African American Men: The Role Of African Americans In The Civil War

The Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775) started the 7-year struggle also known as the Revolutionary War. The War was fought between Great Britain and their 13 American Colonies over the British government's overimposing taxes. The 13 colonies ended up winning the War and officially became the United States of America. However, the 13 colonies didn’t achieve this feat alone. While usually only white men from the colonies are depicted as the main heroes of the war the unsung heroes are the African Americans and women of America. Both African Americans and women helped to further the American Revolution’s cause with their contributions . Both fought in the war and in certain cases had to lie in order to serve, however, their motives

During the Civil War, it is said that almost 180,000 Black Soldiers served in the Union Army. The families of these soldiers would camp in nearby makeshift villages to be near their husbands, sons and fathers. The soldiers assisted them the best they could by share food and clothing from their military rations. Nearly 40,000 Black Soldiers died during the course of the war with 30,000 due to infections and diseases. Although Blacks were giving the chance to fight for their freedom, they were still not looked as equals. Black soldiers served in artillery and infantry and performed all noncombat support functions that sustain an army, as well. Black carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause. (Freeman1) The North thought of slavery as immoral but they still did not want to fight and die next to Black Soldiers, and Blacks captured as POWs by the Confederate Army was treated far more severely than their White counter

It was the early twentieth 100 , and the world had already changed trehands dously compared to the world of their parents and grandparents. Slavery had ended in United States more than half a century earlier. While African American English still faced tremendous economic and social obstacle in both the northern and southern DoS , there were more chance than there had been. After the Civil War (and first slightly before, especially in the Union ), Department of Education for Negroid American English -- and total darkness and white char -- had become more common . Many were not able to attend or complete schooltime time , but a substantial few were able not only to attend and complete elementary or secondary winding school, but college . Professional

Even though some sacrificed the ultimate price fighting overseas to defend their country and housewives leave home and enter the nation 's factories. African Americans continued, filling vacated factory jobs and Mexican Americans were courted to cross the border to assist with the harvest season. More teenagers pitched in to fill the demand for new labor. Americans of all ages and races on the American Homefront all stepped up to the plate during the devastation of World War II.

The African Americans had a big impact on the Civil War. They had to have all of these laws and papers wrote because of the slavery deal. They had the role of the debate for slavery. They were the slaves and they wanted to have their freedom. The Declaration of Independence said that, “All men are created equal”, but the slaves were not free. They shaped the Civil War by having the Emancipation Proclamation, the fourteenth amendment, and the fifteenth amendment. The consequences would be that at first the newly freed slaves wouldn’t have a place to go, because they never had no money and they didn’t have all their rights yet.

African Americans fought in the Civil War on the Union and Confederate side. Most of the slaves were free and run away slaves. The emancipation proclamation helped the slaves be free and get their citizenship. Black soldiers did not receive equal or treatment white soldiers made more money. In June 1864 Congress granted retroactive equal pay meaning blacks and whites made the same pay. The fugitive slave act allowed the capture and runaway slaves return to their territory. The fugitive slave act gave slaveholders protection it protected free slaves that were seized for the wrong reason.

All their actions helped us win the war. Slaves would escape their plantations under the cover of darkness to travel north. A large portion that wanted to help, by that they would give information to the Union generals on what the Confederates were planning to do (Doc. 1). During battles, slaves would run back and forth on the battlefield, dodging bullets, to get their message across. It was very dangerous and were risking their lives for what they believed in. Not even on the battlefield many wished to join the Union. All of them knew once they crossed Union lines they could be free. Their thirst for freedom was great (Doc. 2). However they were not always treated equal. What was difficult about going north? The journeys up to the north were horrendous. The routes held many challenges. Common challenges were weather, pro slavery white people, they risked getting shot, and worst they could be captured(Doc. 2). Lots of antislavery leaders, like Frederick Douglass, wrote editorials on the subject and held peaceful protests against it. Frederick Douglass was an African American man who was against slavery from the start. He escaped on a train and was free in the north (OI). He wrote an abolition newspaper called the North Star that helped raise awareness on how terrible this was (Doc. 3). Douglass stated in an article saying that slaves “would never be done away with” (Doc. 3). Frederick hinted at African American philosophers and statesmen to come up with a plan (Doc. 3). Union armies needed more people; the escaped slaves were happy to help, joining the Union’s side. (Doc. 4). Unfortunately, they were not allowed to fight as equals to the white soldiers. Their pay was less, their weapons inferior. One example of an African American soldier in the Union army was a letter from Samuel Cabble. In his letter he writes to his family that the army has accepted him and

