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‘ [540] of the wrongs which justified the revolt from Great Britain, the climax of atrocity was deemed to be reached only when the English monarch was denounced as having incited domestic insurrection against us.’ President Davis did not favor any general arming of the slaves for the duty of soldiers. The white man of the South who was accustomed to bear arms should be in the army and the negro accustomed to labor should be employed in that species of service. ‘But,’ said he, ‘should the alternative ever be presented of subjugation or the employment of the slave as a soldier there seems no reason to doubt what should then be our decision.’ Mr. Davis made a further remark in this message of November, 1864, which exhibits the trend of his own thoughts and the views of others like himself who were then contemplating the possibility that slavery would finally be discontinued. Referring to the freedom that could thus be acquired through military service by at least forty thousand able-bodied young negro men, he said: ‘The social and political question which is exclusively under the control of the several States has a far wider and more enduring importance than that of pecuniary interests. In its manifold phase it embraces the stability of our republican institutions, resting on the actual political equality of all citizens, and includes the fulfillment of the task which has been so happily begun, that of Christianizing and improving the condition of the Africans who have by the will of Providence been placed in our charge. Comparing the results of our own experience with those of the experience of others who have borne similar relations to the African race, the people of the several States of the Confederacy have abundant reason to be satisfied with the past and use the greatest circumspection in determining their course.’ Congress proceeded to legislate so as to remove the evils of exemptions and details; also to authorize and regulate sequestration and to provide for raising revenue by direct
Atlanta, Ga. 1899.
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