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American History
Related: About this forumDismantling the Myth of the "Black Confederate"
Source: Slate
Dismantling the Myth of the Black Confederate
A new book explores the falseyet oddly ubiquitousbelief that black men fought for the South during the Civil War.
By REBECCA ONION
AUG 30, 2019 4:10 PM
Spend any amount of time talking about slavery on the internet, and youll eventually encounter the claim that there were black Confederates that fought for the South. Over the past few decades, claims to the existence of anywhere between 500 and 100,000 black Confederate soldiers, fighting in racially integrated units, have become increasingly common, writes historian Kevin Levin in his new book, Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil Wars Most Persistent Myth.
Proponents assert that entire companies and regiments served under Robert E. Lees command, as well as in other theaters of war. Look, believers say (directly or subtextually): The Confederacy cant have been so bad for black people. Otherwise, why would they have defended it?
Levins book explains how this myth came aboutwhile neatly dismantling it. We spoke recently about actual Confederates perspectives on black soldiers; why former body servants attended Confederate reunions during Jim Crow; and how the World Wide Web gave this story legs.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Rebecca Onion: I can see from following your Twitter that you sometimes engage with people who believe in this myth. And youve been researching it for a decade or so. What are the major pieces of evidence that people most often bring to you as proof?
Kevin Levin: If youre browsing online, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of websites dedicated to promoting this myth. And on many of them, youll find photographs of enslaved men in uniform, which are easily interpreted as proof of the existence of black Confederate soldiers. Certainly there are plenty of newspaper accounts, mainly from Northern newspapers published during the war, that seem to suggest black men were fighting as soldiers. There are photographs taken after the war of some of these former body servants attending Confederate veterans reunions and monument dedications. Sometimes youll hear or read references to pensions given to black Confederate soldiers, which in fact were for former camp slaves or body servants.
There are some bits of evidence that are straight-up faked, like a supposed photograph of the Louisiana Native Guard, which is actually of black Union soldiers. But in a lot of cases its not about fakery, and more that the social context surrounding the evidence isnt being considered, right?
-snip-
A new book explores the falseyet oddly ubiquitousbelief that black men fought for the South during the Civil War.
By REBECCA ONION
AUG 30, 2019 4:10 PM
Spend any amount of time talking about slavery on the internet, and youll eventually encounter the claim that there were black Confederates that fought for the South. Over the past few decades, claims to the existence of anywhere between 500 and 100,000 black Confederate soldiers, fighting in racially integrated units, have become increasingly common, writes historian Kevin Levin in his new book, Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil Wars Most Persistent Myth.
Proponents assert that entire companies and regiments served under Robert E. Lees command, as well as in other theaters of war. Look, believers say (directly or subtextually): The Confederacy cant have been so bad for black people. Otherwise, why would they have defended it?
Levins book explains how this myth came aboutwhile neatly dismantling it. We spoke recently about actual Confederates perspectives on black soldiers; why former body servants attended Confederate reunions during Jim Crow; and how the World Wide Web gave this story legs.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Rebecca Onion: I can see from following your Twitter that you sometimes engage with people who believe in this myth. And youve been researching it for a decade or so. What are the major pieces of evidence that people most often bring to you as proof?
Kevin Levin: If youre browsing online, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of websites dedicated to promoting this myth. And on many of them, youll find photographs of enslaved men in uniform, which are easily interpreted as proof of the existence of black Confederate soldiers. Certainly there are plenty of newspaper accounts, mainly from Northern newspapers published during the war, that seem to suggest black men were fighting as soldiers. There are photographs taken after the war of some of these former body servants attending Confederate veterans reunions and monument dedications. Sometimes youll hear or read references to pensions given to black Confederate soldiers, which in fact were for former camp slaves or body servants.
There are some bits of evidence that are straight-up faked, like a supposed photograph of the Louisiana Native Guard, which is actually of black Union soldiers. But in a lot of cases its not about fakery, and more that the social context surrounding the evidence isnt being considered, right?
-snip-
Read more: https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/08/black-confederate-myth-history-book.html
Sergeant A.M. Chandler of the 44th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Co. F., and Silas Chandler, family slave, with Bowie knives, revolvers, pepper-box, shotgun, and canteen
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
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Dismantling the Myth of the "Black Confederate" (Original Post)
Eugene
Sep 2019
OP
underpants
(186,984 posts)1. Excellent read. Thank you.
Andrew looks like a spoiled weakling.
oasis
(51,735 posts)2. Searching for Black Confederates. Thanks for the post and info.