America sucked ass for black people up until the 1960s.
Iâm not claiming the north was great.
But if your situation is screwed and you are given two choices, second class citizenship or literal chattel slavery, I think I know which one Iâm going to pick.
The Union wasnât fighting for blacks. If they were, things would have turned out dramatically different in the post war reconstruction. Frankly, I would have preferred to see Thaddeus Stevens in control of reconstruction. True justice would have been served.
They were fighting to keep the union intact and later end slavery on American territory.
If youâre black in 1863 you look at the two sides and what do you see?
One side (Union) really doesnât care about you, and they donât want you in their cities. But they donât want you to be enslaved anymore or at the very least they are open to the idea of you being a free man. Of course youâre beneath them in the post war totem pole; youâre still a black man in America. But at least youâre free and have a chance to do something with your life.
The other side is literally sacrificing its entire 16-45 year old white male population in a vain attempt to keep you enslaved. One of my ancestors on my grandfatherâs died during the war (he had children before the war broke who survived to have their own children), somewhere outside of Jackson fighting against Grantâs army making the push to surround Vicksburg.
The Confederacy sent 20% of the Southern White population to early graves, including that ancestor of mine. Mississippi, my beloved home state, saw its capital raised to the ground, its shining jewel of a river city (Vicksburg) completely obliterated by artillery, and had to bury a significant portion of its young men where they died both in places like Corinth and Jackson and in other theaters where MS units fought, such as the Tennessee Valley campaign.
And for what? To keep black people enslaved? They (Confederates) were willing to destroy their entire society, their largest cities (like Atlanta and Richmond), 20% of the southern white male population, common decency and morality, and mentally scar an entire generation of both Northern and Southern men and women over that? Over keeping blacks enslaved?
So if youâre a black man in 1863 and the only thing you can offer is your prayers for one side to win, i think the decision is pretty easy.
It would have turned out drastically different if Andrew Johnson wasnât the President in charge of Reconstruction since he killed pretty much everything Lincoln did.
The 13th Amendment to abolish slavery was not ratified by Lower Chamber until January 31, 1865. As such, not sure why a crime to succeed from the Union in the 1st place?