I should have added that the problem with the "black rednecks" thesis is that the areas that the Borderers settled didn't have lots of slaves. The black areas of the map don't include the Virginia Tidewater area or much of the Carolina lowlands, much less Alabama, Mississippi or the more fertile parts of Louisiana and Georgia, which are the parts of the South where the black people were made to live.
In fact, the Borderers were more inclined to be pro-Union (e.g. West Virginia), because they saw no reason to fight so that the plantation owners could keep their slaves, not to mention the federal government was further away and less bothersome than the state capital.
Well, there was a black justice of the peace in Massachusetts before the Civil War, in 1870, a black man was elected to the Massachusetts state legislator (and was later appointed a judge) and say what you want about a Charles Sumner, he was no racist.
For that matter, the Freedman's Bureau was liberally stocked with graduates from the best New England colleges and universities.
I should have added that the problem with the "black rednecks" thesis is that the areas that the Borderers settled didn't have lots of slaves. The black areas of the map don't include the Virginia Tidewater area or much of the Carolina lowlands, much less Alabama, Mississippi or the more fertile parts of Louisiana and Georgia, which are the parts of the South where the black people were made to live.
In fact, the Borderers were more inclined to be pro-Union (e.g. West Virginia), because they saw no reason to fight so that the plantation owners could keep their slaves, not to mention the federal government was further away and less bothersome than the state capital.
Bad cat.
Similar conversation on Twitter. https://twitter.com/policytensor/status/1405191895697920002?s=20
Well, there was a black justice of the peace in Massachusetts before the Civil War, in 1870, a black man was elected to the Massachusetts state legislator (and was later appointed a judge) and say what you want about a Charles Sumner, he was no racist.
For that matter, the Freedman's Bureau was liberally stocked with graduates from the best New England colleges and universities.
That's consistent with Sowell's account.