Slaves and the downfall of the Confederacy

Piedone

Sergeant
Joined
Oct 8, 2020
In some other threads there arose the question how relevant the increasing loss of slave labour (through unrest, liberation, growing unwillingness, escapes) was for the downfall of the Confederacy.

I was of the opinion that it wasn't that relevant as most of the slaves seemingly did wait as long as possible before they dared to flee or to openly disobey - as far as I read they just dared it when the arrival of Union troops was imminent.
Hence I'd conclude that there shouldn't have been any relevant (slave) labour shortage in the territories under confederate control.

@leftyhunter has a different view - highlighting a generally growing unwillingness of slaves to cooperate with their owners. This should have led to a declining production everywhere in the South especially in places where it was not possible to exert enough pressure on the enslaved workforce (eg. because too many males were absent in the army...).

What do you think? Where's the truth? On which sources could we base our guesses?
 
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