Were There Really BLACK CONFEDERATES???!!! - Historian Reaction

[@tjose7660]

Chicory is actually a pretty purple wildflower. They dried and ground the roots to make coffee substitute. It grows everywhere here in Vermont and every year I tell myself I'm going to try and brew some for myself. Maybe this will be the year!

[@kakyoin9688]

Do it and I’ll send you like a buck. Like legit

[@tjose7660]

@@kakyoin9688 I may hold you to that depending on how foul it tastes!

[@msspi764]

Chicory remains a common coffee addition in New Orleans. I drink it every morning.

[@trentonebel9088]

My brethren have called…assemble your drinking horns

[@jonnybyrne989]

As an Irish bloke I fully agree 👍

[@mitchclubb8862]

Can I say the moment you unpause after saying “where do people get these things to say” and Johnny Reb sourcing a Facebook meme is the absolute pinnacle of comedic timing.

[@JamesSmith-ny2gb]

One of those guys in the meme is a Dave Chapelle character that’s called “the black white supremacist”

[@stevepest4143]

There's good evidence to support black confederate soldiers..not sure why that's so controversial. Jews fought in nazi Germanysl's army too.

[@JannahPursuit]

​​@@Al-RudigorWhat do you mean? At the beginning he said the video was brilliant lmao

[@pokemaster123ism]

Like how in the States Rights episode he says “there it is” after Billy Yank tells out “to own slaves”, with Johnny Reb saying the exact same thing right after VTH

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

800

[@TheHistoryUnderground]

As someone who deals with crazy comments on a regular basis, that was the most genius intro ever.

[@TheMasonK]

“Booze makes everything more healthy.” As a Wisconsinite I fully support this message.

[@kringle7804]

As both a German and French person I also agree

[@Charlie-ej2iu]

Only thing better than cheese is beer and cheese 🧀 🍺. Go pack go

[@kringle7804]

@@Charlie-ej2iu as a French person I agree

[@silverstudios6916]

“Booze never killed anyone” - Michael Scott

[@TJDious]

"CHECKMATE!" -Wisconinite

[@civilwarguy4740]

“He used a piece of gold to buy whiskey, which he used to buy a bottle of whiskey” A better sentence has not been constructed

[@marcforget33]

Of whiskey purchases of used gold in a bottle for sale of purchase that he did.

[@Longshanks1690]

33:00 “If slaves will make good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong.” Howell Cobb coming in to deliver the single greatest self-burn of the nineteenth century. 😂

[@blagageorge3824]

what i find most funny about that is that freed slaves DID prove good soldiers...in the Union, helping to bring the CSA down.

[@lesalbro8880]

This shows that at least for many, the fear of their "superiority" being proven to be a sham, was greater than their fear of losing the war.

[@warlordofbritannia]

*Curb Your White Supremacy*

[@masterplokoon8803]

He was so close to understanding the truth but then chose to double down on his prejudice rather than ending that rational thought. So close yet so far.

[@blogbalkanstories4805]

Well, yes and no. Historically, slave armies are actually a pretty common thing. Mind, though, that these people were not private slaves but state slaves, and of course they were not exploited as laborers. So this is a whole different thing from arming those people you had exploited on your plantations to defend your right to further own their children. And, of course, slavery was justified in very different ways in those entities that used slave soldiers from how it was justified in the US or the Confederacy respectively. In the first case, there wasn't necessarily any notion that these slaves were inherently inferior. You enslaved them because you could, and sometimes because they had a different religion. In the latter - well, if you justify enslaving Africans with your own racial prejudices, it really disproves all your notions of them if they prove to be competent soldiers. And we can argue whether the soldiers of these armies should really be called slaves, as they are even in modern historiography. They were property of sorts, but not in the sense of what we would otherwise call a slave. It would be an interesting research project if they could be sold as individuals - which is the main feature that distinguishes a slave from a serf. If we agree to rather call them serf soldiers or serf armies - or at least servant soldiers and servant armies, that would strike me as a better description. But that's up to historians to work out. Interestingly, some of these armies served as elite units for centuries. See the Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire. And don't forget that Egypt gained its de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire when a slave army revolted and took control of the country.

[@parallax3000]

It's hard to believe that they genuinely believed that segregation was for their own good. In Louisiana, it was a massive uproar if anyone ever suggested that black schools should be funded. A great example is Huey Long. He wanted to give free textbooks to students. He had to specifically exclude funding for textbooks for black schools. My understanding is that across the south, those separate and segregated facilities were always poorly funded, rarely if ever supported, and it was a deplorable situation.

[@nomad4876]

You find that hard to believe? Have you listened to what is happening on college campuses these days? smh

[@occam7382]

Because it was never really meant to be "equal". They meant it to be, "us whites get all the good stuff, and you blacks can have whatever scraps are left, but if you dare do anything we dislike, we won't hesitate to take that away too and potentially murder you if we feel like it."

[@nomad4876]

@@occam7382 SMH You sound lost in your hatred of others. You will never be able to look at situations honestly if you don't stop making excuses for lack of achievement and put aside hatred of others. You scream racism about Terry Nichols but say nothing concerning Kelly Thomas because that is all you ever wish to see or acknowledge.

[@occam7382]

@@nomad4876, what the f*ck are you on about? I was talking about segregation. I don't know what you think I was talking about, but whatever it is, it definitely was not that.

[@nomad4876]

@@occam7382 Sorry about that. I thought this was a response to my response concerning @paralax3000 finding it hard to believe... Again my apologies.

[@mwheeler138]

I know Johnny Reb is a stereotypical cartoon character that takes the most extreme and ignorant views on the Civil War but I find him lovable. And I like that he and Billy Yank kinda have a sweet relationship. Even if Billy killed him once. 😆 Johnny Reb is my favorite character from the Atun-shei verse.

