The Negro in the Civil War - Paperback

"The Civil War was a revolution in many ways," writes Benjamin Quarles in this renowned work. "But on one point there is common agreement: without slavery there would have been no resort to arms. Hence the slave was the key factor in the war. But the Negro's tale was not merely a passive one; he did not tarry in the wings, hands folded. He was an active member of the cast, prominent in the dramatis personae. To him freedom was a two-way street; indeed he gave prior to receiving."

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Quarles writes powerfully about the role of three-and-a-half million blacks in the South, who were impressed into non-combatant service building forts and entrenchments, working in factories and mines. In the North, black Americans fought with distinction on the front lines, shedding blood for an ideal-emancipation-that was cruelly betrayed during Reconstruction.