African-Americans in the Civil War

Answer

Introduction

The role of African-Americans in the American civil war has been the subject of debate for decades. The civil war, pitting the confederacy on one hand, and the Union supported abolitionist movement on the other, was estimated to have occurred from 1861 to 1865, was fuelled by long standing ideological and political differences (Rhodes, 2012). Accordingly, Rhodes (2012) further concur that three reasons could have cultivated secessionist sentiments in the south: ownership of black slaves, the constitutionality of the federal government, and the rights of individual states. A careful review of events leading up to and including the war, points to differences in ideology surrounding slave ownership as the main catalyst of the war (Keegan, 2011). This paper studies the history of African-Americans during the American civil war, with particular emphasis on immediate build-up and the role of African-Americans in the war.

Prelude to the Civil War

The American civil war was preluded by the secession of 11 southern states, thereafter referred to as the Confederate States of America, following the election of pro-Abolitionist president, Abraham Lincoln in 1861 (Keegan, 2011). Historical records as presented by Andrews (2015) identifies the 11 states as South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, and Texas, who broke from the Union, after decades of sectional feuding over slavery. Perman & Taylor (2010) posits that prior to the war, the Northern states had experienced growth in their local economy, buoyed by a rapidly modernizing Agricultural sector, and an expansive transport and financial systems. The foregoing dynamics implied less dependence on slaves for free labor, though small-scale farmers dotted the entire landscape of the North. On the flipside, however, the southern states owed their economy to free labor, and relied exclusively on slaves to work the plantations (Andrews, 2015).             On the political front, debate continued between the two main political formations, the pro-slavery Democratic Party, and the Abolitionist Republican Party. Years of feuding over extension of slavery into new territories led to a series of compromises, notably, the Northwest Ordinance of 1874, in which Missouri was granted statehood (Perman & Taylor, 2010). The ascension of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency in 1860, had made deliberations difficult, as the principally pro-slavery states of the south had seceded to form a new nation, The Confederate States of America. As relations soured, and general engagements degenerated into bitter fighting, the United States entity became untenable (Perman & Taylor, 2010). That same year, the confederate soldiers opened fire at the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, prompting President Lincoln to proclaim the naval blockade of the confederate states. Lincoln (2011), further concedes that President Lincoln’s refusal to admit sovereignty, instead referring to the now seceded lands as states in rebellion, and his directive to the secretary of finance to advance $2 million to bolster the Union soldiers, all but escalated the war. In the end, some 600,000 soldiers from both sides had died, with countless others maimed, or homeless (Andrews, 2015).

Involvement of Black Soldiers in the Civil War

The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, accorded African-Americans a rare chance of liberty and enjoyment of rights that included service in the nation’s military (Rhodes, 2012). Thus, the American civil war played a key role in propelling the hitherto obscure black population to the mainstream of American affairs. Notably, Keegan (2011) points that about 200,000 African Americans, served in different capacities under the union command. Expectedly, the bulk of these soldiers were escapees, who would proceed to serve under different command units. Rhodes (2012) curiously points out that black soldiers who had unofficially fought in the revolutionary, and the 1892 wars, now saw a real chance of joining the military.

The anti-slavery sentiments, propagated by the Lincoln government prompted many free black men to enlist in the union army, despite a 1792 law which barred them from bearing arms (Andrews, 2015). According to Oakes (2011), abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglass opined that the inclusion of black people would greatly improve the Union’s chances of winning, in addition to fast-tracking the attainment of equal rights. However, by 1862, the enactment of a new law, the Second Confiscation and Militia Act, allowed free black men to fully enlist (Andrews, 2015). Additionally, the Act freed slaves who had masters in the confederate army. Further, the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln, and the creation of the Bureau of Colored Troops in 1863 structured the enlisting of black soldiers, while promising full citizenship to the enlistees (Andrews, 2015). In May 1863, the first black regiment, dubbed the Corps d’ Afrique began operations in Louisiana giving way to optimization of operations with 18 regiments, artillery, and cavalry, engineers, and mobile hospitals (Keegan, 2011).

The campaign for greater involvement of black soldiers in the civil war got a major boost when the state of Massachusetts under Abolitionist governor John Andrew formed the first black regiment, 54^th Massachusetts infantry regiment in 1863 (Keegan, 2011). That same year, in a rather unprecedented move that baffled many military commentators, the black troops led an attack on Fort Wagner, in South Carolina, suffering heavy casualties in the process (Keegan, 2011).

Through the entire period of war, from 1863 to 1865, there was general reluctance from both sides to enlist black soldiers. Perman & Taylor (2010) identifies racism as the major factor for this exclusion, but still concedes that the anticipated brutality for captured black prisoners of war, especially by the confederate administration, could have caused deferment of this decision. Nevertheless, the confederate congress still dire consequences to union officers of black soldiers, and black prisoners of war in the likely event of capture. Further still, Andrews (2015) adds that the confederate onslaught on the black people did not end as the Southern President, Jefferson Davis, continued referring to the Emancipation Proclamation as the “the most execrable measure in the history of guilty man”. In addition, the confederacy feared possible reprisal from the Union government, due to their harsh treatment of the 4 million black population within their jurisdiction (Keegan, 2011). Continued prejudice against black soldiers limited their involvement in the civil war. This underpinned the decision by the confederacy to treat black soldiers who were free before the war, in a slightly more humane manner in contrast to their counterparts who never enjoyed any privileges. There was however, no appreciable change in the general welfare of the black population. By the end of the war, an estimated 179,000 black soldiers had served in the US army and navy but most were assigned non-combat roles as carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and laborers. Black women were not permitted to join the army, though some outliers existed, among them Harriet Tubman, who served on behalf of the Union in the second South Carolina Volunteers as a scout (Andrews, 2015).

Commentators have alluded to a dichotomy of motivations between black and white soldiers even as they fought side by side. It is fair to point that the overriding aim of the Union soldiers, both white and black, was for total emancipation of the confederacy (Oakes, 2011). However, simmering disquiet persisted with regard to glaring discrepancies in the weekly payments. Pewrman & Taylor (2010) admits that black soldiers had to endure comparatively low pay – they were entitled to a monthly pay of $10 less $3 for uniform, as their white colleagues got $13, plus $3 uniform allowance – in addition to perceptions of inferiority from their white compatriots.

Conclusion

The foregoing review of American history acknowledges the integral role that African-Americans played in shaping the History of the United States of America throughout the civil war. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, the African-Americans stood against slavery in the south, fought alongside Union Soldiers, and delivered victory in a war whose ramifications are still being felt more than two centuries later: the United States of America owes its current political and administrative structure to these heroes and heroines who helped unity triumph over division.   Through toil, sweat, blood, and heroic display of patriotism during the American Civil war, the African Americans’ sacrifice for the Union will be forever etched in history books and in the collective psyche of the Nation, for many years to come.