slave resistance

Confederate Views on Slavery in War

• Belief in Slave Loyalty: Confederate secessionists believed that enslaved individuals would remain loyal and contribute positively to the war effort.

• Valuable Labor Resource: Rather than arming slaves, Confederates viewed them as reliable labor for agricultural production, construction of trenches, and fortifications.

• Myths of Loyalty: Despite their confidence in enslaved loyalty, early reports indicated sabotage and resistance among slaves.

Evidence of Slave Resistance

• Sabotage Activities::

  • Tools were mysteriously broken.

  • Slaves feigned illness and misinterpreted orders.

  • Incidents of fires in fields and warehouses were frequent.

• Baffled Confederates: Slaveholders were perplexed as they believed their slaves were loyal, yet encountered resistance and sabotage efforts.

• Individual Acts of Defiance: It was not organized sabotage; rather, it was thousands of slaves independently deciding to resist the Confederate regime.

Understanding Slaves’ Knowledge of War

• Awareness of War's Meaning: Enslaved people understood the war's implications for their freedom and listened intently to news from their masters and soldiers.

• Impact on Confederate Forces: The cumulative effect of sabotage was significant, undermining the Confederate war effort as enslaved individuals recognized their fate was at stake.

• W. E. B. Du Bois's Perspective: Argued that this sabotage represented a form of a general strike by enslaved people.

Union’s Dilemma Regarding Slavery

• Preserving the Union vs. Slaveholding States: The Union's official stance was to maintain the Union, but faced the issue of what to do with liberated slaves.

• Lincoln’s Initial Caution: Early policies reflected a desire to avoid alienating border states still aligned with the Union.

Self-Emancipation of Slaves

• Rise of Self-Emancipation: Thousands of enslaved individuals began to emancipate themselves as Union armies advanced.

• Contraband Policy: The Union treated self-emancipated slaves as "contrabands of war" to deprive Confederates of resources.

• Significant Numbers: As many as 600,000 slaves liberated themselves during the war, impacting the Confederate war effort significantly.

Official Emancipation Measures

• Lincoln’s Shift in Policy: By 1862, Lincoln recognized the importance of self-emancipation and made emancipation an official war aim.

• Emancipation Proclamation (01/01/1863): The proclamation aimed to abolish slavery in Confederate territories, although it did not end slavery in border states or Union-held areas.

• Legal and Political Considerations: Lincoln’s decision was strategic. He wanted to avoid alienating border states and questioned his constitutional authority to emancipate within the Union.

Military Contributions of Black Soldiers

• Call for Black Troops: The Emancipation Proclamation included a call for black soldiers, leading to around 80,000 African Americans serving in the Union army.

• Impact of Black Soldiers: They constituted about 10% of Union troops and fought in segregated units, proving their bravery in combat.

• Perception Shifts: Military service gave black communities a chance to demonstrate their loyalty and challenge prevailing stereotypes of African Americans.

• Lincoln’s Recognition: Lincoln acknowledged that black soldiers were crucial for the Union victory.

Social Backlash in the North

• Alienation of White Northerners: The war’s focus shifted from merely preserving the Union to also being about emancipation, causing unrest among white northern populations.

• Draft Riots of Summer 1863: Discontent over drafts and emancipation led to violent protests, targeting draft officials and African Americans, particularly in New York City.

• Demographic Discontent: Many rioters were Irish Catholic working men believing they were fighting for a war that benefited Protestant abolitionists, fearing that emancipation would threaten their social mobility.