Re: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:26:55 -0700, Linda Tollefsrud wrote: >A Q&A with the historian who caught the error can be found here: > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/10/20/DI2010102002560.html?hpid=talkbox1 >She argues " . . .it was illegal in the Confederacy to use black as soldiers >until the waning days of the war (early 1865). A few companies (a company was >usually 100 men at full force) were raised then, but none saw battle action, >as >the surrender followed shortly thereafter."
A few comments. (1) The textbook being discussed is a 4th grade social studies text written by a non-historian who, after having the problem of having African-Americans fighting by the "thousands", said she would have have changed it if someone had mentioned it before the book was published. Does the fault lay with an incompetent author or with a publisher who doesn't know enough to have professional historians review the text before it is released? (2) The basis for my comments in (1) comes from watching Keith Olbermann's show "Coutndown" on which he had the comment from the author of the textbook and had Carol Sherriff, the history prof from William and Mary who is intereviewed in the Washtington Post article, on as a guest. Keith also had an email comment from Ken Burns who did the documentary series for PBS on the Civial War which acknowledged that African-American soldiers were probably involved but that the conditions under which they served had to be taken into account. The transcript for Keith's show is not yet up on the MSNBC website but it probably will be in within 24 hours, at which time you can check the transcipt; see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32390086 (3) The Washington Post article reports an exchange between Prof. Sherrif and an a caller that is worth reporducing in its entirety: |Spring Hill, Fla.: According to state records Mississippi had 1739 |black Civil War pensioners after the Civil War. Colonel Stand Watie, |an Indian Chief, formed two battalions of Indians to fight for the |Confederacy very early in the War. As for the origins of the War, |I ask people to consider what would have happened if secession |had not occurred? The issue of slavery had been settled by the |Supreme court in the Dred Scott decision, and the Missouri |Compromise was fully in effect. Would Lincoln been as anti-slavery |as he was later in the war. Lincoln is on record as having said that |he would tolerate slavery if it would preserve the Union. So it is |asy to draw an inference that abolition of slavery was not high on |his list of priorities. | |Carol Sheriff: Several of the questions have addressed the issue of |Lincoln's views on slavery, and this is an issue that remains under |debate by scholars. But whatever his personal views, he used |emancipation as a wartime strategy to try to undermine the |Confederacy's labor force and/or its morale. (And starting in 1863, |he used it as a way to man the Union army; ultimately approximately |180,000 black people, many of them former slaves, served in the |Union army.) Notice that she does not address the issue of the Mississippi Black Civil War pensiorers. It is quite likely that she is unfamiliar with the records referred to and she would have to do the hard work of going over the records to (a) establish that they exist and (b) what do they mean. (4) One piece of advice that Prof. Sherrif give is to read the book by Bruce Levine titled "Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves During the Civil War". Portions of the book are available on books.google.com and be accessed here: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KOO6y1-1DnsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=%22confederate+emancipation%22&ots=XfLRsycYJW&sig=w9xqgqK5xJwB3TZr03x3REuRUuI#v=onepage&q&f=false or http://tinyurl.com/brucelevine I have not read it but I think anyone continuing in this discussion may want to read it, as well as surveying the history literature concerning the issues (e.g., Yes, Virginia, there were Black slaveowners; No, Lincoln was not as equality minded as some may assume). (5) Whether African-Americans served in the Confederate army or not is not relevant to the issue of how and why the Civil War came to be fought. The basic issue of slavery as well as state rights and White supremacy attitudes and the view of African-Americans as subhumans and other issues all served to lead to war. Whether a 4th grade social studies textbook gets the facts right should be of concern to everyone but we should know what the facts are and make sure that are adequately represented. This is often hard work and, unfortunately, many are not interested in being involved. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5845 or send a blank email to leave-5845-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
