[34] Ibid., p. 227.
[35] Off. Reds. Rebell., Series IV, Vol. III, pp. 1010-1011.
[36] Rhodes, History of the United States since the Compromise of 1850, Vol. IV, p. 525.
[37] Off. Reds. Rebell., Series IV, Vol. VIII, p. 1110.
[38] Off. Reds. Rebell., Series IV, Vol. VIII, p. 1013.
[39] Williams, Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion, Journals of Congress, Vol. IV, pp. 572-573.
In the American Historical Review, January, 1913, N.W. Stephenson has an article upon "The Question of Arming the Slaves." The article is concerned particularly with the debate in the Confederate Congress upon this perplexing question and with the psychology of the statements made by President Davis, Secretary Benjamin, General Lee and by various Congressmen. The author has searched the Journals of the Confederate Congress, newspaper files and personal recollections and gives conclusions which show that "the subject was discussed during the last winter of the Confederate regime," and by inference the dissertation shows that the fear of the consequences of arming the slaves was alike in the minds of all southern people. The treatise is a study in historical psychology; and, as in similar works by men of the type of the author, the point of view of the South and of the Confederacy is presented and the Negro and his actual employment as a soldier is neglected. The author contends that a few southern leaders attempted to force the arming of the blacks upon an unwilling southern public. He neglects the evidence contained in the action of local authorities in arming the Negroes who were free and their attitude concerning those who were slaves. He neglects also the sentiment of southern leaders who favored the measure. The Journals of the Confederate Congress, therefore, will be more valuable to those desiring information concerning the debates on this question.
[40] Journal of Congress of Confederate States, Vol. IV, p. 528 and Vol. VII, p. 595; Jones, Diary, Vol. II, p. 431.
[41] Richmond Dispatch, February 24, 1865; Jones Diary, Vol. II, p. 432.
[42] Journal of Congress of Confederate States, Vol. VII, p. 748.