The African-American Civil War

For a long time period, African Americans were mistreated and taken advantage of by the whites. The Civil War was their chance for change, and they took it. However, African Americans weren’t allowed to fight immediately when the war broke out. It was when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln stating “All persons held as slaves within any states…in rebellion against the United Sates shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” By stating slaves were free, this allowed for African Americans soldiers to officially fight for the first time.

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.

African-Americans in the Civil war were not treated with respect. They were slaves to white people, and to me that's not right. During the Civil war they worked on plantations owned by rich white people. Some were nice and some were harsh. Most people treated African-Americans like dirt. People would trade, sell, and buy them and they were sometimes taken away from they're family.

African Americans were a very important addition to the American Civil War such as fighting and spying for both the north and the south sides. The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States between the North and South states. The war was from 1861-1865 and was because the South wanted to establish itself as a separate nation. The northern states were called the Union and the southern states were called the Confederate. Between the north and south states were the Border States, which did not belong to either of the sides. The Border States included Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri. In the north, slavery did not exist but the south was the opposite. In the war, the north and south states fought against each other while the Border States were neutral. Before the war and during the war, African Americans were treated very unfairly compared to white people. This essay will examine how African Americans were treated before, during and after the Civil War.

In what ways did African Americans shape the course and consequences of the Civil War?

The Civil War was a huge twist in American history. During this time, American Citizens had less rights than deserved. Most African Americans were kept as slaves and were stripped the fundamental rights of an American citizen. Most citizens in America, including slaves, were against most of the laws and discrimination against slaves. These laws made slaves voices less heard, and was a big problem that made most Americans anxious about the future of our country.

By the fall of 1862 events had been changed in favor of accepting the black soldiers. The U.S government awarded the congressional medal of honor and was first issued during the civil war to recognize gallant service to 24 African Americans. The government called about 75,000 Volunteers in April 1861 compelled many northern blacks to offer their services to a war department opposing to arming blacks for fear it would induce the slave holding border states to join the confederacy.

Nearly 40,000 African Americans died in the American Civil War, and 30,000 of those deaths were solely from infection and disease (African). Leading up to the time of the American Civil War, there were 34 states and a number of territories in the United States. The American Civil War happened between April 12, 1861 and May 9, 1865. The American Civil War was the North fighting to abolish slavery in the U.S. The Northern states were driven by industry, while the southern states were driven by slavery and farming. At this time roughly 30 million people were in the U.S and 10 percent of the people were slaves. The slaves were typically found in the south farming because the US needed food and clothes. Even though importing slaves was made illegal

The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties, including about 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease, and 50,000 civilians. The war accounted for roughly as many American deaths as all American deaths in other U.S. wars combined.

Soldiers of the American Civil War were overwhelmed by a time where weaponry and technological developments were thriving. This brutal war changed the soldiers, both mentally and physically, and continued to have an impact throughout their entire lives. There were not only many deaths during the war, but also prior to the war as many soldiers took their own life. They would experience disturbing thoughts and events in their mind that could not be explained until they became known as mental illnesses. The exploration of psychological disorders following the Civil War improved medical diagnostic tools and the way patients were treated which transformed the treatment of mental illness by creating new ways of discovering illnesses, treating patients, and developing the foundation for the future of psychology throughout America.

A Civil War is a battle between the same citizens in a country. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the independence for the Confederacy or the survival of the Union. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, in the mist of 34 states, the constant disagreement caused seven Southern slave states to their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, generally known as the South, grew to include eleven states. The states that remained devoted to the US were known as the Union or the North. The number one question that is never completely understood about the Civil War is what caused the war. There were multiple events that led to the groundbreaking, bloody, and political war.

In the summer of 1619, the first Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia not to live as free settlers but as subordinate slaves. They worked strenuously for Whites, who considered themselves superior to Africans, without much benefit. Racism is not just the belief that one race is superior to others, but the act of negatively identifying individuals based on the color of their skin. Attributing race to individual character has proven to have negative implications that are difficult to mend. There have been different approaches to rectify the effects of racism dating back even before the Civil War. One of the fruition of these attempts is Affirmative Action, which was initially enforced “to ensure equality in hiring” among minorities. Later, Affirmative Action was amended to include education under its protection. Throughout its duration, however, it has alleviated the racial tension unsubstantially. Affirmative Action’s attempt to halt the racial disparities in higher education that has burdened the African Americans constitutes an inconsequential solution: It forges the same environment suffering the struggle it has been trying to eradicate.

As mentioned before, freedom was basically a lie, mainly because it did not have a direct or specific meaning in society. For some people freedom meant the absence of slavery, but for other people it also implied rights for the former slaves or at least equality. During the Reconstruction, the word ‘’freedom’’ became the main source of conflict and emerged new kinds of relations between the black and white southerners, but still with a lack of equality. At the same time, these relations were formed between blacks and the nation, with a new sense of unity, faith and hope. In document 1 of chapter 1: ‘’William Howard Day, an African American Minister, Salutes the Nation and a Monument to Abraham Lincoln. 1865’’, the word choices made by Day were fundamental on the description of the new nation: ‘’ We come to the National Capital-our Capital-with new hopes, new prospects, new joys, in view of the future and the past of the people...’’. Many African Americans including Day, saw the country as a whole entity, emphasizing it by calling the Capital ‘’their’’ Capital. In addition to that, the Civil War left the citizens with a new sense of equality, since it was fought by a mixed army, with white and colored men: ‘’To the white and colored soldiers of this war, led on as they were by our noble President and other officers...’’. Day represented the voice of a large

In 1861, a horrific war began. Nobody had any idea that this war would become the deadliest war in American history. It wasn’t a regular war, it was a civil war opposing the Union in the North and the Confederate States in the South.. The Civil War cost many people’s lives on the battlefield and beyond. In addition it cost an extreme amount of money for the nation which possibly could have been avoided if the war had turned to happen a little differently.

Abraham Lincoln once stated “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln is a hero for the citizens of America because his determination and courage to ending slavery even if it meant war caused peace in this nation. Slavery was the vital cause of the American Civil War. The north and the south both had their differences on how to run the country. People in the North believed in unity and that slavery should not exist because “all men are created equally.” On the other hand, the South believed in continuing slavery. People tried to talk it out and come to a middle ground after both sides compromising, however that didn’t work and caused war. Ideological differences were a vital role to making the American Civil War an inevitable event.