The article, “The Negro’s Civil War in Tennessee, 1861-1865” by Bobby L. Lovett, can be found in "The Journal of Negro History. Lovett's article relates the importance of the contributions the black soldiers of Tennessee made during the Civil War. He portraits to the reader the determination of these black Tennesseans fight to gain their freedom under some extremely violent and racial conditions. Confederate Tennessee's State General Assembly in 1861, was the first state to draft black men into military service. The requirements for this Act were: all free black men age 15 to 50 were eligible for labor units, they would be paid $18 a month, and anyone who refused would arrested. This left the black man little choice but to enlist and go to war for the South. When the Civil War was in its' early stages, many ex-slaves wanted to get in on the action. They were hoping to get revenge against those who had …show more content…
enslaved them and their families. But because they were black they were not allowed to enlist. Lovett tell us how the white Tennesseans believed that the black people were lazy and stupid beings and they would remain loyal to their masters. This belief proved to be false, the blacks no longer thought of themselves as too dumb to function without their masters and they fled for Union lines. The Union Army was better organized to utilize the black man and because of this additional manpower was eventually able to claim victory for the United States. In 1862-1863, the Union Army enacted its' policy of hiring blacks as laborers. In 1862, General William Sherman enacted his policy of hiring blacks as laborers. His system had the following stipulations: slaves and their owners names were to be recorded, each military company was allowed 5 Negroes for cooks and teamsters, 65 Negroes maximum on the muster roll, they could not bear arms or wear uniforms, and Loyal masters could claim their slaves and their wages. The black laborers, men and women, allowed the Union Army the ability to free up their white soldiers for combat. Blacks that did not enlist were put into labor battalions and were used as labor to build forts, maintain roads and railways in Tennessee. In 1863, President Lincoln called for 200,000 new troops. These recruits were mainly blacks and most enlisted in Tennessee. The slave masters were paid up to $300 if they allowed their slaves to enlist, but if the rolls were not filled within a month they would enlist the slaves anyway. These black troops in Tennessee helped hold off the Confederate armies in Tennessee. There was much racial harassment between the whites and blacks. It was so bad that one black soldier was hung for trying to create an all-black regiment. Even with the racism and threats, it did not stop the blacks from showing up at recruitment centers all around the state. By 1864, there were 20,133 blacks in the U.S. Volunteer Armed Forces in Tennessee. These black soldiers were now armed and served in both artillery and infantry units. The article goes on to tell us about the formation of additional regiments and some of the battles they fought in. One of the bloodiest battles occurred on April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. The Confederate Cavalry led by Nathan Bedford Forrest, took Fort Pillow and they slaughtered 238 of the 262 black soldiers. Instead of this intimidating the black soldiers it intensified their courage, anger and rage. Lovett goes on to explain his view that the Union's win, at the Battle of Nashville in 1864, was the decisive battle of the Civil War. During this battle 917 blacks fought bravely and lost their lives. Because of this win these rebels never took the battlefield again and the Confederate Army surrendered on April 9, 1865. After the Battle of Nashville on January 12, 1865, the Colored Provisional Division was disbanded and the blacks went back to working the rail lines until there term of service was up. In Lovett's view the Battle of Nashville was the decisive battle of the Civil War, but when I fact checked this I came across other opinions.
For example, the Winchester and Cedar Creek Valley campaign in the 1864, and the battle at Saylor's Creek, where General Lee lost a third of his army in 1865 may also be considered decisive battles. Even if the Battle of Nashville was not the decisive battle, it was one of the decisive battles and the black soldier did contribute to these defeats. The black soldier fought with great passion and bravery and many more blacks served as laborers, spies and scouts. It is a shame that prejudice these blacks faced stopped some from serving in combat, but they did end up serving with distinction in many of the battles. Lovett is very through in his relating of the facts and dates. But on a personal note I would like to have known more about individual accomplishments of some of these brave black people during the Civil War. Did any of these soldiers do something heroic or were any of them promoted to
officers?
The imagery used in this writing makes it seem as if you were there alongside Watkins at the time of the Civil War. It’s specific details factors into making this writing a strong primary historical source, however the inaccurate dates and names take a toll on the memoir as reliability is considered. Although on the contrary, the dates and names are minor inaccuracies, which doesn’t cause a major impact that hinders the books dependability as a primary historical source. Samuel Rush Watkins, one of seven survivors of Company H of the First Tennessee Infantry Regiment, certainly wrote an excellent primary historical source. As he spent his leisure time writing this memoir he had no clue that it’d become such a remarkable writing, and for that many people thank him for his point of view and his
The 1989 film Glory is a classic Civil War film based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The film focuses on the courage displayed by the first black regiment in the Civil War, also known as the “Fighting Fifty-fourth.” The regiment headed by the admirable Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, Matthew Broderick, must overcome an enormous amount of adversity during the war. The film was daring for filmmakers Zwick and Fields because it was a film not only with, “vivid and frightening battle scenes and finely etched dramatic characters, but a film that shattered the great Civil War taboo-it told a story of African Americans(Chadwick). Many articles and texts leading up to the film failed to mention the participation of African Americans in the Civil War. In fact, the participation of African Americans helped turn the course of the war and nearly 300,000 fought for the North.
