ebooks Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves during the Civil War by Bruce Levine in History

Review

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Read this book and assess the evidence for yourselfBy M. S. BugherNo wonder this book makes Lost Causers so mad; by describing the Confederacy's late and ineffective efforts to recruit slaves into its armies; Levine simultaneously shows both how central slavery was to the Confederacy's economic; political and social systems (and how it was thus the central cause of the Civil War) and how much slaves did to seek their freedom and destroy the system from within.Levine offers an immense mass of evidence; there are 164 pages of clear; lively argument (with fascinating sketches of some of the main players); but the notes take up 52 pages and the list of sources; 18. The sources are particularly interesting: most are Confederates in the army; government and newspaper editorials talking about the issue at the time; and afterwards.There's also a thought-provoking section that places the attempt at Confederate emancipation in context with successful efforts at top-down reform in other countries: Germany; Japan and Russia. And another that traces the links from supporters of Confederate emancipation; such as Cleburne; with the South's post-Reconstruction efforts to keep as much control of black labour as possible (Jim Crow).This book is a fine addition to my Civil War library; I urge others to read it; and consider the evidence for themselves.5 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Highly readable; richly sourced and well-organized.By CustomerThis highly readable; richly sourced and well-organized work is the definative account of the political; economic and military forces that shaped the Confederacy's decision; in the last days of the war; to enlist Negro slaves as infantry soldiers. A very simplified summary is that the leaders of the Confederacy knew by 1864 that slavery was destined to end anyway; that slavery already had ended throughout the vast swaths of the South that had fallen under Union control; and that the desperate hope was to salvage a peace under which the plantation aristocracy would continue to dominate the political life of the South. The latter would ensure; if not slavery; the "next best" arrangement; a system of Negro servitude and peonage; backed up by suitable laws and law courts. Levine draws important connections between this last idea and the "black laws" that unregenerate Southern state legislatures passed immediately after the war; and also connections with the post-Reconstruction; Jim Crow period. The Confederate emancipation debates are thus seen as setting the cornerstone of the postwar political thought of Southern elites. The work is so well grounded in the primary sources that its key conclusions are very unlikely to be overturned.The one-star reviews found here originate with stubbornly ignorant neo-Confederates; and they should be ignored.10 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Nothing New; But A Good Debunker of MythBy TEKThis is an interesting book insofar as Levine is addressing those who have; in his view; taken as fact some of the historical falsehoods that are derived from the "Lost Cause" cult. Namely he is concerned with debunking the views held by some that: (1) thousands of blacks and slaves fought for the Confederacy; (2) blacks and slaves were cooperative in relation to the Confederate war effort; (3) the Civil War was not about slavery. Unfortunately; those who are members of the Lost Cause cult aren't easily persuaded of their foolishness no matter the weight of evidence presented to them (and Levine does have a plethora of evidence; two of his chapters have over 140 endnotes); so I doubt very much that this book will have the impact Levine desires.The result; in my mind; is that Levine thus ends up preaching to the choir. Unless you're a member of the Lost Cause cult you will probably not find anything in this book that is particularly surprising. Levine shows that even though some Confederates (emphasis on the "some") did initiate a policy to enlist slaves into the Army; the results were pathetic. Only a couple of companies around Richmond were ever organized; totaling some few dozen troops - not the hundreds of thousands as advertised. Slave owners were unwilling to give up there slaves. In fact; owners seemed more willing to see their own children die on the battlefield than to see their slaves given over to the army for the purpose of bolstering the army's strength. Even if owners had been willing to give up there slaves; countless testimonies show that the slaves understood the desperate status of the Confederate war effort by early 1865 and were not going to fight for the South.This book would make for a great secondary resource for those doing research projects on the topic. The book is full of source material. Nevertheless; this book is probably too dry for the average layman; especially when one considers the lack of novelty in the conclusions. Lost Cause perpetuators need to be rebuffed; but when historians pick up that task when writing a book the result seems to be a work that simply states the obvious.