UPDATE: Just to be clear, when I reference Spencer 'following' JCW to war I am doing so fully aware that the master-slave relationship was defined by coercion. Spencer had NO choice but to accompany JCW.
Good story. Even the most self-proclaimed benevolent slave owners couldn’t understand the desire for freedom. It is a shame we don’t have better accounts from those who accompanied their owners as servants and laborers. Their stories, and what the war meant to them, would be fascinating.
It's incredibly frustrating. I included a couple accounts in my book SEARCHING FOR BLACK CONFEDERATES, but even in those cases it looks like they were dictated to Confederate officers.
UPDATE: Just to be clear, when I reference Spencer 'following' JCW to war I am doing so fully aware that the master-slave relationship was defined by coercion. Spencer had NO choice but to accompany JCW.
Good story. Even the most self-proclaimed benevolent slave owners couldn’t understand the desire for freedom. It is a shame we don’t have better accounts from those who accompanied their owners as servants and laborers. Their stories, and what the war meant to them, would be fascinating.
It's incredibly frustrating. I included a couple accounts in my book SEARCHING FOR BLACK CONFEDERATES, but even in those cases it looks like they were dictated to Confederate officers.