The debate over black Confederates, once confined largely to dueling blogs, continues to exert a hold on the professional media as well. Influential news outlets such as the Washington Post, NPR, and CNN (which picked up the WaPo article) picked up on this debate last fall when they reported on the controversy over the fourth grade textbook chosen for Virginia elementary schools that claimed thousands of black Americans willingly fought for the Confederacy. Numerous scholars and historians immediately refuted this outlandish claim, pointing out that while thousands of slaves forcibly served the Confederate army as servants and laborers, they were not enlisted, trained, or employed as soldiers (late in the war the Confederate congress finally passed a measure allowing the recruiting and arming of slaves, but only several dozen were mustered into the service, and none of them served in combat). Since then, judging by the media requests we receive at the Richards Civil War Era Center here at Penn State alone, numerous media outlets have continued to ask if there is anything to this "black Confederate" claim. The online magazine The Root, which is linked to the popular site Slate, is the latest journal to delve into the black Confederate debate.
The Root and the media outlets mentioned above generally have handled this debate with perspicacity. They typically point out the lack of evidence, misunderstanding of evidence, or the amateurish manipulation of that evidence by proponents of the black Confederates myth. Back in the blogosphere a few months ago, Brooks Simpson ably recounted how the favored evidence proffered by black Confederate enthusiasts has been thoroughly and easily debunked. Citing academic historians who have researched this subject exhaustively, the professional media have firmly rejected the myth that thousands of black men eagerly served as soldiers in the Confederate cause.
Of course, the person who has done yeoman work on this issue is Kevin Levin at Civil War Memory. He has challenged black Confederate mythmakers with vigor and gusto for several years now and shows no signs of slowing down, as he will be publishing a book on this subject soon (find his latest post on the topic here). Levin consistently has pointed out the basic historical illiteracy of the mythmakers, particularly their inability to understand how 19th century Americans conceived of citizens, slaves, and the citizen-soldier.
This, of course, is all well and good, especially the heavy lifting Mr. Levin has done on this issue. After all, it is one of the most important aspects of our mission as educators to expose the public to the fraudulent nature of such myths as the black Confederate story. I wonder, however, if historians are not in danger of sinking down into the mire of this debate by continuing to pay attention to every continued claim from the mythmakers and supporters and every rebuttal in the blogs and the news media. To be honest, I'm not sure where I stand on this, but I feel as though this debate is beginning to yield diminishing returns. Surely, the public has been educated about the debate and the shortcomings of the black Confederate thesis. Carrying on the debate with members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other true believers yields nothing, for they are resolved to support their position regardless of whatever evidence and logical analysis is marshaled to expose the fallacy of their belief.
Last summer, my colleague Sean Trainor noted that the black Confederate controversy should serve as a spur to further historical scholarship on the lives of black Americans in the southern states in the early nineteenth century. Levin himself is doing this to some extent by posting primary sources that shed light on the life of Silas Chandler, a slave who is often described erroneously as a Confederate soldier. I'm far from the first person to suggest that the best way to counter the black Confederate myth is to do a better job of teaching about the lives and experiences of free blacks and slaves alike in this period. Perhaps though, it is time to move beyond this debate and do just that.
@Crossroads, @Civil War Memory
The Root and the media outlets mentioned above generally have handled this debate with perspicacity. They typically point out the lack of evidence, misunderstanding of evidence, or the amateurish manipulation of that evidence by proponents of the black Confederates myth. Back in the blogosphere a few months ago, Brooks Simpson ably recounted how the favored evidence proffered by black Confederate enthusiasts has been thoroughly and easily debunked. Citing academic historians who have researched this subject exhaustively, the professional media have firmly rejected the myth that thousands of black men eagerly served as soldiers in the Confederate cause.
Of course, the person who has done yeoman work on this issue is Kevin Levin at Civil War Memory. He has challenged black Confederate mythmakers with vigor and gusto for several years now and shows no signs of slowing down, as he will be publishing a book on this subject soon (find his latest post on the topic here). Levin consistently has pointed out the basic historical illiteracy of the mythmakers, particularly their inability to understand how 19th century Americans conceived of citizens, slaves, and the citizen-soldier.
This, of course, is all well and good, especially the heavy lifting Mr. Levin has done on this issue. After all, it is one of the most important aspects of our mission as educators to expose the public to the fraudulent nature of such myths as the black Confederate story. I wonder, however, if historians are not in danger of sinking down into the mire of this debate by continuing to pay attention to every continued claim from the mythmakers and supporters and every rebuttal in the blogs and the news media. To be honest, I'm not sure where I stand on this, but I feel as though this debate is beginning to yield diminishing returns. Surely, the public has been educated about the debate and the shortcomings of the black Confederate thesis. Carrying on the debate with members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other true believers yields nothing, for they are resolved to support their position regardless of whatever evidence and logical analysis is marshaled to expose the fallacy of their belief.
Last summer, my colleague Sean Trainor noted that the black Confederate controversy should serve as a spur to further historical scholarship on the lives of black Americans in the southern states in the early nineteenth century. Levin himself is doing this to some extent by posting primary sources that shed light on the life of Silas Chandler, a slave who is often described erroneously as a Confederate soldier. I'm far from the first person to suggest that the best way to counter the black Confederate myth is to do a better job of teaching about the lives and experiences of free blacks and slaves alike in this period. Perhaps though, it is time to move beyond this debate and do just that.
@Crossroads, @Civil War Memory
"...Brooks Simpson ably recounted how the favored evidence proffered by black Confederate enthusiasts has been thoroughly and easily debunked. Citing academic historians who have researched this subject exhaustively, the professional media have firmly rejected the myth that thousands of black men eagerly served as soldiers in the Confederate cause.
Of course, the person who has done yeoman work on this issue is Kevin Levin at Civil War Memory. He has challenged black Confederate mythmakers with vigor and gusto..."
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Bull hockey...
I appreciate you taking the time to comment, however brief it is.