Justifying Confederate Army Using Slaves

James Harrigan Mar 10, 2019 @ 3:15

I’d never seen that Forrest quote before, thanks Kevin. Obviously he was lying about what he said to the “forty-seven Negroes”, which raises a question I’ve long been interested in – why did the defeated secessionists want to obscure the truth about what motivated secession? Why did they feel the need in 1868 to lie about what they were proud to proclaim in 1860?

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• Kevin Levin Mar 10, 2019 @ 3:21
  I think the short answer is that slavery had been abolished and as a result discredited. You can’t prop up a new narrative justifying the war based on a fact that is no longer relevant. White southerners accepted the end of slavery in 1865, but they wrapped themselves even more tightly around the belief that slavery was benign and that they remained loyal right to the very end.