Chapter 2: Confederate Racial Policies 1862-1918
It is no secret that the past of the Confederacy is mired in the blood of slaves and second-class citizens, almost exclusively made up of those of African descent. It is shameful to look and think about now, but we cannot ignore the fact that it did happen. While the War of Secession was fought over states' rights, a large part of those Southern rights were the right to own slaves. Winning the war allowed us to keep them as slaves until the Manumission of 1882, which saw the African-Confederate population "freed" but they remained slaves in all but name. They were required to carry passbooks at all times, were largely restricted to the cities and plantations, and were paid substantially less than whites.
It remained this way even into the Great War. For the first year and a half the black population of the Confederacy remained as it always did: subservient to the white population. Even those in the military were relegated to labor battalions. While Negroes could get jobs that were previously held only by whites, such as factory worker, this was understood to be a temporary measure; once the war ended, they would step down to allow returning soldiers their jobs back, and return to working the cotton fields and other menial labor jobs.
This changed when in mid 1915 when C.S. Army authorities, tipped off from reliable sources, made thousands of arrests of Negroes ranging from officers' servants to farm laborers. This would be the first of many arrest waves that apprehended Socialist/Communist "Red" inclined Negroes. Many of those arrested were in fact cell leaders or suppliers of weapons and supplies. Apprehending these key figures before the Rebellion could begin doomed it from the start. It began as a simmering fizz rather than the roaring fire it would have been.
Not to say the Red Rebellions were put down easily, far from it, but state militia and third-tier troops were able to take care of all but the worse hot-spots, such as the Congaree Socialist Republic in South Carolina which refused to die out until early 1916. By early May of 1916 all of the "Socialist Republics" had been eliminated with the death toll estimated to be over one and thirty hundred thousand, almost eighty percent which belonged to the black population.
The Confederate Government had never before faced such a large spread rebellion before and were fearful of a second attempt. Many plans were brought forward to deal with the "Red Problem". Some were well meaning such as raising the standard of living of the black population across the board to make them more comfortable and less likely to resent. This was rejected for not solving the problem at its root. Others were not so well intentioned. Some military officers and government officials wanted to establish work camps for the "residential population" to work itself to death in the process of helping the Confederacy. This was rejected for being monstrous and taking too many scarce resources in a war of survival.
A proposition that was proposed was made by the former President Woodrow Wilson. Speaking to the new president, Gabriel Semmes, directly, the former Whig president presented a plan that could stabilize race relations between the white and black Confederate population. It called for allowing black men to volunteer in the military and after their term of service (two years or until the war was over), or if they were wounded in action, they would be granted citizenship and full rights, with the sole exception of inter-racial marriage. For those that would or could not volunteer for military service they would be allowed a few more civil rights. This ranged from public school funding for African-Confederate communities and the extension of Negro curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., the same for white children.
The addition of a Negro could own his or her own property instead of merely rent was a huge boost in establishing African-Confederate equality. As was extending the law of having police and military forces having to need a search warrant to enter an African-Confederate's household instead of barging in without cause.
When the Woodrow Wilson Proposal was announced in the Confederate Congress and transmitted to the world via newspaper and wireless the reaction was generally negative amongst the Confederate white majority-At least for a time. But that would slowly begin to change. Black soldiers, which numbered over 240,000 by war's end, served bravely and in many cases with distinction, impressed many whites that maybe one day the blacks could become more than just residents-That they could become citizens as well. While these might look like minuscule baby steps, which they in fact were, it was a vast step into the direction of Negro equality. Despite these advances in the right direction, the entire African-Confederate community would not reach full equality until the turbulent 1970s, but that is a story for another time.
In conclusion the Red Rebellions which annoyed the Confederacy from mid-autumn of 1915 to late spring of 1916 could have been much worse if not for the rapid action taken by C.S. authorities in removing the dangerous leadership elements before the Rebellions could truly begin. Despite the high loss of life on both sides, the Rebellions were instrumental in showing the white population that Negroes could and would fight to defend themselves and convinced many, either consciously or subconsciously, that it would be a far less painful and bloody route to begin giving civil rights and extending liberties to better unify the country in the long run.