According to Frederick Douglass, while white Americans (including Lincoln) began the war strenuously denying that slavery -- either its end or its perpetuation -- the enslaved understood from the beginning that their freedom was on the line. I agree though that some blacks no doubt were ready to join the Confederate forces if it would mean their freedom, but for the most part, by the time the Confederate leadership was putting its emancipation plans together, the outcome of the war was much clearer than it had been. That said, there is no reason to assume that anyone -- white or black, north or south -- really expected the Confederacy to collapse so rapidly and completely in the spring of 1865. David Kiracofe David Kiracofe History Tidewater Community College Chesapeake Campus 1428 Cedar Road Chesapeake, Virginia 23322 757-822-5136 >>> Anita Wills <[log in to unmask]> 06/15/07 3:16 PM >>> My ancestors fought for the Union, but I do understand why some blacks would fight for the confederates. They may have been promised freedom, in exchange for their service. One of my Revolutionary War Ancestors signed on as a Seamen, in order to get out of a twenty year indenture. They may have had little understanding of the implications of winning the war.