
Searching for Black Confederates
The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth
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Narrated by:
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JD Jackson
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By:
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Kevin M. Levin
More than 150 years after the end of the Civil War, scores of websites, articles, and organizations repeat claims that anywhere between 500 and 100,000 free and enslaved African Americans fought willingly as soldiers in the Confederate army. But as Kevin M. Levin argues in this carefully researched book, such claims would have shocked anyone who served in the army during the war itself. Levin explains that imprecise contemporary accounts, poorly understood primary-source material, and other misrepresentations helped fuel the rise of the black Confederate myth. Moreover, Levin shows that belief in the existence of black Confederate soldiers largely originated in the 1970s, a period that witnessed both a significant shift in how Americans remembered the Civil War and a rising backlash against African Americans' gains in civil rights and other realms.
Levin also investigates the roles that African Americans actually performed in the Confederate army, including personal body servants and forced laborers. He demonstrates that regardless of the dangers these men faced in camp, on the march, and on the battlefield, their legal status remained unchanged. Even long after the guns fell silent, Confederate veterans and other writers remembered these men as former slaves and not as soldiers, an important reminder that how the war is remembered often runs counter to history.
©2019 Kevin M. Levin (P)2019 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Heart Felt and Brutally Honest
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Well researched
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Non GMO History
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Great back story.
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Another reviewer said that it was more political commentary than history and I could not disagree more. This is history, written by a historian. Is there interpretation of the facts? Yes. That is what historians do. But some facts are simply facts, even if they hurt the feelings of the Lost Cause defenders.
As for the narration, I'd have bought this book regardless but when I realized the narrator was the same man who has excellently narrated some of Attica Locke's mystery books. I was extra hooked and was not disappointed.
My only quibble is that I suspect the ebook or physical book includes photos, besides the cover photo, that would provide even more context and humanity to the stories of African Americans living in the confederacy. If those are included in the text copy, I wish they were available as a pdf to audiobook listeners. If they are not included, they should be.
For those who care about facts
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Author didn’t do any real research
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1. Charles Kelly Barrow, et. al. Forgotten Confederates: An Anthology About Black Southerners (1995)
2. Ervin L. Jordan, Jr. Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia (1995)
3. Richard Rollins. Black Southerners in Gray (1994).
For general historical information on Black Confederates, contact Dr. Edward Smith, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20016; Dean of American Studies. Dr. Smith is a black professor dedicated to clarifying the historical role of African Americans.
Needing to “Search” More
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Bragg beat Rosencrans like a drum and so bad that the defeated union commander had a mental break down following his return to Chattanooga.
I agree with the author’s thesis overall, but when I heard this piece of revisionist history, it did make me wonder if he was overlooking evidence somewhere in the same light that his antagonists, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, do when claiming that there were black Confederate combat troops.
It was good overall, but I was really hoping it would be more about the camp slaves during and after the war. More specifically a ratio of 3:4 in regards to camp slaves personal experiences to discrediting the SCV. When in reality I feel that the book was more of a 1:4 personal experiences: SCV discrediting.
The reason for the authors ratio is understandable when you consider the primary sources he used though.
I do wish there was more work about camp slaves as I feel it’s a largely untouched topic.
One red flag but overall interesting
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modern political commentary
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