ePub Bitter Fruits of Bondage: The Demise of Slavery and the Collapse of the Confederacy; 1861–1865 (Carter G. Woodson Institute Series) by Armstead L. Robinson in History

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Chuckster42great23 of 23 people found the following review helpful. Review from New Orleans Times-Picayune; February 20; 2005By reviewerIn 1861; the Washington Artillery left New Orleans to join the Confederacy in Richmond. This elite company; whose ranks included members of some of the Crescent City's most prominent slaveholding families; did not travel alongside other Louisiana volunteers. Instead; they rode to Richmond aboard a special train that "carried a chest of gold donated by doting relatives." In Virginia; they dined separately from poor enlisted men on delicacies prepared by Edouard; a cook borrowed from a fine New Orleans restaurant. "Ah! He was magnifique;" unit member William Miller Owen remembered. "His dishes were superb; the object of adoration of all the visitors who did not enjoy the luxury of French cuisine in their own camps."In "Bitter Fruits of Bondage;" Armstead Robinson notes that the members of the Washington Artillery were not alone. Other slaveholders claimed similar privileges. Some also dined in separate mess tents where their slaves prepared meals with ingredients paid for by the mess tents' "members". Many brought personal servants who attended to laundry and other chores. And slaveholders were far more likely to made officers than non-slaveholders. But rather than being "the object of adoration" of those who did not enjoy such perks; the slaveholders' privileges caused dissension. In an army where poor yeoman farmers did most of the fighting; Robinson asserts; the slaveholders' inegalitarian behavior fatefully undermined the army's esprit de corps.By 1862; according to Robinson; animosity between slaveholders and yeoman increased exponentially. The Confederate congress instituted a draft that exempted overseers on plantations with twenty or more slaves from service. The draft law also allowed wealthy men to buy their way out of the war by paying for a substitute to fight in their stead. Confederate leaders justified these measures by citing the need to maintain order and discipline on plantations. Some planters and overseers; they claimed; needed to man the homefront or chaos would ensue. But many non-slaveholders remained unconvinced. They began to view the conflict as a "rich man's war and a poor man's fight." These yeoman joined up initially; Robinson argues; to defend their homes and because they feared the results of emancipation. But as the war ground on and wealthy planters appeared not to be carrying their share of the burden; many poor farmers began to feel that they had been duped into fighting a slaveholders' war. As class fissures grew; Robinson maintains; support for the Confederacy waned. "Bitter Fruits of Bondage" is Robinson's magnum opus; a book he had been researching and writing for over twenty years. A legendary figure in the field of African-American Studies; Robinson died unexpectedly in 1995. His widow Mildred brought the unfinished 1;200 page manuscript to the University of Virginia Press. Enlisting the editorial acumen of Barbara Fields; Eugene Genovese; and other leading scholars; the press has now shepherded the project to completion. The result is a compelling book that is sure to spark contentious debates because Robinson rejects the popular notion that the South lost the Civil War only because it lacked the manpower and industrial might of the North. He notes that the colonists in the American Revolution and the Vietnamese who fought the French and the United States in the 20th century persevered despite even greater odds. Instead; he attributes the comparatively swift collapse of the Confederacy to the debilitating effects of slavery and class conflict. Although Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens called slavery "the cornerstone of the Confederacy;" Robinson argues that the "peculiar institution" undermined the Confederate war effort from the outset. After Fort Sumter; slaveowners feared that their slaves might view the war as an opportunity to revolt. Rumors of plots and insurrections swirled in Louisiana's Tensas Parish; Mississippi's Jefferson County; and throughout the South. To prevent uprisings; dissident state Governors like Georgia's Joseph Brown refused to turn over weapons seized from federal arsenals to the Confederate government in Richmond and; instead; armed their state militias and slave patrols. As a result; over 200;000 Confederate volunteers had no weapons in the war's early stages. If armed; those men might have allowed Confederate generals to follow the rout at First Bull Run with an