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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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The Great Slave Uprising of 1862 Its not particuly clear what the total numbers of blacks
(slaves and freemen) in the confederate states during the American Civil War
were. However, in most parts of the
confederate interior, blacks out-numbed whites by a considerable margin.
This could offer opportunity for the blacks to better their lot by
holding an uprising. If the civil
war was not being fought, it is unlikely that they could have won their freedom,
but with a war going on, and much of the confederate manpower being sent to the
front, they might have a chance. The
other factor that might affect this is the small number of ‘unionists’ in
each state. These were people who
saw the whole civil war as being a ‘rich man’s war, poor man’s fight’
and resented it. They were
sometimes persecuted and therefore hated the confederacy. We need a trigger for the uprising.
Lets hypotizise a black preacher (we’ll call him Jackson) who travels
in secret along the ‘underground railroad’, preaching about a sign from God
that will show them when its time to claim their freedom.
When Lincoln signs the Emancipation proclamation, it is taken as a sign
to revolt. The slaves are unarmed, but they can fix that by attacking
their owners’ houses and taking their guns.
They will probably kill their overseers and burn the plantations.
Some of the confederate cities will be burned or damaged at the slaves
revolt. If the plantations are
destroyed, the wealth of the people with the most interest in the war will be
wiped out. If that happens, the
confederate ecomany may collapse completely. The confederate authorities will have to call troops back
from the front to fight the uprising. When
they do that, they will probably ask the US general for a truce to solve their
slave problem first. I don’t
think that any US general will agree to that, Lincoln won’t let them, so the
CSA will have to leave the troops at the front. Some of the confederate citizens will see that the CSA
can’t protect them and will start forming militia’s of their own.
They won’t have much guns, there were never enough anyway, but nether
will their black opponents. Richmond, and Jefferson Davis, sees this development with
concern, but their instructions are increasingly ignored. Support for the war drops heavily. In the confederate army, the soldiers are growing restless.
Their farms and homes are under attack by slaves, while their masters
keep them fighting fellow Americans. The
result is inevitable, mutinies and desertion.
Large parts of the army simply melt away.
Davis increases the punishments for desertion, but as most of the army is
doing that, his words fall on deaf ears. While
trying to prevent some men leaving, general Lee is shot by a single soldier.
He escapes and the army completely dissolves. The US army cannot believe its luck, but advances slowly
against Richmond. As the city is
practically under siege, as the CSA starts a civil war within a civil war, the
US army finds itself acting more as a peace-keeping force. On July 12, 1863, the American Civil war comes to a
practical end as the various confederate states secede from what remains of the
confederate government and rejoin the US, asking only for protection against the
slaves. General Grant sends some of
the US Black regiments to keep order, as he thinks that they will be fair minded
in an almost completely devastated south. They try their best, but some of them supply the black rebels
with guns and ammo to help them out. Lincoln
asks Frederick Douglas if he would agree to meet Jackson and negocate a peace
offer. Jackson’s demands are
simple:
Lincoln, much to the disgust of the south, which is near collapse, agrees to these terms. The slaves are truly free, or are they? |
