"Under the Rebel Lash": Black Prisoners of War in Confederate Alabama and Georgia
Presentation Type
Event
Location
Columbus State University
Start Date
3-11-2022 9:30 AM
Description
My research follows more than 1,600 United States Colored Troops hailing primarily from Georgia and Alabama who fell into Confederate hands during the American Civil War. These men faced severe consequences as they became forced laborers in Confederate prisons and camps at places like Andersonville and Mobile. In the eyes (and under the laws) of Confederates, formerly enslaved men who joined the U.S.C.T. could no more throw off the shackles of white ownership than could an escaped horse or cow. Confederates re-enslaved the vast majority of Black men who became prisoners of war during the American Civil War. Black POWs, however, challenged the boundaries of race through their knowledge of the law, deception, role-playing, the use of hidden transcripts, and communal support.
"Under the Rebel Lash": Black Prisoners of War in Confederate Alabama and Georgia
Columbus State University
My research follows more than 1,600 United States Colored Troops hailing primarily from Georgia and Alabama who fell into Confederate hands during the American Civil War. These men faced severe consequences as they became forced laborers in Confederate prisons and camps at places like Andersonville and Mobile. In the eyes (and under the laws) of Confederates, formerly enslaved men who joined the U.S.C.T. could no more throw off the shackles of white ownership than could an escaped horse or cow. Confederates re-enslaved the vast majority of Black men who became prisoners of war during the American Civil War. Black POWs, however, challenged the boundaries of race through their knowledge of the law, deception, role-playing, the use of hidden transcripts, and communal support.
