afford you double security. That they would make
good soldiers, I have not the least doubt; and I
am persuaded the State has it not in its power to
give sufficient re-enforcements without incorporating them either to secure the country if the enemy
mean to act vigorously upon an offensive plan or
furnish a force sufficient to dispossess them of
Charleston should it be defensive.”
This spirit of bargaining, more or less carefully carried out, can be seen in every time of stress and war. During the Civil War certain groups of Negroes sought repeatedly to make terms with the Confederacy. Judah Benjamin said at a public meeting in Richmond in 1865:
“We have 680,000 blacks capable of bearing arms and who ought now to be in the field. Let us now say to every Negro who wishes to go into the ranks on condition of being free, go and fight —you are free. My own Negroes have been to me and said, ‘Master, set us free and we’ll fight for you.’ You must make up your minds to try this or see your army withdrawn from before your town. I know not where white men can be, found.”[1]
Robert E. Lee said: “We should not expect slaves to fight for prospective freedom when they can secure it at once by going to the enemy in
- ↑ Wilson, pp. 491-92.
