African-American Soldiers in the American Civil War By Amanda Moorer and Kiersten Pate

Federal Laws About Enlistment Federal laws from 1792 prevented African-Americans from bearing arms for the U.S. army. With the Navy, they had been serving as shipboard firemen, stewards, coal heavers and even boat pilots since African-Americans had served in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812.

Reasoning Behind the Apprehension Needed support of the four border slave states and the Northern Democrats – May have turned against the Union if the Republicans had moved against slavery in Lincoln was bound by the Constitution. He wanted to send freed blacks to Central America. – “Colonization” had been supported by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, and even Harriet Beecher Stowe, In August 1862, Lincoln brought five black ministers to the White House and told them that slavery and the war had demonstrated that it would be “better for us both, therefore, to be separated.”

Lincoln's Position “slavery is an unqualified evil to the negro, to the white man, to the soil, and to the State.” – Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois. September 11, 1858 “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” – First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1861

Rethinking Union Policy The war was nowhere near an end and white volunteers were dwindling in number. Emancipation could weaken the Confederacy and strengthen the Union. July 1862 Congress enacted two laws in response. Emancipation became: – “a military necessity.... We must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued.... The Administration must set an example, and strike at the heart of the rebellion.”

Emancipation Proclamation Issued only after the major Union victory in the Battle of Antietam. January 1, The slaves in rebel states were liberated “as an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity.” The border slave states and parts of Confederate states controlled by the Union army were exempt. – Lincoln had tried earlier to persuade the border states to accept gradual emancipation, with compensation to slave owners from the federal government, but they had refused.

54 th Massachusetts First black regiment: 1,007 black soldiers and 37 white officers Many were not from Massachusetts – one-quarter came from slave states – others came from Canada and the Caribbean. Lead by Robert Shaw. First engagement: Fort Wagner, guarded the Port of Charleston, in South Carolina, on July 18, 1863, with 600 men. 1,700 confederate soldiers waited. Half died including Colonel Shaw. “I want you to prove yourselves,” he said. “The eyes of thousands will look on what you do tonight.”

Problems For Black Union Soldiers Paid $10 a month. Charged a $3 monthly fee for clothing. White soldiers were paid at least $13, with officers earning more. The highest-paid black soldier earned about half the lowest- paid white soldier’s salary. Black regiments protested and refused to accept their inferior wages for 18 months. In 1864, they finally received equal pay. Segregated units commanded by white officers and black noncommissioned officers. Greater dangers when captured by the Confederate Army.

African-American Impact Less than one percent of the northern population. By the end of the war they made up 10 % of the Union Army. A total of 180,000 black men, more than 85% of those eligible, enlisted. 80 black commissioned officers. 16 black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their valor.

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