How many African-Americans served?
“Approximately 180,000 African American soldiers took up the call to fight for the Union, comprising more than 10% of all Federal forces. Knowing that a Northern loss could mean possible re-enslavement, freemen and former slaves showed dedication to their country and a commitment to the freedom of their people forever.
"Who would be free themselves must strike the blow,
Better even to die free than to live slaves."
Frederick Douglass, C. 1869
Source: https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/fortward/default.aspx?id=40018
Footnote: "Fighting for Freedom, Black Union Soldiers of the Civil War," City of Alexandria Virginia, (January 19, 2016), accessed February 13, 2016, https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/fortward/default.aspx?id=40018.
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Among its numbers were two of Frederick Douglass's sons, Charles and Lewis, who served with distinction. The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts lost 40 percent of its men as they fought courageously in the battle of Fort Wagner, South Carolina, in July 1863. The performance of the Colored Troops at Fort Wagner as well as in other engagements did much to dissipate objections to black soldiers and, in fact, gained them respect and admiration. Douglass actively recruited African Americans for military service, throwing himself into this activity with the same conviction and enthusiasm as he had done with …show more content…
He believed that the conflict was a war against slavery and that a Union victory would mean more than freedom for his people—he believed that despite the deep racism harbored by many white Americans, African Americans would be able to participate fully as American citizens. Late in the war, Douglass summed up his feelings for the future:
"I end where I began; no war but an abolition war; no peace but an abolition peace; liberty for all, chains for none; the black man a soldier in war; a laborer in peace; a voter in the South as well as the North; America his permanent home, and all Americans his fellow
In the novel “Frederick Douglass in Brooklyn,” Douglass expresses his ideas about what roles he sees for African Americans during and after the war. Douglas believed that the enlistment of black soldiers would help the North win the war and that it would be an immense milestone in the fight for equal rights. Douglass stated in one of his many speeches, “Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, US; let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket; and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.” Frederick Douglass is basically stating that there should be nothing standing in the way of a black soldier and citizenship if he participates in the war and fights for the cause. Douglass believed that there is no greater service a man can give to his country than risk his life for its honor and freedom. Frederick Douglass pointed out that black soldiers are ready to fight in this war, provided that they receive what they deserve for participating in helping the North move closer towards victory, citizenship, and freedom. He believed that the joining of the Union Army would allow African
For many African Americans, the war offered an opportunity to get out of the cycle of crushing rural poverty. Black joined the military in large numbers, escaping a decade of Depression and tenant farming in the South and Midwest. Yet, like the rest of America in the 1940s, the armed forces were segregated. The Army accepted black enlistees but created separate black infantry regiments and assigned white commanders to them. Of the more than 2.5 million African Americans who registered for the draft in WWII, about 900,000 served in the Army. But about only 50,000 African Americans were allowed to serve in combat.
war was already over. After years of fighting, the Union won in the end. “Black soldiers played a
Beginning in 1861, the civil war was fought over many political questions regarding slavery, yet was barely focused on the actual freedom of the slaves themselves. It is often taught that the Union fought for the freedom of slaves at the beginning of the war. However, it is more accurate to say that Abraham Lincoln’s primary goal at the beginning of the war was to reunite the Union after the majority of the slave-owning states seceded to protect their way of life: slavery. Yet, by the end of the war, the Union’s goal was to free the slaves. Though the laws securing slaves freedom and suffrage were contributed to by many, the primary driving forces behind them was the African Americans. Through their willingness to fight and support the Union cause, African Americans made the United States acknowledge their struggles and transformed the war into a fight for reconnection and freedom. Though hindered by racist people and policies, the African Americans’ participation during the war and Reconstruction greatly contributed to tremendous cultural change as well as the securing of legal rights to blacks.
The Civil War was one of America’s most brutal battles in history. Majority of which being white, male soldiers. Over the years, many historians have argued the actual involvement of blacks during the civil war era. Many claiming that they were doing nothing more than assisting the actual, white soldiers in combat such as, nurses, and wagon drivers, not actually picking up the gun and shooting alongside in battle. Most people look over the fact that almost ten percent, or 180,000, of the Union army were African American. Though a small fraction of the amount of total soldiers during the war, their involvement is still significant. These soldiers recruited and voluntarily, committing the same acts of bravery of any Caucasian solider, due to the prejudice against them, they were pushed to the back burner and treated with disrespect, virtually diminishing their extensive courageous acts. Nevertheless these soldiers made an impact in world changing war.
Black people in the U.S have been fighting for themselves since the birth of America. Many today say that it will never stop. They may say that the challenges they face will never disappear. During the 1800s Blacks went through extreme hardships. Most of which were regarding slavery and the many attempts to put an end to it. The title of Howard Zinn’s Chapter Nine in A people’s History of the U.S represents much more than a typical reader would presume. The title has a meaning that represents a bulk of black history in the United States of America. The chapter title “Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom” represents the everlasting fight that black people in the United States of America have had to put up for their own rights and freedom because blacks fought during the time of slavery and didn’t give up, the time period spent fighting to end slavery, and even after Slaves were freed they have had to continue fighting for the reason that they weren’t given true freedom.
