African Americans have had a long history of suffering from discrimination in the United States. Although most people are probably aware of this issue, even in today's news, they don't exactly know how they were being discriminated. Some people believe that African American soldiers lacked involvement in the civil war. However, they faced huge losses in battles, were discriminated against, and their extended families were also at a loss while they were away at battle, therefore African Americans greatly impacted the civil war outcome for the union. African Americans made huge sacrifices when it came to fighting. Initially they were not even allowed to fight for their own cause. They still kept their heads up while fighting in very poor conditions. They kept their heads up, even though they suffered casualties around 35-50% greater than those of the white soldiers. ( Moore and 3-5). Frederick Douglas, a very important African American leader in history, believed that the participation of African Americans in the civil war would have a major impact on how the war would end and on the African Americans finally receiving their citizenship. “The slaughter was awful. Words cannot describe the scene. The poor deluded negroes would run up to our men, …show more content…
fall upon their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but they were ordered to their feet and then shot down. The white men fared but little better. Their fort turned out to be a great slaughter pen.degrees. The death toll for the white soldiers was under thirty-six per cent, while sixty-six per cent of the black soldiers were killed? The white officers fared particularly badly. The commanding Union officer, Major William F. Bradford, was captured and subsequently shot "while attempting to escape." (Reid 1). These brave men faced discrimination against almost every aspect during the war . To begin with, “In May 1861, Douglass pressured President Lincoln to allow African American men to enlist, urging the government to, ‘let the slaves and free colored people be called into service, and formed into a liberating army’”(Moore and Neal 4). In his own words Lincoln stated “Such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service”. By doing this Abraham Lincoln gave notice that the enlistment of black men into the Union armed forces was going to be an essential element of his plan to use emancipation as a means of ending the war once and for all and restoring the Union (Diemer 737). What if this had not happened? Would the African Americans ever get their chance to prove their strength? There were 200,000 African Americans that served, both freedmen and slaves.
They marched in every campaign between 1864 to 1865, but Frederick Douglas had to convince president Lincoln because it wasn’t allowed for the first 18 months (Moore and Neal 3-5). In some cases during the war casualty rates were very high, such as in the Battle of Fort Pillow, Tennessee, in 1864, where only 62 of 292 Black Union troops survived (Moore and Neal 4). Despite this terrible loss of life Bush Banks describes how these brave African American troops carried out their duties faithfully: Foremost in the ranks of warriors, our black heroes took their place. With the lines of fearless courage. Stamped upon each dusky face.” ( Moore and Neal
5). African American families too were in positions where they had to make sacrifices. Families of African Americans dealt with the pain of never seeing their son’s husbands, even, or brothers ever again. Louis Douglass, the son of Frederick Douglass describes his feeling in a letter written to his beloved future wife: “This regiment has established its reputation as a fighting regiment not a man flinched, though it was a trying time. Men fell all around me. A shell would explode and clear a space of twenty feet, our men would close up again, but it was no use we had to retreat, which was a very hazardous undertaking. How I got out of that fight alive I cannot tell, but I am here. My Dear girl I hope again to see you. I must bid you farewell should I be killed. Remember if I die I die in a good cause. I wish we had a hundred thousand colored troops we would put an end to this war. Goodbye to all Write soon Your own loving LEWIS” (Douglass 1). This is just one of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, imagine what the rest would have to say. African Americans played a huge role in the outcome of the civil war, while making many sacrifices along the way. Without them the war would of had the possibility of being prolonged, as well as their individual freedoms. In the end the North ended up winning the civil war, ultimately making all African Americans free, although there was still a sense of racial superiority within the white southerners. They didn’t see them as free or equal and this would continue for the decades to come. It would not be until the uproar of the civil rights movements in the 1950’s that would lead their way to becoming equal to the same degree as everyone else. Even to this day there are still many struggles that face African Americans, but one thing is for sure and that is, these people have such a empowering past filled with struggle as a motive to fight for what they believe in. Their ancestors. the African Americans that fought in the war gave themselves a sense of hope that would continue to spread on even to this day.
Black soldiers were among the bravest of those fighting in the Civil War. Both free Blacks in the Union army and escaped slaves from the South rushed to fight for their freedom and they fought with distinction in many major Civil War battles. Many whites thought Blacks could not be soldiers. They were slaves. They were inferior. Many thought that if Blacks could fight in the war it would make them equal to whites and prove the theory of slavery was wrong. Even though Black soldiers had to face much discrimination during the Civil War, they were willing to fight to the death for their freedom. In the movie “Glory“ the director focused on the African Americans in the north that fought in the 54th regiment led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. During the time of the Civil War, the African Americans that fought in the 54th regiment were often treated unfairly but there were always nice people that backed them up.
For the beginning, in the middle and in the ending of the Civil War in the United States, the Black Americans were central as soldier and civilian. At first, people tried hard to get around this fact. Even President Abraham Lincoln administration sent Black volunteers home with an understanding that the war was a ''White man's war". The policy was eventually changed not because of humanitarianism but because of the Confederation's battlefield brilliance. The South brought the North to a realization that it was in a real brawl that it needed all the weapons it could lay hands on.
In 1619, slaves from Africa started being shipped to America. In the years that followed, the slave population grew and the southern states became more dependent on the slaves for their plantations. Then in the 1800s slavery began to divide America, and this became a national conflict which lead to the Civil War. Throughout history, groups in the minority have risen up to fight for their freedom. In the United States, at the time of the Civil War African Americans had to fight for their freedom. African Americans used various methods to fight for their freedom during the Civil War such as passing information and supplies to the Union Army, escaping to Union territory, and serving in the Union’s army. These actions affected the African Americans and the United States by helping the African Americans earn citizenship and abolishing slavery in the United States.
