African Americans in the Civil War Essay

Enrollment began in September of 1862 (Allen 225). Thousands of black men enlisted. They would be commanded, led, and trained by all white officers. There were not to be any black officers commissioned and all African American soldiers were to be regarded as laborers. They would receive less pay than a white soldier. Instead of $13 plus clothing expenses, they would only receive $10 without clothing expenses (The American Civil War: A Multicultural Encyclopedia 55).

On September 17, 1862, the African American soldiers of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Infantry led a valiant charge on Fort Wagner. The air was filled with the rumble of big guns, and the ground on the Island, trembled beneath their feet. The battle faced off near Antietam creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the first battle of the American Civil War was to be fought on northern soil. McClellan failed his opportunity to crush Lee’s army. The Confederate defenders killed, wounded many people. Only hours later, the body of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the white commander, was thrown down with those of his other men.

Wilson reports that one of the most exceedingly awful abominations professedly committed against the African American soldiers happened at Fort Pillow, Tennessee on April 12, 1864, when the Confederate Army unpredictably murdered approximately three hundred black fighters. The fort, stormed by General Nathan Bedford Forrest's troops, had surrendered. General Nathan Bedford Forrest would later become an organizer of the Ku Klux Klan The Union Army claimed that the killing of the black soldiers was a massacre; yet, the Confederacy denied this claim, stating that the soldiers died in the fighting before the surrender. This massacre failed to weaken the courage of the black soldiers, but rather raised their determination and many black soldiers

The most famous and well known regiment that fought for the Union in the Battle of Fort Wagner, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina was the 54th regiment from Massachusetts. The regiment is famous because it was one of the first African-American regiments to fight in the Civil War. In the North, where the abolition of slavery was heavily supported, the 54th regiment was considered very controversial. Although the majority of those who lived in the North were against slavery, many believed that blacks were lesser people and inferior to whites. However, the success of the 54th regiment proved otherwise. Despite being the first African-American regiment that was raised in the North, they were not the first black Union regiment to fight. The first black Union Army regiment raised and formed was the 1st South Carolina Infantry which was composed of escaped slaves from South Carolina and Florida. The 1st South Carolina Infantry served as the precedent for over 170,000 African-Americans who followed them into the Union Army. The adoption of the Emancipation Proclamation in December of 1862 was the catalyst for the use of free black men as soldiers. As state governors were the ones who raised regiments for use at the federal lever, Massachusetts was the very first state to take advantage of the new Proclamation by forming the 54th Regiment. The 54th Regiment was controversial to some, but in ways helped the Union by promoting the end to slavery. They not only fought for civil

Contributions African-American soldiers made towards the Union cause was enrolling as cooks, stewards, and fireman, and some serving in the war. Risks and hardships African-American soldiers experienced were being captured and put to death as slaves in revolt, and forced into labor battalions. In the south slaves could enlist in the war for the fear of revolt.

Another thing African Americas did during this time was participated in the war. This was part of the double victory blacks wanted. There were many testimonies on the front discussed in the documents of this chapter. The soldiers would write letters and tell their experiences to the others back home. A lot of soldiers would write to the well-known black newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier, and Crisis. One of the letters to the Pittsburgh Courier from Private John S. Lyons elaborated on how deplorable the conditions were for black soldiers. “There is an instance of our present Commanding Officer throwing away a colored soldier’s discharge papers.”(Testimony from the front Private John S. Lyons) This was one of many incidents where African American soldiers were mistreated. Black soldiers were made to do strenuous work compared to the white soldiers. They were not given adequate amount of rest time between performing their duties. There were also, black women in the war that were continually discriminated against as well. Private First Class Gladys O. Thomas-Anderson went into great details on what she endured being a black woman serving in the military. She explained how she and others had to maintain their clothes as well as

Fort Wagner was the first major battle African Americans were allowed to fight, keep in mind the first regiment to attack, was basically in a death

During the Civil War, inequalities of black soldiers within the Union army were still commonly complacent. Even though the emancipation Proclamation was signed, the Union army still engaged in the discriminative practices of denying black soldiers their equal rights. One such practice was the denial or refusal to allow a black soldier the opportunity to lead fellow black soldiers as a commissioned officer. During this epic time of history, several requests were made by prominent black and white officials to the Union government to disband the practice of barring African Americans to becoming officers and allowing them to lead an all-black regiment. One such request, was a petition to the

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.

The civil war brought the first regimes of black soldiers. The Emancipation Proclamation gave blacks the right to join the army. More than 185,000 blacks were enlisted in the Union armed forces. A small number of blacks were officers, some others were spies in the south. The 54th Massachusetts showed their bravery in battle in July 1863 when they charged Fort Wagner outside Charleston, South Carolina. In the end they had the satisfaction of being present at the Appomattox Court

As you may know, there was plenty of discrimination against African Americans.Caucasians thought African Americans could not be soldiers.In 1861, when the civil war started, it gave many black civil rights.Our African American soldiers fought through discrimination,while willing to fight for their freedom.With having so many brave soldiers, they got to free slaves in the south, also free blacks in the union.

Once the Emancipation Proclamation was put in place, blacks were now eligible for enrollment in the military. For black soldiers, serving in the military proved to be a liberating experience. Serving in the military, however, brought treatment that was very unequal to blacks. Black soldiers were grouped in segregated units, received lower play than their white counterparts, assigned to duties such as labor more than combat, and could not rise to the rank of commissioned officer until the end of the war. Even though blacks did not receive equal treatment in the military, they played a crucial role in both winning the war and defining the war’s consequences. Republicans in the last two years of the war believed that emancipation must bring equal

These soldiers would be treated like criminals and would life or death penalty to fight for their country. However in this case, it didn't prevent African Americans from running to enlist. They were now living in America and they fought because they were loyal to the country they lived in. In the passage it talks about African American loyalty and where it stands “Temptation after temptation was presented to him to render lukewarm and half-hearted support to the Government in the prosecution of the war, without making himself criminally liable, but Negro leaders in all parts of the country recognized at once that the national crisis demanded, and the plain duty and best interests of the Negro racial group required that, without bargaining, there must be a pledge on the part of the Negro of his undiluted and unfaltering loyalty”. Even though they were taken as slaves, at this time period they were free and had to protect their country one way or another. As men living in America it was their patriotic duty and privilege to fight for

With the various ways slavery was spread throughout the geography of the United States, these variations formed different cultures and conflicting laws on slavery. Due to inconsistent systems of slavery, it resulted in the Civil War, dividing the North and the South over the issues of slavery. In the end of the Civil War, many individuals with every sense of positive intentions gave opportunities and support to freed slaves developing into beneficial members for the nation. The United States came together as a nation to solve the issues of slavery, freedom, and the reorganization problems particular to African Americans. It is seen throughout our history all efforts to solve these issues but sadly African Americans still face many of the these problems today. These problems and issues of the 20th century needed to be solved by the leadership of African Americans, for their African American community. W.E.B Du Bois is a tremendous example of an African American leader for what was best for the United States at that time.

The federal government placed many restrictions and discriminatory actions on the black troops. At the beginning of the Civil War, African Americans were not allowed to serve in the U.S. military. By the summer of 1862 it was clear that additional troops were needed. To meet the need, Congress passed two bills that allowed the participation of black soldiers in the Union Army. The Government established segregated units called The Bureau of Colored Troops. The measure lacked popular support and the U.S. Army did not begin recruiting black soldiers until 1863.