David W. Blight's book Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory and the American Civil War, is an intriguing look back into the Civil War era which is very heavily studied but misunderstood according to Blight. Blight focuses on how memory shapes history Blight feels, while the Civil War accomplished it goal of abolishing slavery, it fell short of its ultimate potential to pave the way for equality. Blight attempts to prove that the Civil War does little to bring equality to blacks. This book is a composite of twelve essays which are spilt into three parts. The Preludes describe blacks during the era before the Civil War and their struggle to over come slavery and describes the causes, course and consequences of the war. Problems in Civil War memory describes black history and deals with how during and after the war Americans seemed to forget the true meaning of the war which was race. And the postludes describes some for the leaders of black society and how they are attempting to keep the memory and the real meaning of the Civil War alive and explains the purpose of studying historical memory.
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.
There were many important battles the African Americans fought in and they really helped humongously. Some of these important battles were like the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina by the 54th Massachusetts ...
The majority of speculations regarding the causes of the American Civil War are in some relation to slavery. While slavery was a factor in the disagreements that led to the Civil War, it was not the solitary or primary cause. There were three other, larger causes that contributed more directly to the beginning of the secession of the southern states and, eventually, the start of the war. Those three causes included economic and social divergence amongst the North and South, state versus national rights, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case. Each of these causes involved slavery in some way, but were not exclusively based upon slavery.
The Conscription Act delivered the final straw in the long list of discrepancies, the catalyst that turned that small forest fire into a raging inferno of hate and fear. The white working class (mostly Irish immigrants) were infuriated, they couldn’t understand how they, white, hard-working voters were being punished. The government was forcing them to fight a war they didn’t support and the only way they could avoid it was to pay 300 dollars (a years wages for most), yet they would pay African Americans 1,000 dollars for volunteering. The new federal draft conditions also expanded to include a wider age range of men it would take. “The conscription law targeted men between the ages of 20 and 35, and all unmarried men up to age 45.” Adding to the already high tensions of laborers, since the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation they ...
Throughout American history, African Americans have had to decide whether they belonged in the United States or if they should go elsewhere. Slavery no doubtfully had a great impact upon their decisions. However, despite their troubles African Americans made a grand contribution and a great impact on both armed forces of the Colonies and British. "The American Negro was a participant as well as a symbol."; (Quarles 7) African Americans were active on and off the battlefield, they personified the goal freedom, the reason for the war being fought by the Colonies and British. The African Americans were stuck in the middle of a war between white people. Their loyalty was not to one side or another, but to a principle, the principle of liberty. Benjamin Quarles' book, The Negro in the American Revolution, is very detailed in explaining the importance of the African American in the pre America days, he shows the steps African Americans took in order to insure better lives for generations to come.
In the month of April of 1862, the government issued the first draft of the Civil War. Throughout the war, they put out drafts because so many men were needed to fight. Citizens were expected to obey these orders, and as the war progressed, it was harder and harder for men to avoid fighting for their country. Towards the end, the government began forcing almost every able man to enlist in the army. Men of ages 17-50 were drafted in the South (20-45 in the North); bodies were needed. And the government made sure that they got what they needed.
“Glory” depicts a period in the American Civil War emphasizing on the war modus operandi and troop movement techniques. The film focuses on the first real African-American regiment, 54th of Massachusetts, and the way these soldiers are trained and prepared to fight. Even though they acquire a new status as soon as they enlist for battle, they still face prejudices and are discriminated against by the white men. They’re not trusted to be able to fight with the same ardor and patriotism as the others and this puts them on a lower and inferior rank. Surprisingly enough, things change by the end of the movie, when Massachusetts 54 is engaged in battle and proves the efficiency and the courage of the black men who succeed in making a difference by changing the course of the war. Even though they were not victorious in the battle, they managed to show the world their value, and they brought an important victory for the entire mass of black people against the prejudices and misjudgments of their white neighbors.
...ice. This regiment later became by a strange mutation of history, the first black regiment officially recognized by the Union army.13 It was not until the end of the war that Gen. Lee and President Davis issued the "Negro soldier law" calling for the enlistment of slaves immediately.
In the first year of the war, both sides had far more volunteers than they could effectively train and equip. After the initial enthusiasm faded, reliance on the cohort of young men who came of age every year and wanted to join was not enough. Both sides used a draft law—conscription—as a device to encourage or force volunteering; relatively few were actually drafted and served. The Confederacy passed a draft law in April 1862 for young men aged 18 to 35; overseers of slaves, government officials, and clergymen were exempt.
There was individual African Americans who made an important impact in the civil war. For example Frederick Douglass he was known for being a escape slave and a good public speaker for his efforts to end slavery. But he was also well known for his efforts in the civil war for being a “Consultant to President Abraham Lincoln and helped convince him that slaves should serve in the Union forces and that the abolition of slavery should be a goal of the war.” (Douglass role in the civil war).http://www.americaslibrary.gov/ (5/22/14). Douglass also helped the Union recruit african americans soldiers after the Emancipation Proclamation was stated. Another big individual impact was Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman work was important because she worked as a nurse, cook, and a spy for the Union army. She was a good spy because she knew the land well, she was a escape slave and helped numerous people escape slavery by the underground railroad. Harriet wasn't just important from her spy work, she did a lot of nursing work also she found water lilies and herbs to make stew for the sick and she saved a lot of Union soldiers with her nurse work. The next big individual African American impact was Isabella Baumfree mostly know as Sojourner Truth she was a former slave that was an abolitionist and a good public speaker on slavery and women's rights. During the civil war she was a recruiter for the 54th regiment of massachusetts she also worked as a...
Lewin, Arthur N. "Did Black Troops Fight for the South." The Black Portal 09 Jan. 2004. 14 Nov. 2005.