During winter months, basic huts were constructed from wood when it was available. During the civil war, most of the soldiers fought only 75 percent of the time. When they were not fighting, their day usually started at 5:00 in the morning during the summer and spring, and 6:00 in the morning during the fall and winter. Soldiers would be awakened by fifes and drums, then the first sergeant would take a roll call, and all the men sat down to eat breakfast. During the day, soldiers would be engaged in sometimes as many as five 2-hour long drill sessions on weaponry or maneuvers.
African Americans helped shape the Civil War from various perspectives. Actually, they were the underlying foundation for the war if you think about it in depth. African Americans were slaves and had been dealt with like property since they arrived in America. The likelihood of opportunity for these slaves created an enormous commotion in the South. The issue of equal rights for African Americans brought on a gap between the states. The United States Civil War began as an effort to save the Union, and ended in a fight to abolish slavery. The Civil War, frequently known as the War Between the States in the United States, which was a Civil War battled from 1861 to 1865, after seven Southern slave states proclaimed their severance and framed the Confederate States of the United States. More Americans died in the Civil War than in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. Two thirds of the individuals that were killed in the Civil War died of disease. The medical world at the time of the Civil War and advanced disinfectants, did not exist which could have enormously lessen the spread of disease and illnesses. After years of bloody combat that left over 600,000 soldier’s dead and destroyed much of the South's infrastructure, the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, & the difficult Reconstruction process of restoring national unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed slaves began. By December 1865 the 13th Amendment had abolished slavery throughout the United States (Waldstreicher).
The Reconstruction-era was an extremely rough period for the African-Americans as well as many white settlers. The African-Americans endured numerous hardships and losses as a result of the white settlers' frustrations. Although the African-Americans' losses were great during this time, the progress made throughout that period is amazing. Many of them were sent off with nothing, to live on their own and a number of them managed to meet success. Their largest success came when the Reconstruction-era ended. African-Americans fought and struggled for their freedom, rights, and equality, for years, and although it took them a long time, they accomplished what they set out to do.
The Americans of African and European Ancestry did not have a very good relationship during the Civil war. They were a major cause of the Civil War. But, did they fix or rebuild that relationship after the war from the years 1865 to 1900? My opinion would be no. I do not believe that the Americans of African and European ancestry successfully rebuilt their relationship right after the Civil war. Even though slavery was finally slowly getting abolished, there was still much discrimination against the African Americans. The Jim Crow laws and the black codes discriminated against black people. The Ku Klux Klan in particular discriminated against black people. Even though the United States government tried to put laws into the Constitution to protect black people, the African Americans were discriminated in every aspect of life from housing, working, educating, and even going to public restrooms!
There were estimated about 190,000 African Americans fought in the Civil War. Estimated about 38,000 of them died. Many of them believing that if they fought with the Union or Confederate, they would become equal to the white's. Even some of the African Americans were treated better than some of the white's. The reason why some of the African Americans were treated better than some of the white's was because if a white soldier didn't do his job or didn't follow orders, they would put a African American in their place, of course if that African American had followed orders in the past.
African American history plays a huge role in history today. From decades of research we can see the process that this culture went through and how they were depressed and deculturalized. In school, we take the time to learn about African American History but, we fail to see the aspects that African Americans had to overcome to be where they are today. We also fail to view life in their shoes and fundamentally understand the hardships and processes that they went through. African Americans were treated so terribly and poor in the last century and, they still are today. As a subordinate race to the American White race, African Americans were not treated equal, fair, human, or right under any circumstances. Being in the subordinate position African Americans are controlled by the higher white group in everything that they do.
...or their heroic efforts during times of such as the 369th battalion and Doris Miller. African Americans had more of their basic rights, political voice, respect, and were able to blend into American society by the end of World War II.
The American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, or simply the Civil War in the United States, was a civil war fought from 1861 to 1865, after seven Southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America . The states that remained in the Union were known as the "Union" or the "North". The war had its origin in the fractious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories. Foreign powers did not intervene. After four years of bloody combat that left over 600,000 soldiers dead and destroyed much of the South's infrastructure, the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and the difficult Reconstruction process of restoring national unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed slaves began.
To wrap it up, African Americans lived an unfair past in the south, such as Alabama, during the 1930s because of discrimination and the misleading thoughts towards them. The Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow Laws and the way they were generally treated in southern states all exemplify this merciless time period of the behavior towards them. They were not given the same respect, impression, and prospect as the rest of the citizens of America, and instead they were tortured. Therefore, one group should never be singled out and should be given the same first intuition as the rest of the people, and should never be judged by color, but instead by character.
They would fight in World War I, now they were not only fight for America but for the Triple Entente. The 369th Infantry Regiment was a segregated black infantry that earned both their name, Harlem Hellfighters, and their insignia, a rattlesnake. The Germans called them “hellfighters” as they proved how they had tenacity when it came to battle. Also, “70 percent of the 369th called Harlem home”( Henry). Their insignia was a rattlesnake, which was fitting as they showed bravery and fierceness in battle. World War I was really the time for African Americans to fight on behalf of not only America but for democracy.“Hundreds of black men laid down their lives in France because they refused to believe that they were anything but men, worthy of being Americans and representing their country.”(Myers). It was much larger than just protecting your family it meant more. Unfortunately it was hypocritical as blacks were still separated from white troops and were still being treated unjustly at home; therefore this was their chance to earn the respect they deserved long time
It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s. During the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place, it was the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools....
African Americans fought until the Jim Crow laws were taken out of effect, and they received equality of all people regardless of race. Along the way there were many controversial court cases and important leaders who helped to take a stand against racial segregation.