The South Was Right

by James Ronald Kennedy

  Abd Rahman Ibrahima, son of the king of the African people of Timbo. His people were slave holders and slave traders. While in the process of capturing fellow Africans for the slave trade, lie was made a captive himself. He was sold into slavery by his African enemies and remained a slave in Mississippi for approximately forty years before returning to his homeland. (See Ibrahima’s story in Chapter 2.) (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

  Unidentified Confederate cavalryman, Arkansas. May the principles for which this unknown Confederate soldier fought never become unidentifiable or unknown to a future generation of Southerners. (Image courtesy of Dale West, Longview, Texas)

  Major George Walker, First Louisiana Heavy Artillery. Born in Ireland, Walker moved to Louisiana in 1858, where he served as a physician on a large plantation. At the outbreak of the war, this Irish medical doctor offered his services to the Confederacy. He was the surgeon of an artillery battery during the war. (Image courtesy of James B. Moore, Longview, Texas)

  Bill Yopp, former slave and Confederate veteran, visiting his former master at the Confederate Veterans Home in Atlanta. Bill brought gifts not only to his former master (as shown here) but also to all the elderly Confederate veterans in residence there. Before his death, Bill was admitted to the home; when he died, he was buried in the Confederate Veterans Cemetery in Atlanta. (See Yopp’s story in Chapter 3.) (Image courtesy of Charles W. Hampton, Clarkston, Georgia)

  Corporal William F. Kennedy, Company D, Tenth Alabama Volunteer Infantry, was wounded during Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg. Kennedy’s son Fred is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Alabama, and is also a “Civil War” reenactor. Fred has been active in protecting the truth about our Southern history and heritage for many years. He is a living example of how close we are to those who fought for Southern Independence. (Image courtesy of Fred Kennedy, Reece City, Alabama)

  No, these are not the children of some Yankee Abolitionist hearing about the “bad old slave days” from a runaway slave. The black man is Frank Loper, a former slave of President Jefferson Davis. Loper is surrounded by the great-grandchildren of President and Mrs. Davis. Loper was born on the Davis plantation of Briarfield, near Natchez, Mississippi. He remained a friend to the family well after the death of President Davis in 1889. The love expressed in the eyes of these people should make any reasonable person question the Yankee myth of a hate-filled, racist South. (Image courtesy of Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis Shrine, last home of Jefferson Davis, Biloxi, Mississippi)

  A Mrs. Shelby ofVicksburg, Mississippi, with her former slaves. This photograph was taken circa 1885. It was not uncommon after the war for black and white families to stay together. Many, as this photograph indicates, did so into old age. (Image courtesy of Old Court House Museum, Vicksburg, Mississippi)

  Moses Daniel Tate, Johnson County, Arkansas. In May 1862 Tate enlisted in Carroll’s Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry, and was later transferred to the First Arkansas Cavalry, then moved to the Engineer Corps. (Image courtesy of Mary Sanders, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

  George S. Waterman, midshipman, Confederate States Navy. Waterman served on the CSS Gaines during the Battle of Mobile Bay, and was cited for his efforts. No other branch of military service had to do so much with so little as the Confederate States Navy. An agrarian nation had to transform itself into a great naval power even as the enemy was approaching its coasts. At the outbreak of war, the timber for its ships stood in the forest, the iron was still in the ground, and hemp for ropes had yet to be grown and cut; nevertheless, the Confederate Navy produced men, ships, and victories that astounded the world.5 (Image courtesy of Tulane University Libraries, Howard-Til-ton Memorial Library, New Orleans, Louisiana)

  William J. Bunn, Company I, Fourteenth Alabama Volunteer Infantry, Auburn, Alabama. Captured during the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, May 1864. As a Confederate POW he was sent to the infamous prison at Elmira, New York. Bunn had two other brothers in Confederate service; one, Marcus, was killed during the Battle of Richmond, in June of 1862. (Image courtesy of Roy Bunn, Roanoke, Alabama)

