In late June 1863, the Army of the Cumberland was fighting in Tennessee. The goal was Bragg and his army hiding in Chattanooga. June 27, the Union attacked Shelbyville. Over 500 Rebels surrounded rather than fall into the Duck River and drown. The prisoners were marched down the road to Murfreesboro. An ambulance train was sent to assist any prisoners who could not make it on foot.
John King of the 92nd Illinois was an ambulance driver. In fact, he drove the doctor himself because the doc preferred his handling of the team. A Confederate fell back needing a lift so King invited him up on the seat with him. The two men fell to talking. Naturally the talk to the issue of slavery. The Rebel was a well-spoken, educated man. His beliefs were staggering to any one with an ounce of logical thinking in their head.
According to King, this man stated with deep conviction that field work in the South was simply impossible for white men. It was too hot. All the work in the fields had to be done by hand. "The cotton had to be picked by hand. No machinery could be invented to do that work." Therefore, the black man had to be held in slavery to do the work because it wouldn't kill them. Having to care for his own fields would kill a white man.
Oh where to start? Well let's start with King's comments in his diary on this revelation. "This argument seemed to have weight throughout the whole South. And yet the rebel armies were marching, campaigning, bivouacking, and fighiting in every state of the South in the hottest seasons of the year." Now King goes on to say that Army marches are harder than field work. That point may be debatable. But his overall point cannot be ignored. If its too hot to work in the fields without dying, how is the Rebel Army of white men not just dropping dead all over the place?
This also ignores not every farmer in the South had slaves. There are various estimates but it is by no means 100% of farmers owned slaves. So how did those white farmers manage to produce any crops and not die?
Then there is the fact that even if true that black people were better suited to the Southern environment it does not hold true that slavery and all its evils is the only answer. The idea of paying them as farmhands was apparently not even considered by this Sergeant.
This is what the South believed. Sure, not all Southerners. But this was a random, educated Southern. That belief was prevalent enough that even a common man, not some rich plutocrat believed it.
A quick word on Bragg. This last year has seen many Army bases renamed from their Southern traitor names. I fully support this. Bragg should never have had a base named after him. Shelbyville, Tennessee was a loyal Union town. Here is King's observations on Bragg while the town was under Rebel control: "Rebel General Bragg has his headquarters there, and had tyrannized over those Union people with cruelty that will never all be written. " Naming a base after him was a slap in the face of every single person who had to bear this cruelty. Fort Liberty is a fitting new name.
Information for this post and the quotes were takne from Three Years with the 92d Illinois: The Civil War Diary of John M. King, edited by Claire E. Swedeberg.