[@podemosurss8316]

Johnny Reb is the best, he's not just a cartoon character but a cartoon character AWARE that he's a cartoon character.

[@mwheeler138]

@@podemosurss8316 Right, yes. 😆

[@rickmarkell9725]

@@mwheeler138 Atun Shei does a good job but it would be even better if the Johnny Reb character was written by someone who actually supported the Southern side. It is easy to win an argument when you are presenting both sides yourself.

[@Blackstaralpha]

@@podemosurss8316 Johnny Reb: "I'm a cartoon character. Not an idiot"

[@historymarshal2704]

"I'm a cartoon character, not an idiot!" Johnny Reb, in a prior episode, I believe the one on Sherman

[@jasp3rjeep13]

6:28 Chris: Where do these people get this stuff? Johnny Reb: ... as this Facebook meme clearly demonstrates

[@Eric6761]

Time stamp please

[@Cathmoytura]

As a Southern working man, I like to remind the Southern working men who romanticize the Confederacy that we were conscripted cannon fodder for plantation plutocrats aiming to increase their wealth. Tell me why I shouldn't hate all symbols of the Confederacy that would have marched me off to die?

[@Beuwen_The_Dragon]

And the Union conscripts whom were taken from their homes to kill their southern neighbors weren’t cannon fodder?

[@Eric6761]

That is wild, people who are proud of their guverment and military when the guverment wouldn't second guess take you to a Battlefield and sacrifice them

[@Deadener]

Less than 20% of the Confederate army were conscripts. The ones who enlisted were fully aware of the Confederacy's purpose to protect and expand slavery. We know this because they wrote about it in their diaries and letters. For many of them, it was their primary motivation for enlisting. The reason poor Southerners cared about slavery, was because it wasn't just an economic issue. It was also an issue of social hierarchy. A hierarchy that the South would attempt to maintain for over a hundred years after the war. But don't let that stop you from hating the Confederacy. It's a disgusting stain on the history of our nation.

[@Cathmoytura]

@@Deadener A self-serving "hierarchy" invented and promoted by the same plantation plutocrats. I'm well aware that there were volunteers in the Confederate military, especially at the beginning. Some bought the propaganda. Some wanted adventure. Some saw war as an opportunity for social mobility. Some felt socially-pressured to join. Some felt they had no better economic prospects. In the end all the Southern working men were through manipulation or conscription fighting and dying to help enrich a few rich guys. ... That's not the worst crime of the Confederacy, but is among them.

[@Deadener]

@@Cathmoytura Implying every soldier was somehow tricked or forced to fight for the Confederacy, and there's no other options, is a massive cope that is contradicted by mountains of evidence. Namely, the words of the soldiers themselves in their diaries and letters. Social hierarchy was not invented by rich people. It's a core component of sociopolitical ideology in EVERY person. I know it's hard to believe that there really were working class men who picked up a rifle and risked their life in the name of slavery and white supremacy. But they did. Whether you're willing to accept that or not, is another story, I guess. Trying to relinquish them of responsibility for their own ideology, is disingenuous. A cope, and nothing more.

[@JV-the-Tossh]

Yeah, fun fact: Chicory was also infamous as coffee replacement during WW2 in Denmark. Probably other places too, but being Danish I can only confirm that country.

[@blogbalkanstories4805]

Interesting. German ersatz coffee was mainly made from acorns, I think.

[@JV-the-Tossh]

@@blogbalkanstories4805 Well, I mean, I grant you that I am not 100% certain, but given the pinned comment mentioning the Chicory is the root of a wildflower, and the fact that I know Danish coffee replacement was made from something which in Danish is called "Cikorierod", I am pretty certain it's the same based on linguistic context clues, heh.

[@pharniel]

American Instant coffee was adulterated with chicory for quite some time during and after WWII. I had an uncle that would only drink certain brands, the other's didn't "taste right" - because higher quality brands had switched to being only coffee and he missed the chicory taste.

[@alanansara2190]

He didn't mention it but that proposal appalled Cleburne's fellow Confederate General's. He already had a proven record as one of the best Division commanders in the South. After proposing emancipation he was passed over for Corps command several times before his death at Franklin.

[@msspi764]

The reconstituted Louisiana Native Guard assaulted Confederate fortifications at Port Hudson in June 1863. This is generally regarded as the 2nd time black troops were in combat during the war (the first was the 8th, 9th, 11th, and 13th Louisiana of African Descent at Milliken’s Bend Louisiana, the 54th Mass was the third). So as much as you might question their motives, the 1st Louisiana Native Guard (and the 2nd) fought and died in service against the rebellion.

[@Dynnen]

As a long time viewer I am always impressed by how a reaction video about the confederacy can take at least one shot at "He who shall not be named" ❤️

[@Vanillastump]

@@night6724 ...did you watch the video? Or the video this guy is reacting to?

[@KazualBopthKatze]

@@Vanillastump Probably just watched it, the lad might be deaf tbh.

[@darthnihilus2729]

@@night6724 Literally nobody asked bozo

[@Riddle99-v7q]

@@night6724 Yeah and Santa Claus exists.

[@JediJared-bs1wt]

Trump?

[@theoldhermit2601]

VTH, it's really interesting to see you and Atun-Shei-knowledgeable teachers of history, to point out the insane misinformation that is often posted on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. Things like that "114,000 black confederate soldiers died" meme are VERY common in spaces like that, and many fall into a rabbit hole of this misinformation that their entire worldview is different from what actually happened.

[@Eric6761]

One way to spread disinformation is oddly enough the memes

[@PopeSixtusVI]

I was born at the right time to be on KZbin right when it started blowing up in 2006 and believe it or not; some of the *earliest content* on it was lost cause propaganda. I now know that they were early adopters who found out they can bypass publishers through uploading themselves.

