Confederate Emancipation

Here, Bruce Levine looks closely at Confederate proposals to arm and free slaves during the Civil War, one of which was finally accepted by the Confederate government, but far too late to effect the war. Throughout the book, Levine captures the voices of blacks and whites, wealthy planters and poor farmers, soldiers and officers, and newspaper editors and politicians from all across the South. In the process, he sheds light on such hot-button topics as what the Confederacy was fighting...
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Here, Bruce Levine looks closely at Confederate proposals to arm and free slaves during the Civil War, one of which was finally accepted by the Confederate government, but far too late to effect the war. Throughout the book, Levine captures the voices of blacks and whites, wealthy planters and poor farmers, soldiers and officers, and newspaper editors and politicians from all across the South. In the process, he sheds light on such hot-button topics as what the Confederacy was fighting for, whether black southerners were willing to fight in large numbers in defense of the South, and what this episode foretold about life and politics in the post-war South.