Atlanta Forward readers responded to last week’s columns about the Civil War - its relevance in the 21st Century and whether blacks should re-examine the struggle. Here are some selected comments:
SAWB: Sadly, the Civil War is not the only historical event that Americans have little interest in. The school systems do a terrible job of teaching history, which is a shame considering all the multimedia options available now. Historians don't make it easy for people who have an interest. Most history books are gigantic tomes that cover every minute detail when a nice crisp overview would better serve the reader.
Rafe Hollister: I heard someone talking about this the other day and I was amazed that I had never been taught that some blacks fought for the Confederacy. Amazing how poorly history is taught in school and college. If it doesn't fit the narrative, it didn't happen apparently. From Civilwarhome.com: Black Confederate military units, both as freemen and slaves, fought federal troops. Louisiana free blacks gave their reason for fighting in a letter written to the New Orleans' Daily Delta: "The free colored population love their home, their property, their own slaves and recognize no other country than Louisiana and are ready to shed their blood for her defense. They have no sympathy for Abolitionism; no love for the North, but they have plenty for Louisiana. They will fight for her in 1861 as they fought in 1814-15."
Prof: Yes, there also were slaves forced by their masters to fight for the Confederate side. Note the statement you quote comes from the first year of the war, 1861, when war supplies were plentiful. Also, at that time there weren't many free black men in Louisiana, save those immigrants who had arrived in New Orleans after the Haitian Revolution and who knew how to fight. As former Haitians, they had no loyalties to either side in the U.S., only to their new land in Louisiana. As for the slaves fighting for the Confederates, the alternative was slavery. Although rather than fighting, they usually served as the personal servants of their Confederate masters. But a great many more black free men proudly fought as separate troops (the "U.S. Colored Troops") for the Union side. I first became aware of this when I visited the Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, which has an entire room devoted to memorabilia of these black Union soldiers.
Prof: Rafe Hollister: Please note this part of your quote: "…The free colored population love their home, their property, their own slaves…" These were immigrant "men of color" who had been slave masters themselves in Haiti before they fled the Haitian Revolution. They continued their sugar plantations and slave systems in New Orleans and nearby parishes. Now they would be termed "Creoles." Not the same as American freed black slaves.
