.

 

[rightwinger]

Do you blame whites? If you do, you are racist.

Yes I do and I don’t defend the Confederacy

 

[Robert W]

Yes I do and I don’t defend the Confederacy

You probably don't defend George Washington either.

 

[Robert W]

Yes I do and I don’t defend the Confederacy

George Washington beat the British and fought the same battle the Confederates did. George had hundreds of slaves. So, do you think he was great?

 

[Robert W]

Yes I do and I don’t defend the Confederacy

The reason I defend the confederates is the same reason I defend George Washinton.

 

[Robert W]

Yes I do and I don’t defend the Confederacy

How was the confederacy like the founding of this nation?

 

[rightwinger]

How was the confederacy like the founding of this nation?

The Confederacy was like the founding of our nation because the same southern states that forced slavery on the United States left to form the Confederacy

 

[JoeB131]

That is complete nonsense. If any converted to republicans, they were not racists. And we converted around 1980 and we hated
Nixon.

Nixon carried every Southern State in 1972.

"Reagan Democrats" is just a way of saying "Nixon Democrats", but Nixon

 

[mikegriffith1]

One of the better presentations on evidence of black Confederate soldiers is "Isaac Bishop's" chapter on the subject in his book Defending Dixie's Land. "Isaac Bishop" is the pen name for Jeb Smith, a libertarian pro-Confederate author. I disagree with large chunks of his book, but his chapter on black Confederates is solid in its discussion of the evidence. He collected over 1,400 newspaper articles from 1861-1865 that mention black Confederate combat troops. He also deals with every counterargument put forward by the likes of Kevin Levin and Eric Foner.

In addition, he presents an especially useful line of evidence that I only briefly address in my article: slave antipathy toward Union soldiers and the Union cause.

 

[rightwinger]

One of the better presentations on evidence of black Confederate soldiers is "Isaac Bishop's" chapter on the subject in his book Defending Dixie's Land. "Isaac Bishop" is the pen name for Jeb Smith, a libertarian pro-Confederate author. I disagree with large chunks of his book, but his chapter on black Confederates is solid in its discussion of the evidence. He collected over 1,400 newspaper articles from 1861-1865 that mention black Confederate combat troops. He also deals with every counterargument put forward by the likes of Kevin Levin and Eric Foner.

In addition, he presents an especially useful line of evidence that I only briefly address in my article: slave antipathy toward Union soldiers and the Union cause.

You failed to respond

How were black confederate troops deployed?

Were they integrated into confederate units or did they have separate slave units?

 

[Zincwarrior]

You failed to respond

How were black confederate troops deployed?

Were they integrated into confederate units or did they have separate slave units?

Separate slave units to provide manual labor.

 

[rightwinger]

Separate slave units to provide manual labor.

Of course
Slaves were there for menial labor not combat

A few may have picked up guns in battle but were not uniformed combat troops

 

[IM2]

Again, the facts show that black SLAVES fought for the Confederacy because their owners made them. This is what the OP tries to dismiss, and the OP is trying to imply that blacks happily volunteered to fight to help the confederacy keep them enslaved.

 

[JoeB131]

One of the better presentations on evidence of black Confederate soldiers is "Isaac Bishop's" chapter on the subject in his book Defending Dixie's Land. "Isaac Bishop" is the pen name for Jeb Smith, a libertarian pro-Confederate author. I disagree with large chunks of his book, but his chapter on black Confederates is solid in its discussion of the evidence. He collected over 1,400 newspaper articles from 1861-1865 that mention black Confederate combat troops. He also deals with every counterargument put forward by the likes of Kevin Levin and Eric Foner.

In addition, he presents an especially useful line of evidence that I only briefly address in my article: slave antipathy toward Union soldiers and the Union cause.

1400 articles?

You do realize that newspapers in the 19th century had very little credibility, right? This was the era of "Yellow Journalism", where they just made stuff up.

In 1898 there were thousands of stories about "Mystery Airships" (a precursor to UFOs). Those probably weren't true, either.

Again-

Where are the Unit records
The photographs of these soldiers
Where are the records of these black soldiers collecting pensions? (Individual states provided pensions for Confederate Veterans, but oddly, none of them were black!)

 

[rightwinger]

Where are the Unit records
The photographs of these soldiers
Where are the records of these black soldiers collecting pensions? (Individual states provided pensions for Confederate Veterans, but oddly, none of them were black!)

If there were slaves serving as soldiers, records would have clearly delineated as to who was a slave and who was a regular soldier. Records needed to be accurate, lives depended on it

Newspapers in the South would be outraged at their brave boys serving alongside slaves

The Union would have killed and captured slaves in uniform. It would have been big news in the north