(Surely you are aware that nearly 100,000 black men fought for the Confederacy?). That one line tarnishes the credibility of an otherwise well written and entertaining essay. I recognize most of it as factual and the remainder as new information that appears factual. However, if there were truly 100,000 black Confederate soldiers incuding teamsters, cooks, tailors, backsmiths, and muscians than I would be very much surprised. I also believe there were 3 million black Southerners who wanted to live in freedom and to prosper in their American homeland alongside white neighbors and that they had no trust or love for yankees. It could have worked out that way with the European solution. It would have worked out if there had been no war or if the CSA had won prevailed in the struggle.