How the Confederacy lost the US Civil War...

[Gato_Solo]

Far from accurate. Slaves were freed when they fought for the Confederacy, and were treated as equals in the Confederate army. It was the Union who, as is stated in thie above letter, took the ones they wanted, and then shot the rest while they were crossing rivers.

Get the facts, people. It ain't what they brainwashed you with in 10th grade.

I never mentioned the slaves who joined the Confederate Army. Just the ones who joined the Union Army. I also never debated upon the treatment of slaves by the Union Army. Just the fact that most slaves stayed out of the war because it was a 'catch 22' situation for them.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Again, not accurate.

Slaves who fought for the Confederacy, and there were thousands of them, were freed and compensated the same as any other soldier. Most were also granted land. Many joined up to protect the territory they loved.

I will not deny that some plantation owners mistreated their slaves, just as some northerners mistreated theirs. But ask yourself this question: You are a Southern plantation owner. You have a large farm, crops, livestock, barns, machinery, all the stuff that goes with it. It all costs money. You have bought slaves to work this land. Would you beat them? Why throw your money away? It would be similar to beating your horses to death in your mind. It made no sense.

So while slave conditions were far from ideal, they were also not routinely mistreated. The overwhelming majority of slave owners valued their slaves, and had no interest in mistreating them as we commonly define the term. These slaves, in turn, often felt a sense of loyalty to their owners. Not like family by any means, but a lot of them considered the treatment they got here better than what they left in Africa when their very tribal leaders sold them as slaves in the first place. They felt betrayed by their own folk, and many had no desire to leave the South. All they wanted was the freedom to own their own farms and raise their own crops and the other priviledges their owners enjoyed. So when they got a chance to do that by joining the Confederate army, a lot of them took it. And according to this Union soldier's letter, it was the wise choice it appears.

I say it again...there was no moral high ground claim for the Union army. Their actions were unspeakably evil. They invaded. They raped. They murdered civilians. They stole, looted, burned, and pillaged. They inflicted this on a group of people who did not attack them, did not try to overtake them, who offered them peaceful relations nationally, who made concessions for the release from a voluntary pact. Put the events in a contemporary context, and 90% of Americans would support the Confederacy.

Any foreign nation that fights for liberation and freedom, we back them. Except when some of our own people wanted it...then it was wrong.

Hypocrites.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Grant's words in a letter Frederick Dent (April 19, 1861)


"In all this I can but see the doom of Slavery. The North

do not want, nor will they want, to interfere with the

institution. But they will refuse for all time to give it

protection unless the South shall return soon to their

allegiance, and then too is disturbance will give such

an impetus to the production of their staple, cotton, in

other parts of the world that they can never recover

the controll of the market again for that comodity. This

will reduce the value of negroes so much that they will

never be worth fighting over again." .... Ulysses S.

Grant





Just oozing with compassion and respect, wouldn't you agree?

 

[Gato_Solo]

Again, not accurate.

Slaves who fought for the Confederacy, and there were thousands of them, were freed and compensated the same as any other soldier. Most were also granted land. Many joined up to protect the territory they loved.

Thousands were still a drop in the bucket.

I will not deny that some plantation owners mistreated their slaves, just as some northerners mistreated theirs. But ask yourself this question: You are a Southern plantation owner. You have a large farm, crops, livestock, barns, machinery, all the stuff that goes with it. It all costs money. You have bought slaves to work this land. Would you beat them? Why throw your money away? It would be similar to beating your horses to death in your mind. It made no sense.

While logically true, it's not emotionally valid. Now, I will concede one point...the fact that the majority of plantation owners did not beat their slaves as a matter of routine. However...when you deal with a people who have a habit of fleeing when the opportunity presents itself, and you have to send out people to search for them, you usually make an example out of them. This was where the beatings came into play. Also...there is some evidence that, even though most slaves weren't beaten, they were worked to the point of serious injury. Here, here, and here are pictures and etchings that show that some slaves were mistreated. Although you may disagree with this, here is some more information to digest.

So while slave conditions were far from ideal, they were also not routinely mistreated. The overwhelming majority of slave owners valued their slaves, and had no interest in mistreating them as we commonly define the term. These slaves, in turn, often felt a sense of loyalty to their owners. Not like family by any means, but a lot of them considered the treatment they got here better than what they left in Africa when their very tribal leaders sold them as slaves in the first place. They felt betrayed by their own folk, and many had no desire to leave the South. All they wanted was the freedom to own their own farms and raise their own crops and the other priviledges their owners enjoyed. So when they got a chance to do that by joining the Confederate army, a lot of them took it. And according to this Union soldier's letter, it was the wise choice it appears.

Another logical point against this wacky modern idea of a racially integrated Confederate army has to do with the prisoner of war issue during the Civil War. Through 1862, there was an effective exchange system of POWs between the two sides. This entirely broke down in 1863, however, because the Confederacy refused to see black Union soldiers as soldiers - they would not be exchanged, but instead were made slaves (or, as in the 1864 Fort Pillow incident, simply murdered after their surrender). At that, the United States refused to exchange any Southern POWs and the prisoner of war camps on both sides grew immensely in numbers and misery the rest of the war.

If the Confederacy had black soldiers in its armies, why didn't it see black men as soldiers?

An interesting question...

and an interesting answer...

I say it again...there was no moral high ground claim for the Union army. Their actions were unspeakably evil. They invaded. They raped. They murdered civilians. They stole, looted, burned, and pillaged. They inflicted this on a group of people who did not attack them, did not try to overtake them, who offered them peaceful relations nationally, who made concessions for the release from a voluntary pact. Put the events in a contemporary context, and 90% of Americans would support the Confederacy.

Just to show that I'm not picking on you, or the South...

Any foreign nation that fights for liberation and freedom, we back them. Except when some of our own people wanted it...then it was wrong.

Hypocrites.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Unfortunately, duty calls me away for the remainder of the day. Shall we pick this up at a later time?

 

[Gato_Solo]

Unfortunately, duty calls me away for the remainder of the day. Shall we pick this up at a later time?

Take what you need. I'm not going anywhere.