invasion of Washington that may have brought the war to an immediate close. The selfish behavior of individual slaveowners also undermined the war effort. Planters proved reluctant to lend their slaves to the Confederate army. Robinson attributes key defeats in the West; including the fall of Forts Donelson and Henry; to poorly-constructed fortifications that could have been strengthened by slave labor. Reports also circulated that many planters continued to use their land and slaves to grow profitable cash crops like cotton even as food shortages caused women to riot in Richmond and Confederate soldiers to starve. While planters reaped profits; many yeoman found "that they were expected to fight to save slavery and to replace with their own bodies slaveholders and overseers who avoided military service."As non-slaveholders' disgruntlement grew; Robinson argues; many simply quit fighting. In 1863; Jefferson Davis warned the Confederate Congress that one-third of the army had deserted. Louisiana Governor Henry Allen reported a "terrible state of affairs" noting that there were over 8;000 deserters in the city of Alexandria alone. By September 1864; almost three-fourths of Confederate soldiers were absent without leave. Today; Alabama is called the "Heart of Dixie." But during the Civil War; northern Alabama was roiling with anti-war dissent and was home to secret organizations like the Order of the Heroes of America who met Confederate draft officials with violence. Resistance also flourished in East Texas; East Tennessee; northern Louisiana; Arkansas; and the upcountry of Georgia; the Carolinas; and Mississippi. Many southern yeomen even fought for the Union. An estimated 104;000 white southerners eventually served in the Union Army. Black southerners also helped bring down the Confederacy. Slaves provided crucial intelligence to Union scouts and spies; sabotaged the work on plantations; and freed themselves by running to northern lines when the federal army drew near. Over 170;000 former slaves donned Union blue and fought against their former masters.Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis acknowledged the significant contributions African-American soldiers made to the northern war effort. In the desperate; final weeks of the conflict; Robinson notes; the Confederates abandoned their doomed nation's founding principles and made a surreal effort to recruit their own black regiments. Because "Bitter Fruits of Bondage" was so long in the making; many readers will already be familiar with some of Robinson's central arguments. The important role the slaves played by fleeing to Union lines; for example; is by now an oft-told tale. But there is also much here that is as fresh today as the day it was written. Robinson's forceful prose; meticulous research; and command of the subject; make this an important book. He provides powerful evidence to refute those who argue that all white southerners; slaveholder and non-slaveholder alike; supported the Confederate cause until its last moments. Because of slavery and its discontents; Robinson contends; the Confederacy began to unravel even before the first battle was fought.16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. A Dedicated Historian's Final TestamentBy ChimonshoThe late Armstead Robinson was a gifted; committed scholar. Writing apparently did not come easily to him; his mountain of data; painstaking methods and final illness delayed this book's appearance til after his passing. This long-awaited posthumous revision of his PhD thesis took years to complete; but is worth the wait. A wealth of detail supports his findings on the scope of resistance and internal dissent in the Confederacy. While it is not the last word on this subject; it advances debate in numerous ways. One key question concerns African American participants in the Southern cause. They mostly contributed under duress; had close social ties to white neighbors or were wealthy slaveowners themselves. This important issue deserves fuller treatment. Black rebels were an interesting phenomenon; but the tiny percentages of willing volunteers made them statistically insignificant. Most of the book focuses on Southern whites anyway; making an convincing argument for the scale and importance of anti-Confederate opposition. Neo-Confederate reviewers dishonor the memory of a dedicated historian who cannot defend his work against distortions. 25 years ago L. Litwack's "Been In The Storm So Long" revealed slaves' hatred of the Confederacy and ardent welcome of freedom. W. Jordan; "Tumult Silence at Second Creek" tells how Mississippi planters brutally crushed a major wartime slave conspiracy. W. Freehling; "The South Vs. the South" is a concise survey of divisions in the Confederacy.