In View of the Great Want of Labor: A Legislative History of African American Conscription in the Confederacy

Legislation enacted by both the General Assembly of Virginia and the Confederate Congress along with Confederate war records reflected the African Americans participation, free and enslaved, to meet the Confederacy's agricultural, military, and technological demands. Compiled from records at the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration, In View of the Great Want of Labor includes a chronology of the Confederacy's Legislative Sessions and the Secret Sessions, regarding the use of African Americans, free and slave, during the Civil War. Rare letters, photographs, newspaper advertisements, and a register of Free Negroes, Enrolled and Detailed, May 1864-January 1865, Bureau of Conscription, Virginia are included. This reference book provides insight into extensive involvement and the role of African Americans in the South, especially in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including contains the names of over 1,800 persons, their age, description, nativity, enlistment and assignment is included.