Chapter 11 Liberation: African Americans and the Civil War

I. Lincoln’s Aims Preserve the Union Everything else secondary Especially concerned about the border states Call for 75,000 volunteers Black volunteers rejected

II. Black Men Volunteer and Are Rejected Fate of Union tied to issue of slavery Fate of slavery tied to the outcome of war Black people understood before northerners Anglo-African newspaper New York, Philadelphia, Boston Black men offered their services

III. Union Policies toward Confederate Slaves No coherent policy to deal with slaves Union military commanders showed more concern for slave owner’s interests

“Contraband” General Benjamin Butler Fortress Monroe, May 1861 Refused to return three runaway slaves, calling them “Contraband” Contraband=Enemy property, or slaves First Confiscation Act, August 1861 allowed Union soldiers to take confederate slaves

Lincoln’s Initial Position Reluctant to move against slavery, 1861 Border state loyalty Supported compensated emancipation-colonization Wanted to end slavery in border states, April 1862 Warned border states to accept compensation or risk getting nothing, July 1862

Lincoln Moves toward Emancipation Victory and Union tied to slavery issue “Strike at the heart of the rebellion” Tells his cabinet, summer 1862 William Seward warns Lincoln to wait Montgomery Blair feared fall elections

Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation Map 11–1. Effects of the Emancipation Proclamation When Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it applied only to slaves in those portions of the Confederacy not under Union authority. No southern slave owners freed their slaves at Lincoln’s command. But many black people already had freed themselves, and many more would liberate themselves as well as family and friends in the aftermath of Lincoln’s order. The Emancipation Proclamation was of extreme importance. It helped the Union win the war. It meant that at long last the U.S. government had joined the abolitionist movement.

Lincoln Delays Emancipation Waited for a victory on the battlefield Northern defeats, spring and summer 1862 Antietam Justification for announcing emancipation Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation gave confederacy 100 days to return to union

Black People Reject Colonization Would not retreat from colonization Liberia Haiti Black people not interested

IV. Preliminary Emancipation White southerners ridiculed it Many white northerners had little enthusiasm Antiblack riots Northern Democrats almost all opposed Denounced Lincoln and Republicans Most black people gratified

V. Emancipation Proclamation Limited to areas still in rebellion Did not include border states Changes war goals 1. Preserve the Union 2. Make people free

How would the Emancipation Proclamation affect the war: Socially? Politically? Economically? Militarily?

Effects of Proclamation on the South Ended chance of foreign recognition Encouraged Slaves to flee Slaves to resist

VI. Black Men Fight for the Union Emancipation Proclamation Authorized black men to enlist Union defeats and the need for manpower Thomas Wentworth Higginson Robert Gould Shaw

Black Men Fight for the Union (cont.) Discrimination and hostility Segregated units White officers Often held racist beliefs Lower pay scale White privates $13/month Black privates $10/month

Black Men Fought for the Union 185,000 black men fought for the Union during the Civil War.

Black Men Fight for the Union (cont.) Combat Suffered disproportionately more casualties Battery Wagner William H. Carney Olustee The Crater

Battery Wagner on Morris Island On the evening of July 18, 1863, more than six hundred black men led by their white commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, attacked heavily fortified Battery Wagner on Morris Island near the southern approach to Charleston harbor. They made a frontal assault through withering fire and managed to breach the battery before Confederate forces threw them back. Shaw was killed and the 54th suffered heavy losses. It was a defining moment of the Civil War, demonstrating to skeptical white people the valor and determination of black troops.

VII. Confederate Reaction to Black Soldiers Enraged Refused to recognize black men as soldiers Treat as rebellious slaves General Order Number 11 Fort Pillow Massacre Union response Union commanders angry It ordered the expulsion of all Jews in his military district, comprising areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. The order was issued as part of a Union campaign against a black market in Southern cotton, which Grant thought was being run "mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders.

Fort Pillow In April 1864 fifteen hundred Confederate forces under General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked and captured Fort Pillow, a Union installation on the Mississippi River forty miles north of Memphis, Tennessee, that was defended by 550 black and white troops. After the Union forces surrendered, Confederate troops executed some of the black soldiers. Forrest and his men denied the atrocity, but there is little doubt it occurred.

VIII. Black Men in the Union Navy Tradition of serving in the U.S. Navy, 1790s Integrated Early 19th century many black sailors Attempts to ban them from the navy

IX. Liberators, Spies, and Guides Black men and women Robert Smalls Harriet Tubman—helped free over 800 slaves, destroyed plantations Mary Elizabeth Bowser John Henry Woodson

Robert Smalls Robert Smalls was born a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1839. In May 1862 while still a slave and working as a pilot in Charleston on a 150-foot Confederate vessel, The Planter, Smalls devised an audacious plan to seize the ship. With the ship’s white officers enjoying a night on the town. Smalls sailed The Planter with family and friends aboard to the Union Navy outside the harbor. Smalls’ exploits created a sensation in the North. He went on to become a successful Republican politician in South Carolina in the decades following the Civil War.

X. Violent Opposition to Black People New York City Draft Riot, July 1863 Draft Irish men angry that black men “took their jobs,” Also angry about rich whites purchasing exemption from war

Draft Riot in New York City During the draft riot in New York City in July 1863, black people were attacked, beaten, and killed. A mob lynched this black man near Clarkson Street. SOURCE: Illustrated London News, August 8, 1863.

Violent Opposition to Black People (cont.) Union troops and slaves Often treated slaves horribly Rapes and assaults were not uncommon Others found compassion for enslaved people “I have no heart in this war if the slaves cannot be made free,” a Union soldier wrote.

XI. Refugees Thousands of black people escaped bondage Some followed Union armies Others struck out on their own Faced re-enslavement or execution if caught

Black People and the Confederacy (cont.) Impressment of black people Military demands for manpower Slave owners contributed slave labor Built fortifications Government first asked then compelled Registration and enrollment of free black people military labor Confederate conscription law of 1862—Exempted men who owned twenty slaves from draft

Black People and the Confederacy (cont.) Confederates enslave free black people after Emancipation Proclamation Davis counter proclamation “All free negroes . . . shall be placed on the slave status and be deemed to be chattels. . . forever.” Ordered Confederate armies to capture free black people in the North and enslave them. Robert E. Lee, Pennsylvania 1863

Black Confederates Free black people volunteered services to show loyalty and gain white acceptance Southern leaders generally ignored offers unless for menial labor

Black Confederates (cont.) Small number of black men fight for CSA Some black civilians profit if South wins John Wilson Buckner William Ellison

Black Enlistments March 1865 Confederate Congress voted to enlist 300,000 Too little, too late—In April 1865 confederate troops surrendered at Appomattox Court House Receive same pay as white soldiers Slaves freed only with consent of owners and state agreed

XIII. Conclusion 185,000 black soldiers and sailors served in the Union military Most had been former slaves Almost 40,000 died in combat or of disease during the war Abraham Lincoln and the shift in public attitudes 1. White man’s war 2. Colonization 3. Enlistment 4. Appreciation

Charleston, South Carolina Black troops were among the first Union military forces to “liberate” the devastated city of Charleston, South Carolina, in the waning weeks of the Civil War. On February 21, 1865, the 55th Massachusetts Regiment occupied Charleston. Black residents—many of them former slaves—eagerly welcomed the soldiers. Defeated and discouraged white residents remained secluded indoors. SOURCE: Harper’s Weekly, March 18, 1865.