[@SonOfExcess]

I absolutely love your channel and love your reactions to Atun-Shei content. I consider both of you some of the best history KZbinrs out there. You’ve educated me so much on the civil war - I know so much more now than I did just a year ago. My eternal thanks to yourself and Atun-Shei.

[@Wulfrygg]

The ones who keep asking why the slaves didn`t fight back and resist are generally also the ones who assure you that they would have stood against the Nazis as a German. People who really did that are 1 in a 10000.

[@MalrexMontresor]

I usually point out that from the founding of the nation to (and during) the Civil War, there had been between 250-300 slave revolts. To combat this, the South formed what they called "Vigilance Committees" and what slaves termed "Pater Rollers" to basically patrol the area between plantations, disperse any large gathering of slaves, check slaves that were travelling for permission papers, search slaves for contraband (such as weapons, unauthorized tools or abolitionist literature), help catch any escaped slaves, punish any slaves that had violated one of many Slave Codes, and eliminate any revolt or rebellion by slaves using brutal force. For this reason, slave revolts were never really successful in the South. They had too many factors against organizing that made success almost impossible. And the penalties for getting caught planning or carrying out a revolt was death, and sometimes having one's head mounted on a stake and planted on the side of major roads to deter others from thoughts of revolution. So in reality, slaves did fight back and resist. Those that did, died.

[@svarthofde2492]

Funily enough, those are the same people who never muster the courage to stand up to their bosses.

[@dinamosflams]

and they were promptly killed or enslaved because one needs a structure, logistics and organization to do anything people REEALLY need to stop watching movies about one guy vs the world

[@kahlernygard809]

Google me. I would be that 1 in a 1000. Heck what's the percent of Americans that make it on the department of homeland security no fly list 🤔

[@Michelle32218]

​@@kahlernygard809wow you must be old indeed to remember fighting the nazi takeover of Germany....Hitler took over Germany around 90 years ago. He died around 80 years ago..so to fight him on home turf and remember it you would be at least 90 and more likely 100 plus years old...yeah I'm taking my chances you never fought the nazis in Germany as a German.

[@StealthMarmot_]

Southern Slave Holder: *Takes slave to war against the army of a non-slave holding part of the country that would take in refugee slaves as free people* Slave: *Runs away from master to go to army that will take him in as a free man* Southern Slave Holder: *Surprised Pikachu Face*

[@brandonarmienti7734]

I'm a big fan Atun-Shei and I always enjoy your reactions to his videos. Even when you disagree with him on some issues.

[@nickd.9955]

Atun-Shei Films makes some of the greatest Civil War content on the site, looking forward to watch the reaction to the finale whenever it's released.

[@chesterparish3794]

History in general

[@GoobleryKu]

Where did Atun-Shei say that the next checkmate lincolnites was going to be the finale?

[@nickd.9955]

@@GoobleryKu Uhh at the very end of the last episode, right after the cliff-hanger scene it says "To Be Concluded".

[@GoobleryKu]

@@nickd.9955 I totally forgot about that

[@nickd.9955]

​@@GoobleryKu Haha it's all good man 👍

[@Ozai75]

You really have to give it up for Atun, I have no idea how he reads some of the more outrageous things that gets posted on his videos with a straight face. And that despite it obviously just being him mirroring himself how he's made both Billy and Johnny into two, distinct and strangely well rounded characters.

[@jeffreygao3956]

Episode 10 is the grand finale! I'm hoping for Johnny Reb to get a redemption arc.

[@pharniel]

For those wondering WTF at the Kenobi thing with shots at Catholics & Quakers - That's a bit of bleedover from the Witchfinder/King Phillip's War ear that is Auten's actual area of historical expertise. His "I fucked up" video where he covers the mistakes from his King Phillip's War video is an excellent example of correcting errors and oversights from earlier work, especially when most were just being new and not understanding what you were doing.

[@ladyagnes7781]

I still don't get it and why would he be picking on Quakers and Catholics who have very different belief systems

[@puchy110]

@@ladyagnes7781in the series of the Witchfinder general, he is parodying the Puritans who greatly disliked the Quakers and Catholics back in England.

[@David-fm6go]

33:22 Also for all those who insist that it was only the ex-Whigs interjecting Slavery into the Southern cause, Howell Cobb was a Jacksonian Democrat before the War. Here he is basically echoing ex-Whig Alexander Stephens' cornerstone speech. "If slaves make good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong" and explicitly ties it in with the fate of "The revolution", which is to say secession and the confederacy.

[@Deadener]

Honestly, Razorfist was the first person I've ever heard spout that conspiracy. Easily one of the weakest and most bizarre arguments from that dumpster fire he calls a video. That's probably why he glossed over the conclusion of that "argument" so quickly. He literally had nothing other than "well they were in the same party sort of, so they must be conspiring".

[@zekdom]

@@DeadenerAbsolutely. Before Razorfist, I have never heard that claim.

[@IndyRead]

Must be a relief to go back to Atun-Shei after suffering through the nutcase that is Razorfist.

[@exittomenu]

every time you upload a new reaction to this series i always end up rewatching your whole series on it i love the extra prism you provide, i think its valuable especially in history for the commentary format to exist a good source is good, but extra corroboration or even contention is equally as valuable to a sharper image you do good work

[@Gravelgratious]

Chris you will love Andy’s videos on the King Phillips War. He shoots on location and provides excellent information.

[@blackjack90631]

This is by far my favorite channel to watch. And that's specifically for the reactions!

[@Xernvalt]

So glad you got around to doing this Chris! Always love watching your breakdowns

[@FinbarGallagher]

I was wondering if you'd do this one, Chris, I figured this was one of the more "Open and Shut" of the Checkmate Lincolnites episodes for most of us and that there wouldn't be much point discussing it further. Still, I'm absolutely not complaining.

