Newspaper Page Text
November, 1961
WOLVERINE OBSERVER
Page Seven
BOOK REVIEW
Negro: Important Factor
In Civil War Events
Quarles, Benjamin. The Negro in the Civil War. Boston: Lit
tle Brown, 1953.
Reviewed By REVISH WINDHAM
In the “Negro in the Civil War,” Benjamin Quarles gives
a report on the role of the Negro in the Civil War. After
reading the book and re-reading it, I was amazed at some of
the things I learned. There were several important roles
played by the Negro. In fact, as | time before the Negro was found
Quarles states in the book, without 1 to be useful as a spy and a soldier.
the Negro the war never would
have been won by the North.
In this well-written and inform
ative book, Mr. Quarles takes one
from the very beginning of slavery
and the war, its purpose, and main
events, until the very end. Along
the way he mentions several state
ments made by various persons,
Negro slaves, freemen, govern
ment officials, contrabands — a
group of slaves who escaped across
the Union line, and newspaper
publications.
The Civil War came after the
Revolutionary War which was
fought in the name of certain in
alienable rights, and America thus
became a symbol of those human
freedoms. The Civil War thus en
larged the compass of American
democracy. For “when the smoke
lifted from the battlefield, gone
was a disfigurement that had em
barrassed the country since the
days of the Founding Fathers.”
To the Negro, President Lincoln
was a living Moses who came to
free the black people from bond
age, although it was quite some
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There was even a proposal to col
onize the colored people outside of
the United States. Many Negroes
felt this was a great idea, while
others felt differently. John Mer
cer Langston, a Negro, said “The
duty of the colored man to de
fend his country (the U.S.), when
ever, wherever and in whatever
form, is the same with that of the
white men. It does not depend on,
nor is it affected by, what the
country pays. The true way to se
cure her rewards and win her con
fidence is not to stipulate for them,
but to deserve them.” Negroes
further said that this was their
native country: they belonged
here, they had as strong attach
ment to the hills, valleys, plains,
luxuriant forests, flowing streams,
mighty rivers, and lofty mountains,
as any other people.
The Civil War was waged in the
name of preserving the union, and
from this came the American ex
periment in democracy and the end
of chattel slavery in the South.
The abolition of slavery had be
come a national goal only in the
later stages of the war.
Thus the Negro began playing
important roles: first for noncom
batant service in the Army as
waiters, teamsters; for building
forts and digging entrenchments.
As General A. Doubleday said,
“much valuable information which
could not be obtained from any oth
er source came from contrabands.”
Negroes were finally enlisted into
the armed services to increase
military strength for the Union
Army.
There was not any hatred in the
hearts of the Negroes but a spirit
of forgiving and forgetting. They
fought for a cause, freedom. Life
had taught the Negro to pity.
There was not a single instance of
shirking. When asked to leave the
country, by Lincoln and Congress,
one Negro said, “The children of
the black man have enriched the
soil by their tears and sweat and
blood. Sir, we were born here and
here we choose to remain. For this
they fought and gave invaluable
services.
The slaves and free Negroes on
the home front revealed their de
sires to be a part of the fight by
the manner in which they assisted
Union soldiers who had escaped
from Rebel prisons. As a New York
Tribune special war correspondent
said, “God bless the.Negroes; say
I, with earnest lips . . . we never
made an appeal to them they did
not answer. These Negroes gave
marked assistance, for they knew
of underground railroads, bypaths,
short cuts, where Confederate sol
diers would be and where the
Union soldiers would be. They
gave, sometimes, their last to the
soldiers.”
In the final chapters the re
porters and generals and other
government officers actually give
a full picture of these courageous
people. “The Negro soldiers had
already proven their courage and
heroism on the field of battle, and
on this even memorable day they
made manifest to the world their
superiority in honor and humanity.
These words describe the Negi*o in
the latter days of victory.
Then, the author’s purpose in
writing this book was to confine
OBSERVER QUEEN AND HER ATTENDANTS
himself to statements from sources
that pass muster as to scientific
scholarship; to show the rich and
varied role of the black man in the
war which was the turning point in
his life, and the major battles the
Negro helped to fight and the
courage that he maintained. These
and many other features are shown
throughout the book.
It was during the time of the
war that such songs as “My Coun
try ’Tis of Thee” and “Battle
Hymn of the Republic” were writ
ten. Not every Negro who was on
the battlefield was male. Many
women helped as nurses, spies,
cooks and many others performed
helpful tasks. Such were Lucy
Carter, Harriet Tubman, Susie
King Taylor, Sojourner Truth and
many others. Many contributed
money to the raising of funds for
the flags, clothes, food and well
being of the slaves and other sol
diers.