  A typical home for the non-plantation white Southerner, known as a dogtrot house. It was from this type of dwelling that seventy to eighty percent of the rank-and-jile Confederate soldiers came. These people were for the most part non-slaveholding Southerners. Those who did own slaves usually owned only one family and worked with their slaves in the fields (see Plain Folk of the Old South, Chapter I). This dogtrot home was built in 1848 by Absalom Autry after he moved from Alabama to North-Central Louisiana. Autry had eight sons, seven of whom were old enough to volunteer for Confederate service. Three of his sons were sent to Virginia, three were in the Army of Tennessee, and one fought in the Trans-Mississippi Department. Two of the Autry boys never came home from the war; another three were POWs. (Absalom Autry house, Dubach, Louisiana; Tim Garlington, Ruston, Louisiana, photographer)

  “I was born in Mississippi, but raised in a Northern State; associations there led me to regard the Southern white man as dire foes to the negroes, but … You are our best friends.” Thus spoke Rep. L. W. Moore, a black representative from Mississippi, as he presented this silver set to the white Speaker of the House. In his presentation speech, he made note of the “warm, cordial, and unprejudiced relations” they (the black delegates) had experienced at the hands of the white Democrats, especially Speaker James S. Madison. These six black representatives were the same delegates who voted for the erection of the Confederate memorial monument in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1890. (See story in Chapter 3.) (Image courtesy of Mrs. Robert Ragan, Cleveland, Mississippi)

  William A. Norris, Company I, Sixth Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, was from Pocahontas, Arkansas. Norris enlisted at the age of twenty-five and was promoted to the rank of third sergeant. He was wounded at the Battle ofPerryville, Kentucky, in 1862. (Image courtesy of Paulyne Lain, Ruston, Louisiana)

  John M. Collins, second lieutenant, Company A, Forth-Sixth Alabama Volunteer Infantry, Coosa County, Alabama. “Lieutenant Collins was sometimes detached to command other companies because of his efficiency and was for some months the acting adjutant of the regiment, owing to the disabling wounds of adjutant Brooks.” Company A was a large unit consisting of 120 privates, of which there were one preacher, one teacher, two merchants, two blacksmiths, one saddler, three mechanics, and 110 farmers.4 (Image courtesy of Randy Collins, Ruston, Louisiana)

  The pride of the slave trade fleet, the Nightingale was built in Maine, bought by a Massachusetts firm, and commanded by a New Yorker. Originally used in the China tea trade, she was bought by a Salem, Massachusetts, firm and fitted out as a slaver. She was captured off the African coast with nine hundred slaves on board, and a death rate of three slaves per day. She was one of many American vessels that, under the protection of the United States flag, brought slaves to the New World, even after the War for Southern Independence had begun. After being brought back to New York, she was bought by the United States and used in its war efforts against the South. The use of the United States flag to protect slave traders caused black historian W. E. B. DuBois to state that between I860 and 1865 more that twelve hundred slaves were brought into the New World under the protection of the United States flag.1 (Note the flag flying from the Nightingale! See “Captain of the Flag,” Chapter 2. (Image courtesy of Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts)

  Sergeant Swimmer, Qualla Lands, North Carolina, Company A, Thomas’ Legion, Cherokee troops. Swimmer was one of more than four hundred Cherokee Confederates from the old Cherokee lands of North Carolina-Tennessee. Not only did these people support the Confederacy, but many of the Indians were wealthy planters with many black slaves.2 (Image courtesy of National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)

  Andrew J. Vawter, Company I, Twelfth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. Vawter was wounded at the Battles of Shiloh and Stones River. After recovering from his wounds, he joined Company B, Twentieth Tennessee Cavalry, for
the duration of the war. (Image courtesy of Robert M. Vawter, Milan, Tennessee)

  CHAPTER 3

  Race Relations in the Old South

  … we jes’ went on peaceful an’ happy til de war come an’ rooted ebery blessed thing up by de roots.1

  Charles Stewart, former slave

  INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS

  In this chapter we will look at the life and contributions of black men and women of the old South. In so doing, we will call upon expert witnesses of life in the “slave days.” We will quote from an official United States document, The Slave Narratives, which was obtained by the United States government during the Great Depression. Testimonies from some of the last surviving slaves of the Old South will be used to give us an idea of their life under slavery and after Yankee-induced freedom. To collaborate their testimony we will also quote from the Official Records: War of the Rebellion, the official report of the United States relating to the War for Southern Independence. In our research of the slave narratives, we have noted an overwhelming body of evidence (more than seventy percent) in which only positive statements were made about the relationship between slaves and masters. Contrary to what many popular novelists and journalists would have everyone believe, this relationship was very close and mutually respectful. Those who report on life at the mercy of brutal masters and the horrors of slavery are reporting, we believe, on cases that were definitely in the minority (thirty percent or less).

