Troy

Larry Gude

Strung Out
I defer to...

...your geekness and stand corrected by same!

Vrai is also correct about some slaves staying with their owners and about fighting for the CSA (Confederate States of America).

In fact the CSA was caught up in one of historys greater catch-22's:

They, the CSA, could have, up until it became clear after Lincolns re-election in 1864 that the CSA was doomed, raised huge numbers of combat infantry if they were willing to arm blacks. It is very likely that this would have won seperation for several reasons:

1. Blacks fighting FOR slavery with a promise of freedom at the end of service removes the Northern moral claim for fighing. As the death toll mounted it became VERY important in the North that the soldiers were dying for something very grand, very worth it.

2. The sheer number of troops and the obvious battlefield advantage they;d accrue.

So, had they armed them, they would have fought for the CSA and likely won independence

But, they could NOT arm them because it would shatter the very core belief system of why they were fighting the war in the first place; white supremacy.

There was a huge internal discussion about this in the CSA army I think in 1863 which was plenty of time to have made a difference.
 
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