The book, written by
Masoff said one of her sources was Ervin Jordan, a University of Virginia historian. In an interview, Jordan denied being a source for Masoff's claims: "There's no way of knowing that there were thousands. And the claim about Jackson is totally false. I don't know where that came from."
Apparently Masoff didn't even realize she had written something controversial. "It's just one sentence. I don't want to ruffle any feathers". She also describes herself as "a fairly respected writer." Not anymore you're not.
I'm not sure about "thousands," but I have read in other places that there were in fact black Confederate soldiers. I've also not left my children under any illusion that most Northern whites wanted true equality for black citizens during that time period, either. Too frequently we are oversimplistic in our teaching of history... but we need to at least get the facts right, or give an educated guess (and then tell what we based THAT on in the footnotes). :)
ReplyDeleteYes, history is complicated. There were some black Confederate soldiers, especially during the siege of Richmond at the end of the war, but "thousands" is not supported by the evidence. And the claim that Stonewall Jackson had 2 black battalions is completely untrue.
ReplyDeleteThe North eventually recruited and trained black soldiers, and then paid them a fraction of the pay that white soldiers got, although they fought and died the same as anyone else.
FedUp, this is a very well written post! Mrs. C writes:
ReplyDelete"I've also not left my children under any illusion that most Northern whites wanted true equality for black citizens during that time period, either"
Mrs. C., that's not an illusion, though. That is well documented in primary sources. We know that as fact.