The lecture on African Americans in the 1920s by Professor David Canton is very disturbing. His lecture was on the different unjust treatment that African Americans endured. The professor, to me, was trying to make the listener feel the anguish that African Americans did in the 1920s. In some sense he appeared passionate and at times angry about the treatment of African Americans. The government supported this hostile treatment because they believed African Americans were being subversive if they stood up and defended themselves. In listening to the lecture it is evident that there was unfair treatment with fatal outcome at times of African Americans. Throughout history I have seen the changes made by society and government. African Americans have been heard and continue to be heard as issues occur.

Before the American Civil War happened close to four million African-Americans were slaves. At the turn of the century the Naturalization Act of 1970 allowed only white men to vote. After the Civil War the thirteenth (1865), fourteenth (1868) and fifteenth (1870) amendments were passed, allowing African-American males to vote and have citizenship, which also led to ending slavery. Even after the ending of slavery, there were still some white men who tried to keep white supremacy alive thereby dehumanizing and alienating African-Americans from the mainstream of people.

African Americans had an extremely pivotal role in the outcome and consequences of the Civil War. This group of people were enslaved, and forced to work in horrible conditions, for the whole day, without pay. Slaves were one of the main causes of the Civil War. The issue of Slavery, which resulted in the eventual economic and social division between the North and South, caused the creation of the Confederate States. African Americans did not only unintentionally cause the war, but they also effected the outcome of the war, and the eventual consequences the nation would face after the war. During the war, blacks were used as motivation to fight, they were willing to help fight, and they even worked their way into the politics of the post war

Although slavery was declared over after the passing of the thirteenth amendment, African Americans were not being treated with the respect or equality they deserved. Socially, politically and economically, African American people were not being given equal opportunities as white people. They had certain laws directed at them, which held them back from being equal to their white peers. They also had certain requirements, making it difficult for many African Americans to participate in the opportunity to vote for government leaders. Although they were freed from slavery, there was still a long way to go for equality through America’s reconstruction plan.

After Reconstruction, African Americans faced many social, political, and economic issues. The years following the Reconstruction continued to create tension between African Americans and whites. In the south African Americans were still not given the same rights as whites. With this tension, came social, political, and economic issues. During this time, African Americans faced social adversity. A social problem that arose was due Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow Laws legalized racial segregation in all public facilities in southern states, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for African Americans. These laws were legalized in the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated that “separate but equal” was constitutional. This

Reconstruction among the south refers to the point in time which the United States was attempting to establish a relationship between the union and the rebels. The Union had won the civil war, so the next step was to begin to mend the broken relationship between the north and the south. Though historians cannot agree on when it began, there is merit in saying that it started before the end of the Civil War. After victory, had been solidified for the Union, attention of President Lincoln turned towards reconstruction.

The Civil War and the period of Reconstruction brought significant political, social, and economic changes to American society, and these effects continued into the 20th century.

Post Civil War, African Americans started to gain rights to gain rights, and soon gain rights equal to whites. While there were some people/things standing in their way (KKK, Black Codes), in the end they got what they needed; Equality. Many acts and laws were passed to aid the new rights now held by African Americans, as well as the numerous people willing to help.