In my experience books on the War of
1812 follow the same narrative of American naval success and
British/Canadian success on land, the level of emphasis placed upon
these two things is usually based on the author’s nationality. So
it is unusual to come across a book that deals with the topic in a
new and different way. A book like this is: The Slaves' Gamble: Choosing Sides in the War of 1812
which looks at the relationship
of the US with its slave and free black population. The book starts
out with the American revolution discussing how manpower concerns
soon led to the acknowledgement that some African Americans would be
needed to fight either as free men or as slaves who were rented out
to the army with their salary going to their owners.
which looks at the relationship
of the US with its slave and free black population. The book starts
out with the American revolution discussing how manpower concerns
soon led to the acknowledgement that some African Americans would be
needed to fight either as free men or as slaves who were rented out
to the army with their salary going to their owners.
The core of the book is taken up with
the War of 1812 discussing at length the British reaction to this and
attempts on the part of the British forces to encourage slaves to
desert, hopefully undermining American manpower. Along the way
anecdotes of those who decided to stay and fight for the Americans as
well as those who signed up with the British are discussed. The
campaign in Florida against the Spanish is also touched upon. With
books like this it is often difficult to do it without either dealing
with disjointed anecdotes or simply to provide a narrative history of
the events and occasionally reference the topic. Fortunately, this
book manages a happy mix of the two. I wouldn’t recommend this as a
first book on the war, but there is enough here to understand what
is going on.
The book concludes by arguing that
seeing the success of black troops, the antebellum South became more
fearful of the possibility of slave revolts. So, ironically, those
free men who fought for the Americans made things worse, at least
until the American Civil War. I think he may be underestimating the
effect that the slave revolt on Haiti had.
Recommended for those who want a
different look at the War of 1812 and the issue of African Americans
in combat prior to the American Civil War.
Book was provided for review.
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