African Americans In The Civil War Essay

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Schools all around need to teach more about the lives of African Americans during the Civil War. Although African Americans in the Civil War played a large role in the North’s success, the treatment by their “brothers-in-arms” failed to exhibit the gratitude due to them. During the Civil War, African Americans were not exactly treated as kindly as they should have been, they played many important roles in winning the war, and African-Americans seeking to enlist were adamantly rejected up until July of 1862, due to the 1792 Federal law barring Negroes from bearing arms in the U.S Army (African Americans in the Civil War). The Lincoln Administration was hesitant to authorize blacks to enlist, in fear that such a bold move would force border states to secede (Black …show more content…
Fueled by their own accounts with slavery and prejudice, African-American activists such as Frederick Douglass lobbied for African-Americans to enlist. Amongst the flood of African-Americans bearing arms to fight for the Union, were two of Douglass’ own sons (Black Soldiers in the Civil War). Serving as artillery, infantry, carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, and surgeons, nearly 179,000 black men enlisted in the Union Army (Black Soldiers in the Civil War). Due to the steady stream of African-Americans flooding in to fight in the United States Army, the United States Government issued the Bureau of Colored Troops in May of 1863. Although fighting to escape the prejudice of the Southern States, black soldiers faced the very same demon they drew arms to take on, within the Union military itself, discrimination. Typically commanded by white officers, black soldiers were distributed in segregated Units (Black Soldiers in the Civil War). In addition to black soldiers being paid $3 less than white soldiers’ $13 monthly wage, another $3

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