[@Westernfan444]

I have a story about chicory coffee. I'm from the South (north GA to be precise), and my father had to have Luzianne coffee because it contains chicory. His father drank chicory coffee as well, as did his father and his father who developed a taste for it in the Civil War. My great great grandfather passed a love for it down the family line. I broke that line though because I HATE all coffee including coffee ice cream. I'm a tea girl. Southern sweet tea or Earl Grey with lemon and honey are my preferences. My mother couldn't stand the chicory coffee; so, we always had two coffee makers going in the morning.

[@podemosurss8316]

34:29 In Spain we see that on our political discourse a lot because there is a writing by a bishop from the early middle ages that talks about the "beauties of Spain", and some use it to say that the current political entity of Spain dates to at least back then, while in reality it's just that the term (España, coming from Latin Hispania) existed back then, and it was used as a geographical term refering to the Iberian peninsula.

[@David-fm6go]

25:14 I know it might be difficult because of how most of them are structured (i.e. responding to contemporary questions with 17th century Puritan answers), but considering your background, I would love to see your reaction to the "Witchfinder General Series".

[@willthegeek1815]

Cleburne is extraordinary exception because of the influences in his life, his Anglican Parents supported Catholic emancipation in Ireland. Also while living in Mallow county Cork working as an apprentice physician, Mallow was a hotbed for Irish Nationalism, because of Daniel O'Connell political rallies. Then Cleburne joined the British army because he failed his entry exam into the medical school in Dublin in 1846 which is also during the potato plight, so he was being stationed in Barracks protecting corn and grain and he would have have seen his fellow Irish people starving. These were the influences that made Cleburne the exception.

[@Killerbee4712]

Oppressed man sympathizes with the oppressed people, shocker. (I'm not trying to be demeaning, im just saying Cleburne was able to sympathize with slaves cause the irish were basically slaves too under the british)

[@willthegeek1815]

@@Killerbee4712 Well I can't disagree.

[@robertthebruce7176]

Weren't most southerners indifferent to slavery???? Like most slaves were owned by a small number of wealthy people.

[@Killerbee4712]

@@robertthebruce7176 Slaves were owned by 2 classes of people: Plantation slavers and servant slavers. The former were less in number, but owned more slaves overall. They were the big elites that had whole crews of slaves picking cotton each day. Servant slavers usually had 1 or 2 family slaves, whom mostly acted as housemaids/personal helpers in their daily lives. In total, these slavers accounted about 30% of the southern population. The rest, while not every single southerner, did have strong sympathies to slavers and many were definitely in favour/contempt with their continued enslavement of blacks. Its a common misconception to say "oh well bc only some elites had slaves, majority of southerners didnt fight for slaves therefore south not fight war for slavery!!" I'm not saying all southerners supported or cared about slavery, but there were definitely many commoners who absolutely supported the institution, whether it affected them or not.

[@robertthebruce7176]

@@Killerbee4712 Fair.

[@trajicsolitude5791]

Hey Chris, I just wanted to say I have learnt so much about the US Civil War, Reconstruction and the overall Civil Rights movement from your and Atun Shei's videos. The Civil war is not covered in Scottish education (for obvious reasons) but we did somewhat cover the civil rights movements in a general sense. The journey of learning i have embarked apon over the last few years has been extreemly facinating and has changed and challenged many conceptions i had about US and world history so thank you for sharing your passion for history with us.

[@blogbalkanstories4805]

It's a shame we don't really learn much about in schools in Europe. The Civil War had a profound impact on European history as well. Had the US lost the war, democracy would have been largely discredited as a political concept for a very long time.

[@David-fm6go]

5:13 The thing about most of the obfuscation is that it doesn't actually get away from the slavery issue once probed. Even the trade argument links right back to slavery when you examine the dynamics of the economies as I have done in previous posts.

[@michaelboggus9993]

It the Louisiana troops in question were in fact Creoles only there's more than enough evidence that the Creole people of New Orleans did in fact consider themselves to be a step above the free black and slave population of the area. In fact after reconstruction when Jim Crow set in and they were no longer considered separate from the black population in general they thought of it as a slap in the face.

[@DominionSorcerer]

They absolutely did, I would in fact recommend Atun-Shei's video on the Creoles, Kaintucks and the Culture of New Orleans if you haven't seen it yet. He lives in New Orleans and has a great amount of care for its cultural heritage and history.

[@TheUndyingCrystal]

It's a strange thing. He makes a really good point that we may never know their motivations. Greedy self preservation, or idealists fighting for a better future? We will never know for sure.

[@msspi764]

Actually the War of the Rebellion is one of the earliest that we have an idea of personal motivations since so many people who went to war were literate as were their descendants who recorded their stories. This wasn’t as consistent with African Americans because, post Reconstruction, there were reasons why someone would not want to share their true feelings with any white person. It becomes a challenge in places like Vicksburg where large numbers of USCT veterans settled after the war and rose to prominence an political power only the face retribution from White southerners in the form of violence, lynching, and murder. Just the same there were 5 Grand Army of the Republic posts in Vicksburg.

[@undertakernumberone1]

Ah, another episode of Checkmate Lincolnites! Yeeees! CHECKMATE LINCOLNITES! *Grins into Camera*

[@MaverickTF]

I realise this maybe a completely random comment to be left on a video such as this but I think it would be amazing for you to cover Rammstein's music video for their song Deutschland. The music may be a little dividing but the video itself is extremely well produced and offers some amazing imagery and representations of key moments in German history. Cannot overstate how high budget and amazingly directed it is. Not to mention the over-arcing emotional tone of the lyrics and the singer's turbulent relationship with his country. Even if you don't make a video on it I would highly recommend watching it. It should honestly be used in classrooms as a fun device for learning.

[@juanpabloperezgomez4349]

It is indeed a great video, and really needs explanations to the images to better understand it, especially for non German audiences.

