What the Newspapers Said: The Black Confederate “Myth” Examined

 

Where did the belief in the “black Confederate soldier” originate? Did it begin in 1977, after the success of the television mini-series Roots caused people to reevaluate race and slavery during the Civil War? Were stories of these men absent before then, as one of many historians who tackles this topic claims? Is it accurate or indeed fair to describe these men as a “myth” either as individuals or collectively? Is attempting to highlight the service of these men some nefarious plot to downplay slavery as a cause of the Civil War? Certainly the history of black supporters of the Confederate States can be and has been abused or mischaracterized by some on both sides of this issue, but it is wrong to label this history as a “myth”, implying by the use of the word that black supporters of the Confederacy never existed, and that belief in their existence is embracing a known falsehood.

More @ The Abbeville Institute