Slavery during the American Civil War

[1] Even before the war, in the rice regions of Georgia and South Carolina and in parts of the Mississippi Delta there were ten or even twenty enslaved black people for every white person.

Among the free blacks AME figures especially active in the South during the war were James Walker Hood,[9] Henry McNeal Turner,[10] Jabez Pitt Campbell,[11] John M. Brown and William E.

The first was the publishing of sheet music to "Go Down Moses" by Reverend L. C. Lockwood in December 1861 based on his experience with escaped slaves in Fort Monroe, Virginia in September of that year.

When the Emancipation Proclamation was passed a celebration was held, and in a surprise to white onlookers, contrabands began singing the anthem, using the song to express their new status.

[17] The most popular white songs among slaves were "John Brown's Body" and H. C. Work's "Kingdom Coming",[18] and as the war continued, the lyrics African Americans sung changed, with vagueness and coded language dropped and including open expressions of their new roles as soldiers and citizens.

Others such as Chandra Manning in What This Cruel War Was Over, Jason Phillips in Diehard Rebels, Joseph Glatthaar in The New Civil War History and General Lee's Army, Aaron Sheehan-Deen in Why Confederates Fought, Kenneth Noe in Reluctant Rebels, and James McPherson in For Cause and Comrades argued that slavery was central in the mindset of many Confederate soldiers.

A slave insurrection was planned in Adams County, Mississippi, which was uncovered in the summer of 1861 leading to widespread punishment of enslaved people in the area.

[31] Generally, African Americans cheered for Union victory and the Confederacy made a great effort to keep enslaved people under their control.

On farms and plantations, enslaved workers broke equipment, feigned illness, slowed or stopped work, stole, plotted revolts, and fled.

Indeed, disease and lack of medical care were major issues in Federal camps set up for the freedmen, and some former slaves were sent to local planters where conditions were better.

This image had some grounding in fact, and examples of a personal bond, sense of duty, or other calculations leading slaves to remain loyal exist.

As one history of Louisiana during the war put it, "The slave did not ordinarily warn of major troop movements, reveal strategic plans, or otherwise influence command decisions.

On the other hand, he could be depended upon to tell, if he knew, where the nearest Confederate soldiers were, when a retreating force had passed down the road, and where goods subject to legal confiscation or illegal liberation were to be found.

[46] Tens of thousands of slaves were used to build and repair fortifications and railroads, as haule, teamsters, ditch diggers, and assisting medical workers.

[48] In January 1861, an enslaved laborer told a reporter in South Carolina that he'd been sent to Sullivan's Island with other workers from his plantation on the Santee River to work on Fort Moultrie and "to fight...de dam Yankees, sah, and the Ambumlishnists.

The Virginia legislature dealt with this issue by subjecting free blacks to the Confederate draft to serve in non-combat roles and limiting the number of slaves the government could impress.

On March 4, 1864, Confederate General Order No 28 said that officers and enlisted men would receive one ration per day, giving no consideration for body servants.

A number of commanders protested and a letter was sent to the government on March 19 signed by officers including Generals Richard Ewell, Jubal Early, Stephen Ramseur, and John Gordon requesting an increase in rations to account for servants.

[63] In the West, General Nathan Bedford Forrest led numerous cavalry raids where he captured many slaves who had fled behind Union lines, often sending excess to other commands.

Among the opposition to the idea, General Howell Cobb argued in January 1865, "If slaves will make good soldiers our whole theory of slavery is wrong."

[72] Historian George S. Burkhardt argues that the Confederate Army had consistent no-quarter policy in engagement with black Federals of which the massacre at Fort Pillow was just the most infamous example.

Per Burkhardt, Confederates were motivated to execute black soldiers by a mix of fear, rage, humiliation, revenge, and, above all, race hatred: "To Southerners, slave owners or not, the African chattels were not people.

Instead, Butler employed them in the quartermaster department, reasoning that returning the slaves would aid the enemy, and the Grand Contraband Camp, Virginia was formed.

Initially, contrabands worked as teamsters, blacksmiths, cooks, coopers, carpenters, bakers, butchers, laundresses, and personal servants, and performed other menial duties.

[86] In May 1862, General James H. Lane in Kansas and John W. Phelps in Louisiana began to enlist Black men into regiments without War Department authorization.

Lincoln's quiet official policies in favor of emancipation and enlistment of slaves and loud repudiation of Hunter and Frémont led to criticism by many abolitionists, including William Lloyd Garrison.

It also centralized the hiring of freedmen to whites who leased abandoned plantations; transforming agriculture in Union-held areas from a slave to a wage-based labor system.

As the Confederate Army weakened, the Confederacy's ability to assert racial control lessened and large numbers of slaves were escaping to federal lines every day.

[118] In exchange for cotton, Britain ran the risk of breaking through the blockade to supply the secessionist states with industrial capital, products and arms.

Moreover, the United States of America was able to officially end the debate as to the question of being a 'slave empire', re-establishing a contemporary moral compass on the international stage.