[@kristofevarsson6903]

@@juanpabloperezgomez4349 I love Rammstein and the music they've made over the years, but since you mention images and needing explanations, I might ask a rhetorical question: in this era of extremely-heightened color consciousness and race-swapping, was it really necessary for Rammstein to portray Germania as a black woman? It just feels like cheap pandering and lazy ideas to me. I've loved Rammstein because for so many years they were known as boundary-pushers: Till Lindemann even explicitly uses a 30's era Prussian pronunciation and cadence in most of his vocal deliveries _specifically_ to emulate the sounds of certain other German figures from the 30s in terms of speech, _specifically_ because he wanted to get a reaction out of that. But with the Woke Mafia out in force for nearly a decade, and literally every other brand of media just making characters black to appease a bunch of ironically racist morons, it's extremely disappointing for Rammstein to stoop to that level of subjugation to the modern mind virus that is "everyone has to be black now". It'd be one thing if this song and video were released in the early 2000s when we weren't absolutely inundated with the aforementioned color consciousness and race-swapping of literally any pop-culture figure, because then it _would_ actually be original and boundary pushing, and I'd have no problem with it. But I, and *many* black voices, especially in the metal scene but in other genres and film too, are getting tired of the cheap pandering. I want to see Rammstein push the limit on what should be socially acceptable (like _that one_ music video with the lewd acts being performed) and actually invoke controversy like they've sought out to do, not just do what everyone else is already doing. The Holocaust shots in the video? Great, love them, very emotional and stark reminders. The Roman invasion shots? Fantastic, Rome vs Barbarians is a classic matchup in every sense of the word, not too played out. But portraying Germania as a black woman when in the Germanic culture it's always been referred to as the Fatherland, and Germans aren't sub-Saharan Africans but pale-skinned Indo-Europeans? The Inverse Scenario answers why that's a problem: imagine someone like Lil' Wayne or Labi Siffre or Living Color or any other prominent black artist writing a culturally significant song about Africa and being an African descendant in America, but portraying all the African countries that they hail from as a bunch of white people? Would that shit fly in the African-American community? Hell, would it even fly to reasonable people completely divorced from the racially-charged climate of the modern day? No, and rightfully so: people should be portrayed by their own - something the Woke Mob was adamant about in the mid-2010s with all the booming Netflix and Hulu originals coming out. It makes sense why they feel that way, because it's a natural feeling. But even beyond all that, we - nobody - should have to stoop themselves or feel pressured or forced into stooping to recoloring people for no other reason than to make certain groups of people feel good while not actually solving any problems. Black Velma and Shaggy isn't gonna end racism, black Germania isn't gonna end racism, black James Bond or black Spider-Man or black Anne Boleyn isn't going to end racism. Blackening characters from history and fiction, whether in music or film, isn't going to do anything to address any of the problems surrounding racism - it's just a cheap corporate move to do the absolute bare minimum with such low-yield results that the _very next thing_ has to turn out the exact same way over and over and over again. Rammstein used to be the kind of band that tried to actually send a message, now it's just mirroring an Establishmentarian one.

[@det.bullock4461]

@@kristofevarsson6903 Germania being black is actually a reference to St. Maurice, the patron saint of the Germanic Holy Roman emperors who is commonly portrayed as a black man in armor.

[@stephenparker6362]

Hi again, Chris, just a quick mention The Armchair Historian has a series on the D Day landings called Birds Eye View, the first is D Day from the American Perspective looking at Omaha and Utah, the second is D Day from the British Perspective looking at Sword and Gold. There is going to be a third called D Day from the Canadian Perspective looking at Juno. I thought these might be interesting for you to do a reaction especially with your Normandy visit coming soon.

[@Nissi4061]

"God" sounds an awful lot like the Witchfinder General! I can't remember if you've reacted to Andy's Witchfinder General videos before but the Witchfinder himself makes a few cameos in the Checkmate Lincolnites series.

[@danielbishop1863]

13:18 "Don't that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the army of our great and glorious Confederate States was as diverse as a college admissions photo?" I can't believe you had nothing to say about that line. It was hilarious!

[@lds2484]

There's actually a pretty widely available chicory coffee from Cafe Du Monde. A friend of mine went to New Orleans, which still has a reputation for drinking chicory, and brought me back a can since I've somewhat acquired a taste for the stuff (I'm never going to make it through that can, though). He was pretty mad when he saw it in the local grocery store when he got back.

[@jonathancalzada9669]

Just became a member on Patreon love your videos Chris. Can you react to these videos aswell sometime why 80% of Americans live east of this line by reallifelore and the animated history of mexico by Suibhne.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Thanks Jonathan! I'll check it out.

[@mcwildstyle9106]

I don't you or Atun Shei know about this but this might actually interest you guys. Even though they are no black rebels in the Confederate Army as soldiers, there were other groups of people that served on both sides during the war. Chinese, Mexicans, Filipinos, native Hawaiians, Native Americans and so on. In fact one of the artillery officers during the attack on Fort Sumter is actually Cuban. Extra Credits did a video on that subject. Also love you both of you guys and your content :)

[@jonathanrichwine1996]

That’s true. My mom who is becoming more woke and is Choctaw and is of the opinion that Indians never did anything bad ever was pretty bummed to learn that Choctaws were not only slave owners, but also fought for the Confederates.

[@mcwildstyle9106]

@@jonathanrichwine1996 yep that’s true. Choctaw, Sioux and Apaches I think too fought on both sides in the war

[@HateTheGameTX]

My 5th great grandfather was a Cherokee originally from Georgia, that fought in the Kansas Indian Guard (Union).