African-Americans have fought on many of liberty’s battlefields from the pre-emancipated plantation to the killing fields of the Civil War. African-Americans have always been willing to fight not just for their freedom, but for their country as well. Yet, their country never lived up to its founding document that asserts that, “All men are created equal; ”instead,
Slavery was a complicated issue for Northern whites. As pointed out by historian Kevin M. Schultz (2011), Northerners were generally in agreement that slavery was wrong, yet they were very uneasy with the idea of creating a large, free black population in the U.S. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was a step toward that idea. The Proclamation did not free all slaves, since the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware were exempted, as were Tennessee and areas of Virginia and Louisiana already under Union occupation (Schultz, 2011, p. 265). An important provision, however, was that black Americans would now be allowed to join the military. In the two years following the Emancipation Proclamation, 180,000 black men enlisted (Schultz, p. 265). They were poorly treated but eager to fight for a cause in which they had a high stake. Their numbers and their passion for the cause made African-American soldiers a powerful asset to the Union.
Douglass and the abolitionists argued that because the aim of the Civil War was to end slavery, African Americans should be allowed to engage in the fight for their freedom. Douglass met with President Lincoln to discuss the role of blacks in the Civil War. He felt that military service was important in order to service the rights of citizenship and suffrage. In an interview with President Lincoln he advocated for equal treatment, pay and protection of black soldiers as well as rewards with promotion. “Abraham Lincoln referred to him as the most meritorious man of the nineteenth century (Who was Frederick Douglass?).” With the North no longer obliged to return slaves to their owners in the South, Douglass fought for equality for his people. He made plans with Lincoln to move liberated slaves out of the South. During the war, Douglass also helped the Union by serving as a recruiter for the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. “As soon as he got orders to start recruiting for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment his sons, Charles and Lewis, were one of the first ones to enroll (Douglass’ Role in the Civil War).” “His recruitment efforts were highly successful as regiments quickly filled up. Among the best known articles he wrote in Douglass Monthly are “Another Word to Colored Men”, “Why should a Black Man enlist?” and “Men of Color to Arms (Douglass’ Role in the Civil War).” His employment with the Anti-Slavery Society ended however, Douglass continued to fight for equal rights and full citizenship for African
The issue Douglass show is, America now has the freedom but why is freedom not granted to the selected few. “The Declaration of Independence is a ringbolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so indeed, I regard it”(Douglass pg2). Douglass explains that the way America has been granted independence is not the right way to go about it. Being a slave during the time Douglass see’s that independence was given to all Americans, except for the black race. Given the right to speak Douglass believes, why would the American people give him the right to say his opinion if a slave’s word doesn’t change anything. To an American the black race is owned property. Containing the slaves and indentured servants(black race) as property they are given no freedom. “What to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim” (Douglass pg4). Douglass reveals that man is to him the same as the British against the American’s. A black or any other race deserves the same treatment as anyone
“. . . In the face of heavy odds, black troops had proved once again their courage, determination, and willingness to die for the freedom of their race”
“For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold…that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men…we are called upon to prove that we are men!” (Douglass) During his speech, Douglass elaborated on the different aspects of why blacks have a natural right to freedom as any other human being He argued it is wrong to turn a man into a “brute” and proceeded to argue that slavery is not divine in its origin. Douglass’s speech was a calling for equality, for change. He accomplished his goal and proved the fourth of July was a revolting reminder to him and those like him of the continual inhumane cruelty American attempted to conceal through its mockery.
About 180,000 African American people comprised 163 units that served in the Union Army, during the time of the Civil War, and many more African American people had served in the Union Navy. Both the free African-Americans and the runaway slaves had joined the fight. On the date of July 17, in the year of 1862, the U. S. Congress had passed two very important acts that would allow the enlistment of many African Americans, but the official enrollment had occurred only after the September, 1862, issuance of the, Emancipation Proclamation. In general, most white soldiers and officers, had believed that most of the black men, who had served in the Civil War, lacked the courage, and the will to fight
The American Civil War was a time wrought with peril. Families were split along party lines and took up arms against one another to fight for what they believed was right. Yet there was one group of people who had more to gain than any other present in the war, and that was the African American slave. This war was one of the biggest turning points in the morality of America all because of what happened to the slave in this war. They enlisted in the army, fought bravely, and after long last, gained their freedom.
Pomp Fisk, Grant Coope, Charleston Eads, Seymour Burr, Titus Coburn, Cuff Hayes, and Caesar Dickenson were also braves at this battle. Even though the African American soldiers clearly distinguished themselves as good soldiers, they were by no means wanted in the army in the eyes of white colonists.