Mr. Quarles treats his material,
which was collected from various
places, as objectively as possible.
He has well documented this book
and written it in clear semi-narra
tive style. However, there are
times when he tends to get away
from the subject. This I can for
give and admire because it helps
to understand what the black peo
ple’s thoughts were like and why
they had a very similar purpose
in mind.
The Negro in the Civil War is a
timely and well-written book. It’s
one that reveals the too little
known facts about the Negro’s j
role in the Civil War. For this rea- j
son, and many others, I highly
praise Mr. Quarles for writing such
a wonderful book. It’s a book that
should be read and devoured by all
people throughout the nation.
together by acquainting them with
the aims, ideals, and beliefs of
each other and by keeping them
up to date on the happenings of
each campus.
The aim of Spelman College is
to provide, within limited scope
and with a relatively small num
ber of students, a good cultural
exchange program equal to any
that is available in any college of
liberal arts. To that end, emphasis
is placed on courses in fundamental
subjects in the humanities, science,
languages, and the fine arts. Atti
tude toward life is considered of
more importance than the mere
acquisition of knowledge. Knowl
edge must be lighted with insight
if the student is to relate her
learning to the facts and realities
of life; and it must encompass
practical application, straight,
courageous thinking with honesty,
clean living, thorough-going mas
tery of the task in hand, kindness
and helpfulness to one’s neighbor,
on the campus or in the communi
ty.
Every member of the Spelman
family works toward this goal.
This is already evident, even
though it is still early in the year.
For example, on October 22, Alirio
Diaz, a classic guitarist, appeared
hei'e in concert. This was the first
program of its type to be held in
the Atlanta University Center. As
most of you know, Dr. Howard
Zinn, Chairman of the Social
Science Department at Spelman, is
head of the new Non-western Stud
ies Program here in the Center.
Incidentally, Spelman is actively
engaged in exchange programs.
Peace, War,
Colonialism
By APOLLO WAKIAGA
Today the strength of the forces
of peace is greater than ever be
fore. Year by year, the forces fight
ing for peace unite even broader
sections of the population of the
most varied political and ideologi
cal conceptions. The success
achieved by the national freedom
movement in the countries of Asia,
Africa, and Latin America direct
ed against colonialism and im
perialism is a great contribution to
the struggle for the safe-guarding
of peace. The ever increasing num
ber of the neutral peace-loving
states are taking an active stand
in the fight for lessening interna
tional tension and against the
preparations for the third world
war. This has strengthened the de
termination of all peaceful people
to defend peace and assure a hap
pier future for mankind.
Again, the fight for peace is
recognized today as one of the
most important features of the
neutral nations’ meetings at Bel
grade. These nations have raised
their voices demanding disarma
ment, the banning of nuclear
weapons and their testing, the
withdrawal of troops from foreign
territories, respect for national
sovereignity, demanding that an
end be put to colonial wars, the
cessation of Colonialist provoca
tions, the liquidation of military
bases and pacts, and the deciding
of controversial international ques
tions by negotiations.
I would like to draw the atten
tion to one of the continuous dan
gers of war. The gravest and most
immediate danger to peace is the
existence of Colonialism in some
parts of Africa today, the source
of wars of oppression as in Angola
and Algeria, and permanent ex
ploitation in Mozambrique, Kenya
and Central Africa. Therefore, the
fight for peace is intimately re
lated to the fight against Colonial
ism as far as it represents a source
of cold war.
The failure of the disarmament
discussion to find a positive solu
tion on dirarmament, the continua
tion of the war in Algeria and
super atomic tests by the Russians,
all create tension in the world
and represent a new world dan
ger! On these bases, the neutral
nations which for themselves are
comparatively armless do have
something to remind the armed na
tions to participate in safeguard
ing peace through a persistent
ceaseless fight that demands
permanent vigilance and unity of
all mankind.
Spelman News
I am happy to announce that J
this year something is going to
be done about forming closer ties
between the students in the At
lanta University Center. Even
though there are convocations
scattered throughout the school
year, the women at Spelman
seldom get the chance to develop
close relationships with other stu
dents in the Center, especially with
Morris Brown students.
For a long time, the student
leaders in the Center have been
trying to find a way to close this
gap between the schools. This year, |
the first real step toward reaching j
that goal is being initiated in the j
form of an exchange column to be |
conducted between the Morris
Brown Wolverine and the Spelman
Spotlight. Through these columns,
we hope to bring the schools closer
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