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Here's one to ponder and discuss. .
Should slaves have been allowed to/been drafted to fight for the South? What ramifications might this have had, for the South, for the North? Would it have made a difference if this had occurred earliy in the war, or later? Would it have changed the outcome of the war at all? Etc., etc.
Pam
Deep breath...
Pam, I can think of several impediments off the top of my head.
The south had a tremendous infrastructure in place to maintain the institution of slavery. Extending this to the military would tax already scarce resources and morale.
Shifting the stronger slaves to armed military service leaves the weaker ones in an even greater support role. Given the history of the last 150 years, I suspect many of the slaves would be denied ‘induction’ on medical grounds. IIRC, even during the great crisis of WWII, 25% of draftees were deferred on medical grounds, mostly due to the effects of the great depression
The idea of an armed slave was counter to many threads woven through southern society.
HankC