[@blogbalkanstories4805]

I know about Native Americans, and the odd Latino on either side would not surprise me at all. But where are native Hawaiians supposed to have come from? They would have a been very small and exotic group in 1861. There were trade connections between the US and Hawaii at the time, and there had been some US missionaries since around 1820, but it's dubious that many Hawaiians had actually travelled to the US, let alone lived there. Some Filipinos may have fought in the Civil War, but their number could not have been very great. There were a handful of Filipino settlements in Louisiana established between the Seven Years War/French and Indian War and the Napoleonic Wars when the Louisina territory was under Spanish control. (It briefly reverted back to France after Napoleon more or less conquered Spain, until he sold it to the US a few years later.) Some Filipinos are said to have fought in the Battle of New Orleans, but I found no mentioning of Filipino soldiers in the Civil War. (To be honest, I just searched superficially, though.)

[@mcwildstyle9106]

@@blogbalkanstories4805 I don't think there was a lot of native Hawiians who fought in the war but one of the most notable is Timothy Henry Ho'olulu Pitman who was a Private in the 22nd Massachusets Infantry. Unfortunately he died in 1863 at the age of 17 while he was a POW at Camp Parole

[@Deadener]

20:18 - That might have been what Robert E Lee pushed for, but ultimately the law stated that service in the army would not grant them their freedom.

[@myrpok]

Great original video, great response. Can I ask if you and yours are anywhere near the whole train derailment? Stay safe.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Yes we are about 15 miles away but everything is good here.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

5:10 This is a point I often bring up about Nazi Germany. You can find a number of photos of Africans in German Uniform during WWII including a few from Berlin. But it doesn't really change anything. Those who point it out try to make it as though the Nazis were less Racist than they were. But that is an over simplification on everything and 'how' those men came to be wearing German uniforms. They're also using it from an American perspective. Germans even the Nazis were not exactly as Racist towards Africans say as many Americans were. Sure the Nazis didn't want them in Germany, didn't view them as equals, and absolutely hated the idea of 'race mixing' but they were not deemed as sub human as say the Jews in the eyes of Nazis but still not as equals. Hitler didn't like the idea of Africans serving in the German Army for one, nor did many within the Party, and SS. It often happened out of circumstance. North Africa, there were quite a few Africans in German Uniform for obvious local reasons and in Germany itself they did have a very small African minority within the country, of which when the war was coming to a close pretty much all men were needed, including those they wouldn't let serve in the army prior.

[@jeffreygao3956]

6:10 The only part of that meme I agree with is the "mostly white Yankee army" part since I'm a "credit where it's due" guy.

[@VMohdude-]

Lowest of low bars😂

[@rhett1029]

19:03 there is a great song about that by the Steeldrivers called “Can you run”. It’s about a slave who is encouraged by I think his wife to run away and to join the Union Army

[@ActionBastardo]

The void in my heart has been filled. THANKS CHRIS

[@ronbednarczyk2497]

That was great! I know some people who could stand to watch this, but I don't know if it would change their SCV minds. I belong to the local Civil War Round Table and we had a presenter who claimed there were black Confederates using the modern classification of support personnel and the pension claims. Yes, he is an SCV member. A good book is "Confederates in the Attic".

[@codysutton1154]

Hey Chris, great reaction as always! When you get the chance, The Armchair Historian just posted a new video about british landings on D-day!

[@texasbassranger]

I was stationed in Louisiana while in the army and there is a local coffee called Community Coffee, and it says right on the label it contained "varied amounts" of chicory. This was back in the seventies, so I don't know about now but there used to be a café in Alexandria called The Brick House and they served a very good and very strong chicory coffee and it was great. You can make it too bitter by letting it steep for too long, but when made right, I actually enjoyed it.

[@andrewhook6092]

Had chicory most of my life in my coffee because of my fathers affection for New Orleans, and chicory coffee and beignets was something I savored visiting the city last year. Here is KY, it is available through the community coffee brand somewhat commonly.

[@PaultheAlien4]

“Assume for one second that was actually true…It’s NOT” -Retail workers talking to customers

[@David-fm6go]

35:08. I am not saying the Frederick Douglass was not a great American figure in history and such forth. But when he is speaking, he is often speaking with a political goal in mind. This came up in a discussion I was involved in regarding the drift of the GOP away from Civil Rights between the 1870s and the Progressive era. In the late 1880s, Douglass makes the case that the GOP is still the champions for Civil Rights and Democrats are the Party of the slavery's rebellion and such forth, even though except for the failed attempt at the Force Bill in the 1890s, not much was done or attempted. The end result is that later generations were disenchanted with the GOP, WEB Dubois supported Wilson in 1914, though he would come to regret it. If you take Douglass at face value, you might think that nothing had changed regarding attitudes among the community towards the Republican Party, but if you realize he he is pushing back against later generations and their "building frustrations", it paints a clearer picture. Again, speaking with a political goal or audience in mind, makes it less ideal source when it comes to establishing the lay of the land at the time as it actually was. It would be like 100 years from now, taking a current partisan talking head's statements as proof of a political dynamic that existed in the 2010s, without considering the context, desired audience and desired political objective.

[@Bayard1503]

"Their legs are touching" .... dead

[@theDENIMMAN]

another commenter said what chicory is but I'd mention that during WWI the Germans made "Ersatz Kaffee" out of acorns

[@samrevlej9331]

Well I think you've finished Checkmate Lincolnites (for now, still waiting for that final or next-to-last episode). I'll once again pitch my idea for reacting to foreign-language history KZbinrs with subtitles (which can be turned to English). I'll preach for my fellow Frenchmen with Nota Bene (biggest and most well-established history YTer on French-speaking YT) and La Folle Histoire, who's newer but does great stuff for all periods. They don't limit themselves to French history but tackle world history, so you won't run out of material.

[@lookonthebrightsideoflife5200]

I love these videos. His and your reaction to them! So entertaining AND educational!

[@Lakitu886]

always love listening to you talking about the Civil War

[@Dragonite43]

VTH: Where did they get this stuff from? Me: Where the sun don't shine.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Accurate.

[@patron8597]

22:10 There are few things that shocked me as much about American racism as the list of black veterans who got lynched after returning from WW1.

