"In Confederate Emancipation, Bruce Levine looks closely at Confederate plans to arm and free slaves. Throughout the book, Levine captures the voices of blacks and whites, wealthy planters and poor farmers, soldiers and officers, and newspaper editors and politicians from all across the South. In the process, he sheds light on such hot-button topics as what the Confederacy was fighting for, whether black southerners were willing to fight in large numbers in defense of the South, and what this episode foretold about life and politics in the post-war South."--Jacket.

Puzzle of Confederate emancipation -- A desperate expedient : the heresy and its origins, 1861-1864 -- What did we go to war for? : the critic's indictment -- Black and gray : slaves and the Confederate War effort -- We can devise the meants : the long-term plan -- We can devise the means : the long-term plan -- On the footing of Soldiers : enacting and implementing new policy, 1864-1865 -- Like a drowning man catching at straws : could it have worked? -- From black troops to black codes : Confederate emancipation in war and peace.