Chapter 11 Liberation: African Americans and the Civil War

Confederate States 1.South Carolina (December 20, 1860) [4][5] [4][5] 2.Mississippi (January 9, 1861) [6] [6] 3.Florida (January 10, 1861) [7] [7] 4.Alabama (January 11, 1861) [8] [8] 5.Georgia (January 19, 1861) [9] [9] 6.Louisiana (January 26, 1861) [10] [10] 7.Texas (February 1, 1861) [11] [11]

Confederate States Con’t 8.Virginia (April 17, 1861; ratified by voters May 23, 1861) [13] [13] 9.Arkansas (May 6, 1861) [14] [14] 10.Tennessee (May 7, 1861; ratified by voters June 8, 1861) [15][16] [15][16] 11.North Carolina (May 20, 1861) [17] [17]

Border States Delaware Maryland Kentucky Missouri West Virginia

Map of a nation divided

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

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

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 felt gratified

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

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

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.

XII. Black People and the Confederacy Confederacy based on defense of slavery Benefited from the labors of bonds people –Toiled in fields –Worked in factories – Permitted more white men to serve in military

Black People and the Confederacy (cont.) Confederates enslave free black people –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 Show loyalty and gain white acceptance Re-enslavement concerns Southern leaders generally ignored offers unless for menial labor

Black Enlistments General Patrick Cleburne recommends, early 1864 –President Davis cease and desist order –Most southerners considered arming slaves appalling –Defied southern assumptions “If slaves will make good soldiers our whole theory of slavery is wrong.”--Howell Cobb March 1865 Confederate Congress voted to enlist 300,000 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 –White man’s war –Colonization –Enlistment –Appreciation