Greg, I'm sure you are aware that there were far more than a half-dozen wealthy free blacks (often slaveholders themselves) in the Antebellum South. Yes, they were generally of mixed race, as I have noted in previous posts. I never said they represented the mass of black opinion, or even a majority of opinion among free blacks, but they existed.

"Are you talking about the December 1860 petition Or the January 10th 1861 petitions? Also, you neglected to post the ENTIRE petition & did not indicate where you have edited & truncated it. The whole composition gives a somewhat different impression."

Re: the Charleston petition, I posted it as it was cited in by Wilber Jenkins in Seizing the New Day. I did not "edit it or truncate it" in any way, and I provided the citation from my source. From the text of Jenkins' (it's not entirely clear and he provided no date) I presume this is the December petition.

Re: Poole - why would I bother to complain to him? I understand his point.

Re: the entire black population of Charleston, I have looked as well and couldn't find a reference. But I am entirely aware, and - feeling a bit like a broken record - I have noted that pro-CSA blacks in the South were a very small minority.

Greg, you seem to think this topic should be off limits, and I disagree. A lot of nonesense has been written about 'Black Confederates' and ridiculously over-inflated numbers have thrown around. It is worthwhile to try discover if any blacks did indeed support the CSA; if so, how many; and, finally, why would they choose to do so? I agree that fear must have a been a tremendous motivating factor in cases. In other cases, mere opportunism or self-interest can explain this behavior.