[@cyonata]

One of my relatives who fought for the north was paid to go for someone else. He was captured and died in Andersonville. My parents still have the letters he wrote between him and his sister.

[@j.lebowski3917]

Man, I've been waiting for a reaction to this one.

[@johnmiwa6256]

Cleburne's military rank never went up after he proposed enlisting slaves. Even though General Lee wanted to free slaves who fought for the Confederacy, the actual bill that was passed by the Confederate Congress did not include emancipation.

[@conamer6738]

A talented man who creates this content

[@David-fm6go]

That had to be the longest chess game in history. December 22, 2020 - July 4, 2021.

[@polmeister.]

Hey Chris, I was just wondering have you seen the British sitcom ‘Yes Minister’? It’s a well-written political satire set in the 80’s. Thought it’d be up your alley.

[@ladyagnes7781]

When my husband worked in Nashville, I toured the 3 sites atributed to the Battle of Franklin. Yes, Patrick Claburn was one of 6 Confederate Generals killed in that battle and they certainly couldn't afford to lose that many high-ranking commanders at that point. The farm that was used as the makeshift military hospital for the Battle of Franklin still has so much blood on the floor that it's stained the wood floors. The Carter Plantation in which the battle was actually fought still has all the bullet holes in the exterior siding of the house it's just frightening

[@michaeltolivar4646]

As someone from New Orleans I can tell you we still drink coffee with chickory. Strong but great coffee. I drink French Market but there’s also a local brew called CDM which is also good.

[@hiderz]

Another fantastic video Sam, keep up the good work!

[@maogu1999]

Sam? VTH's first name is Chris.

[@JediJared-bs1wt]

At the end I was about to comment how you got two of your own videos suggested until I realized I was being suggested them!

[@TorvusVae]

After reading that Union account about how much of the Confederate army was camp slaves, it kinda feels messed up that most Civil War movies have like, none.

[@bengriffin2718]

If I'm not mistaken, I don't think you've reacted to his first two episodes of Checkmate Lincolnites. Both are short enough that you could probably do a double reaction video.

[@Alexs.2599]

He has actually.

[@bengriffin2718]

@@Alexs.2599 Are they for members or Patreon only? I haven't found his reactions to episodes 1 and 2

[@Alexs.2599]

@@bengriffin2718 No they should be in the playlist. I remember watching both reaction videos.

[@pokemaster123ism]

There are actually two other Checkmate Lincolnites videos of his that you’ve missed. His first and second ones

[@_somerandomguyontheinternet_]

Johnny Reb: *is given an entire book of primary sources by Jesus* Also Johnny: *cites exactly 3*

[@decembersveryown5935]

I absolutely love that, in his reaction to this vid or the civil war vid, there aren't any youtube historians arguing what he's saying cause...they just can't.

[@BohemianRaichu]

I mean, it would be strange if there weren't any examples of slaveholders and slaves who had spent their whole lives together and became friends. You wouldn't cite Stockholm's Syndrome as a justification for kidnapping people.

[@rawlenyanzi6686]

That song that plays at 30:48…what’s it called? I like it.

[@professorwhat2704]

Great reaction as always, and the original was good too. I'm not always a fan of Atun-Shei, but this one was well done and focused. Thanks for bringing us this.

[@timothytumusiime2903]

Historian was like..... Stahp just bloody stahp sToP IT 😅

[@Batmans_Pet_Goldfish]

Please give a look at Useful Chart's series, "Who Wrote the Bible?" He has a bachelor's in Theology and a PhD in Psychology of Religion which gives him a really large well of knowledge that he shares. It's a really fascinating look at the bible from an academic perspective. I think you'd enjoy it.

[@SuperBatSpider]

I love how by the end of this series they’re basically friends

[@charlesmaurer2704]

A couple of points...sorry for such a long comment. 1) I used to live in Petersburg, VA next to one of the "founding fathers" of the Black Confederate myth. To this day, I can't figure out if this guy actually believed what he was spewing, but it was fun to watch him get into heated arguments on the street with our other neighbors who was the chief historian at the local national battlefield park. Needless to say the NPS historian wasn't buying his crap. 2) You might want to look into the whole "rich man's war, poor man's fight" thing when it comes to the CSA. While it was true that some son's of leading Confederates took the slave management draft deferment, most did not. In reality, almost all of the leading slave holding families of the South were "all in" to the cause and most of their draft aged sons served, and many died, in the service of the Confederacy. To my point, D. A. Dickert, a CSA soldier and author of the “History of the Kershaw Brigade,” called this idea “the merest twaddle and vilely untrue" and went on to defend the SC aristocracy's devotion and individual sacrifice to the Confederate cause.

[@kenlieck7756]

Believe it or not, Marvel Comics had a short-lived series in the early 70s featuring a Black Confederate soldier. It was called Gunhawks if you want to look it up...

[@yannschonfeld5847]

Chicory is quite a pretty plant and used to drink to come off coffee. It is the root that is dried then baked I guess but I just bought it in the store. It was an interesting experiment but a short lived one as all my coffee subsitutes have always been.

[@MSgt_0699]

A lot of slaves fought in the war alongside their masters. This is well documented and (I assumed) widely known. This never meant that "Black Confederates" were a thing. They merely obeyed.

[@jamesmccrea4871]

When you paused at 6:20 the "poster" on the screen is H.K. Edgerton. I've met him and he's a nice guy face-to-face, but he's a huge proponent of the Black Confederate myth. As I recall, he was once the head of a chaper of the NAACP in North Carolina but was more or less ousted. I was reenacting at the time and he visited the site we were performing on. When he showed up you'd have though it was the ghost of General Lee himself they way some of the more diehard Lost Causers flocked to him. It was kinda bizarre. But, as I said, I met him and he stuck me as very kind, very sincere, but perhaps misguided. One thing I recall him speaking out for is reparations for all southern people, white and black, for the war and reconstruction. This was at least 12-13 years ago, I think.