  In looking at life under the slave system, we do not pretend that such life was always good, or that masters were always just. Yes, there were cases of mistreatment and abuse by some masters. Just as there are some cases of sexual abuse of children by some parents. But, just because we see abuse by some, that does not indicate that all or a majority are responsible for such activities. As we would not condemn all parents because some are abusive, neither would we accuse all slave holders of intentional cruelty because a few were abusive. Those who trade in the sensational have cast a vile shadow upon many noble and decent people by blaming all for the sins of the few.

  Levy Carnine, Pelican Rifles, Second Louisiana Volunteer Infantry. Carnine was from the Mansfield area of DeSoto Parish. He not only served his master during the war but also became a local hero for his service to the men and families of the Pelican Rifles. After the war Carnine became one of the experts on the activity of his unit. (See his story in Chapter 3.) (Portrait by Jim Whittington, Shreveport, Louisiana)

  There is one misconception we would like to clarify. In looking at the participants in the slave system of the Old South, we are looking at very few members of Southern society. In 1860, there were 5.3 million whites in the South. Of that number, approximately three hundred thousand (six percent) were slave holders.2 The number of slave holders who could be classified as aristocratic planters was only 150,000 (three percent). The rest of the slave holders owned five or fewer slaves and worked beside their slaves in order to make a living.

  The vast majority of Southerners owned no slaves, and from these people were drawn the vast numbers of soldiers of the Confederacy. Also let us state here that we are not defending the system of slavery, but rather seeking the truth about the history of that institution and of life in the Old South.

  In the Old South, there were at least three different views of slavery ranging from those who wished the quick abolition of slavery, such as Robert E. Lee, to those like Jefferson Davis who sought to uplift and educate the slaves to make them ready for freedom, to others who believed that black people could never be made ready for freedom. It should be noted that each view of slavery had its followers, but all honorable people regardless of how they felt about the institution of slavery believed that the black people should be accorded the respect due them as taught in the Bible in regard to slaves.

  The biblical foundation for the slave-master relationship was deeply rooted in America, being practiced by both Southerners and Northerners. The first defense of slavery in America was made by the Puritan Fathers of Massachusetts, and that defense was based on principles founded in both the Old and the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Such notables as Cotton Mather and Judge John Saffin voiced their approval of the institution of slavery in Massachusetts, basing their arguments on the Bible.3 The idea that slavery was a moral system based upon biblical standards was held by Americans from Georgia to Maine. Today, of course, we do not see slavery in that light, but it was held so by Americans both North and South during the early part of our history.

  Race Relations in the Old South

  The contribution to the development of the North and South by black Americans is a subject that for too long has been played down. Some people are motivated by their fear of saying anything pleasant about the system of African servitude, and therefore they refuse to admit that during the “slave days” anything good could have happened. These people, with their negative attitudes, will always take any opportunity to ridicule the South. Because of their misguided idea of what slavery was like during the days of the Old South, these people have a burning hatred for slavery and for the South. To them, nothing good could ever come from either. Their hatred for both slavery and the South is so great that they can never accept the idea that slavery was a real and necessary aspect of life in the early days of the North just as it was in the South. Northern liberals apparently feel that, if they admit that slavery was a necessary part of Northern history, their society will be branded with the same negative characteristics that they have imputed to the South.

  When we look at the early development of the Northern colonies, we will find that as long as the need for slaves existed, slavery was an accepted system of labor.4 It was not until the supply of free labor was large enough to meet the demands of society that the system of African servitude was abandoned. It should be noted here that John Adams stated that slavery in the North was not done away with for moral or ethical reasons, but because Northern workers refused to compete with blacks. Adams stated, “Argument might have some weight in the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts, but the real cause was the multiplication of labouring white people, who would no longer suffer the rich to employ these sable rivals so much to their injury. The common people would not suffer the labor, by which alone they could obtain a subsistence, to be done by slaves. If the gentlemen had been permitted by law to hold slaves, the common white people would have put the slaves to death, and their masters too perhaps.5”

  In this statement of John Adams, we see that the clear intent of those who destroyed slavery in the North was their economic protection, and that alone. Also note that Adams believed that the people of Massachusetts would be willing to put the black people and their masters to death rather than compete with the slave labor system.

