1861-1865 السودُ الجنوبيون والحرب ُالأهلية ُالأمريكية

Abstract

This paper attempts to shed some light on the black community in the south during the US civil war 1861-1865, and consequently highlights the circumstances that led to the non-military contribution of the black, whether the slaves or the free, in the war as well as the confederacy’s suggestion to arm them in the last year of the war. The paper also tackles the motivation of this suicidal move, which was dictated by the war conditions and the dire need for soldiers, as it represented a move against the basic principle of the state and the society. Conscription of the slave represented an explicit contradiction to the ideology that legitimized the formation of the confederacy, which consisted in the supremacy of the white race and the legalization of slavery. This resulted in the loss of the case which confederate soldiers fought for. This move was a stillborn right from the start for it came too late at the time when the war was about to end. More importantly, it undermined the morale of the confederate army, and consequently led to its defeat.