[@maddysdaddystevem563]

Chicory Root is still added to some Southern coffees to soften the bitterness inherent in coffee. I have a can of Cafe Du Monde coffee with chicory right here.

[@JozefLucifugeKorzeniowski]

6:32 wait, are they sure that is a serious piece of commemorative art and not just a poor attempt at trolling or a joke? because I laughed pretty hard when it first popped up. this looks like something I would make as an attempt at a funny meme because it's just so ridiculous. in fact it soorta does resemble a propaganda style poster I made about Stalin being the pride of the US state of Georgia.

[@matthewmccormack7791]

I went to the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA and I saw a few pictures from after the war of Black Confed. Veterans Assoc. meetings. I wonder if those men were actually fighting or just brought along to do the menial labor. Some were even wearing uniforms. Crazy to me they would carry on tradition of a society that treated them so poorly.

[@louispeddiltton47]

They were forced to.

[@Jones25ful]

Oh lmao was JUST watching your atun shei playlist yesterday and was wondering why you hadn’t reacted to the Black confederates video yet.

[@zekdom]

Time-stamps 6:00 - The Facebook meme 😂 11:05, 11:34, 12:38 - their motivations 14:40 - posture 19:05 - 😂 22:10 - The Harlem Hellfighters 25:57, 27:06 - Firing back 28:07, 29:40 - Frederick Douglas 28:56, 30:40 - a good summation 31:20 - enlisting black confederates was controversial 33:00 - black confederates would undermine what the Confederacy stood for. 33:47, 33:57, 35:18 - Slam dunk, addressing northern rumors that there were black confederates.

[@Matthew_Baratheon]

I'd also be interested in seeing you react to his other historical video. Would love to hear your take on things like King Phillip's War

[@nadog1011]

I love this drunk southern play omg this had made my morning, nothing but love for the guys in the south god I love the accent.

[@johnfleet235]

The point when they discuss slaves running away is interesting since during Grant's Vicksburg Campaign his army had thousands of runaway slaves. He appointed a man named Chaplin Eaton to set up refugee camps for these runaway slaves. Wherever Grant's army marched in Mississippi, the slave system collapsed especially since the South was unable to stop Grant's army.

[@KibuFox]

Some black Southerners aided the Confederacy. Most of these were forced to accompany their masters or were forced to toil behind the lines. Black men were not legally allowed to serve as combat soldiers in the Confederate Army--they were cooks, teamsters, and manual laborers. There were no black Confederate combat units in service during the war and no documentation exists for any black man being paid or pensioned as a Confederate soldier, although some did receive pensions for their work as laborers. Nevertheless, the black servants and the Confederate soldiers formed bonds in the shared crucible of conflict, and many servants later attended regimental reunions with their wartime comrades. This is not to say that no black man ever fired a gun for the Confederacy. To be specific, in the “Official Records of the War of the Rebellion,” a collection of military records from both sides which spans more than 50 volumes and more than 50,000 pages, there are a total of seven Union eyewitness reports of black Confederates. Three of these reports mention black men shooting at Union soldiers, one report mentions capturing a handful of armed black men along with some soldiers, and the other three reports mention seeing unarmed black laborers. There is no record of Union soldiers encountering an all-black line of battle or anything close to it. Having said that, though there are only seven Union eyewitness reports of black Confederates, this does not automatically mean that there were none whatsoever, as given the sheer number of men under arms (this includes cooks, teamsters, and similar) it would take a severe misunderstanding of statistics to argue otherwise. By the same token, this does not mean that there were whole units of black confederate soldiers. A historical study performed by John Stauffer (chair of the History of American Civilization Program, and a professor of both English and African-American studies at Harvard) points to a more likely number being around 1 percent of the total soldiers fielded in one form or another by the Confederacy. They note that though modern historians make a distinction between the supply trains, cooks, and teamsters; at the time those were still considered parts of the army, and it does a disservice to history to argue otherwise. Stauffer noted, at the opening of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute’s Fall Colloquium Series , Blacks who shouldered arms for the Confederacy numbered more than 3,000 but fewer than 10,000, he said, among the hundreds of thousands of whites who served. In the lecture he gave arguing that there were some black Confederates, Stauffer draws on at least one ironic source: 19th-century social reformer Frederick Douglass, whose life Stauffer studied for his 2008 book “Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.” In August 1861, Douglass published an account of the First Battle of Bull Run, which noted that there were blacks in the Confederate ranks. A few weeks later, Douglass brought the subject up again, quoting a witness to the battle who said they saw black Confederates “with muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their pockets.” Douglass also talked to a fugitive slave from Virginia, another witness to Bull Run, who asserted that black units were forming in Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. It is well known that in Louisiana and Tennessee, Stauffer added, Confederate units were organized by elite, light-skinned freedmen who identified with the slave-owning white plantation culture. (The Tennessee troops were never issued arms, though, and the black unit known as the Louisiana Native Guards never saw action - and quickly switched sides as soon as Union forces appeared.) But unless you think that black Confederates were truly enamored of the South’s cause, Stauffer related the case of John Parker, a slave forced to build Confederate barricades and later to join the crew of a cannon firing grapeshot at Union troops at the First Battle of Bull Run. All the while, recalled Parker, he worried about dying, prayed for a Union victory, and dreamed of escaping to the other side. “His case can be seen as representative,” said Stauffer. “Masters put guns to (the heads of slaves) to make them shoot Yankees.” Freedmen in the Confederacy faced re-enslavement in Virginia and elsewhere, said Stauffer, so they made displays of loyalty that were really gestures of self-protection - a “hope for better treatment, a hope not to be enslaved.”

[@hans9862]

Surprising soldiers by Extra History would be an interesting video to check out