  Those who refuse to recognize the system of African servitude as a positive contribution to the development of America have done a great disservice to those they pretend to serve, the African-Americans. By not looking at the positive contributions made by African-Americans during slavery in both the North and the South, they have condemned black people to a “no-history” role in early American development. A sub-set of the “no-history” group will advocate a role for the slave in early American society by advancing the theory that slavery was so repulsive that the black people acted in such a way as to sabotage the work they were given. Both parts of this “no-history” theory of black life under slavery are in vogue (i.e., are politically correct today), but both are wrong, as we shall demonstrate.

  There is also another group of people who refuse to accept the fact that blacks have played an important role in the development of America. The radical racists seem to find it easier to equate blackness with nothingness than to accept the idea that our society has been positively influenced by the African-American. This group would also like us to believe that the black man has a “no-history” role in the evolution of our society. Both groups, for their own reasons, are equally wrong. The history of the black people of the South and of America cannot and should
not be overlooked just because that history does not match a preconceived notion of what the system of slavery was really like. These two groups (liberal politically correct “PC” or radical racist) both display a form of bigotry; the first is a cultural bigot, and the second a racial bigot.

  As we look at the life and contributions of the black men and women of the Old South, we will prove their worth and loyalty to the South. Schooled in the curriculum of modern “politically correct” history, the average American cannot understand the idea of blacks being anything other than antagonistic to the South. As we have shown in other areas of so-called history (actually Yankee myth), what appears as truth, after close investigation, so often falls under the heading of “myth.” Such is the case with the relationship between black Southerners and the Old South.

  Most Northerners of the 1860s were schooled in the myth of slavery and the Old South by infamous propaganda tracts and novels such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Filled with such vile misinformation about the South, the average Northerner believed that, with a little effort on his or her part, the vast majority of black people of the South would join in the North’s effort to stamp out all vestiges of the South. Northerners failed to understand that the association between black and white people encompassed a wide range of relationships. The people of the slave-holding South co-existed with their black families in relationships ranging from the few cruel masters to the very paternalistic and loving masters. According to Abolitionist theory, the white/black relations was based on the application of brute force by the slave holders over the slaves. If this had been correct, the slave population would have been much more inclined to revolt against their masters during an invasion. If the relationship between the slave and master was not predicated solely on brute force, what was the nature of the relationship? The Yankee historian Frederick Law Olmsted noted the closeness of the relationship between slave and master when he visited Virginia in the early part of the 1800s. Olmsted observed a white woman and a black woman seated together on a train. Both ladies had their children with them, and the children were eating candy from a common container. Of this incident one writer states, “… the girls munched candy out of the same bag ’with a familiarity and closeness’ which would have astonished and displeased most Northerners.”6’ This close relationship may have been unheard of in the North, but it was a common sight in the South. Even in Mississippi, a warm relationship existed between the two races. In his work, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South, Kenneth Stampp stated, “Visitors often registered surprise at the social intimacy that existed between masters and slaves in certain situations. A Northerner saw a group of Mississippi farmers encamped with their slaves near Natchez after hauling their cotton to market. Here they assumed a ’cheek by jowl’ familiarity with perfect good will and a mutual contempt for the nicer distinctions of color.”7 This type of relationship could not be enforced with a whip, but it existed and was based on respect and love. Not only Northern historians but also Yankee soldiers spoke with contempt about the closeness of the relationship between slave and master. In his diary Pvt. John Haley of Maine had this to say about the slave/master relationship: “Two-hundred years of slavery have not elevated the nigger or his master. The only advancement has been in the way of unnatural selection; the line of demarcation between white and black is not as positive as true virtue demands, but is dimmed by a kind of neutral tint that cannot but be regarded with suspicion.”8