Essay On The Role Of Black Soldiers In The Civil War

Americans had been engaged in a Civil War which had been begun in April of 1861 with shots fired on a fort in South Carolina. In the summer of 1863 in a small town called Gettysburg, there would be a fierce battle fought between the Union Army of the Potomac led by General George G. Meade and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia led by General Robert E. Lee. The events of the battle would overcome the losses suffered by the Union and put the Confederacy on the run. “Over 165,000 men would converge, and before the fighting ended, the ground would run red with blood. The battle was fierce, and the casualties proved it. But the casualties that resulted would not be in vain, at least for the Union; the formidable power

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment aka the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, was the first official all African-American regiment with 1007 black troops and 3 white officers leading them. There was one very heroic man among named Robert Gould Shaw who was one of the white officers. The regiment began in the Boston Common and went down to South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The regiment carried out a lot of operations across these states including the siege of Fort Wagner. Fort Wagner was not necessarily a win but it still showed heroic

The Battle of Fort Wagner consisted of two battles the second being the most deadly and the most famous of the battles. There were several events and terrain features that cost the Union these battles during the attempted siege of Fort Wagner. Even though the Battles were a complete loss there’s several things that came from the battles that had lasting impacts on the war and America.

Although many of the Negro soldiers had proved themselves as very reputable soldiers, the discrimination in pay, and in many other areas, had remained very widespread. According to the notable Militia Act of 1862, all soldiers of any African descent, were to only receive $10.00 a month, plus

During American involvement in the war, African Americans were listed and reenlisted on the military draft at higher rates than any other nationalities including whites and Latin-Americans (Westheider 9). As a result, more African Americans than any othe r minority fought and died in combat. In addition, they constantly faced racism. One militant protested forcefully against the unfair conditions: “You should see for yourself how the black man is being treated over here and the ay we are dying. When it comes to rank, we are left out. When it comes to special privileges, we are left out. When it comes to patrols, perataions and so forth, we are first” (Gallagher). According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., black youths represented an unequal share of early draftees and faced a significantly higher chance of seeing combat. “Rumors abounded that the U.S. government were using the Vietnam War as a form of genocide. Money was being pumped into Vietnam instead of poor black communities in America” (Gallegher).

McClellan's soldiers had found the sniping worrisome enough, but even more disturbing was the disclosure that the slain enemy marksman had been a Negro. Tales of the deadly "darky sharpshooter" spread throughout the Union camp, and the daring black's exploits were later recorded in the postwar regimental history of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. To men who had been raised on the fulminations of William Lloyd Garrison and uncle Tom's Cabin, it seemed incomprehensible that any black man could willingly serve the Confederacy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A British observer, Lt. Col. Arthur J. Fremantle of the Coldstream Guards, noted in his diary that he observed an armed black man leading a Union

Throughout American history, African Americans have had to decide whether they belonged in the United States or if they should go elsewhere. Slavery no doubtfully had a great impact upon their decisions. However, despite their troubles African Americans made a grand contribution and a great impact on both armed forces of the Colonies and British. "The American Negro was a participant as well as a symbol."; (Quarles 7) African Americans were active on and off the battlefield, they personified the goal freedom, the reason for the war being fought by the Colonies and British. The African Americans were stuck in the middle of a war between white people. Their loyalty was not to one side or another, but to a principle, the principle of liberty.

The film Glory by Edward Zwick is one of the most well-known films of all time. The film itself is solely based upon the first formal unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War which consist of all African American men. They were essentially the very first unit of United States Colored Troops. They were formally known for their courageous attempts to and actions at Fort Wagner in 1863. The film is set in many different locations such as New York, Maryland, South Carolina and Massachusetts. In each of these different locations events took place that shaped our history. For example on November twenty seventh of 1862 Robert Shaw started to train soldiers. July eighteenth 1863 the Colonel Shaw and his troops attempted to take Fort Wagner, which didn’t succeed.

African Americans during this era had a desire for freedom. They would do anything else instead of hard labor. These fine soldiers knew racism was horrible, but they kept their head up and continued proving people wrong. Racism

The play makes it clear that even though they had hoped for change, the African American soldiers were treated worse than their white counterparts, even at war. The men, however, were still willing to fight for their country, with the belief that their doing so would help raise the status of all African Americans. This faith in America was put to the ultimate test later in the play when enemy soldiers tried to convince an African American to join them, to which the American refused. The overcoming of an intense moral struggle by the African American soldiers, and the key role they played in helping to win the war for America reinforces our conventional understanding of racial discrimination, that it is wrong to treat people differently due to their race.

Like any war the War for Equality had its’ causes, in this case the war was brought about by the continued mistreatment of racial minorities. This mistreatment came in many forms: segregation, violation of other civil rights, and violence.

“Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war.

On July 17, 1862 African american soldiers made a huge impact in the war. By the end of the war 179,000 served in the Union army and 19,000 served in the Navy.There were a lot of African american soldiers that made an impact on the war. For example Alexander T. Augusta was the first african american that was head of hospital and first professor but he mostly known for being the highest rank African American officer in the Civil War. As a major in the Union army he was appointed to the 7th U.S colored infantry. With his good work in the army in 1865 Augusta was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the time the highest rank for a African American officer. Another African American soldier with a big impact was Christian Fleetwood, he was one of twenty five African American men that won a medal of honor in the Civil War. Also “Fleetwood and his regiment fought in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm on the outskirts of Richmond. The 4th Regiment was ordered to charge the Confederate fortifications, with Fleetwood leading the left flank.” (Christian Fleetwood Sergeant Major). http://www.civilwar.org/ (5/26/14). The next important impact is William Matthews he was born into slavery but he escaped to the underground railroad nut in February 27, 1862 he volunteered for the Union army. Also “Between August 17 and November 25, 1862, Matthews recruited a company of 81 men for the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry.” ( African Americans in the War).

In this film, I learned more about the history of African Americans in this country and about freedom and racial equality, things that we nowadays just take for granted, but that weren’t always the norm. Reading the history book, I learned that back in the 1800s being a black person meant that you couldn’t join the army and that many people saw black people as inferior, they thought that since most of them worked in the fields and they were illiterate, that they couldn’t possibly fight as well as the white soldiers. On the movie, this view was clearly proved wrong however, as multiple black regiments popped up across the union in the northern part of the country. Then, it was quickly proved that they were just as capable of performing well in battle as their white counterparts.

Though the African American men were seen as an inferior, and either as a second or third class citizen given little to almost no importance, Col. Robert Gould Shaw not only wanted for his brave men to fight, but also gave them a chance to prove themselves wrong from the assumptions being made. He wanted to show that they were not only good for their manual labour, but also for protecting and fulfilling their duties as American citizens. Fighting for their country is something they thought the Black men could never do and were almost afraid to see that come true, for it might pose them as equals to the Whites. It can be argued from the portrayal through Glory, that if the Black men were to fight and if they were to succeed, then what would be the difference between them and the other white soldiers?