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This April 12 marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, the fight between the preservation of slavery against the preservation of the union. And although blacks were caught somewhere in the middle of this struggle, black soldiers played a vital role in the war since the start of the first artillery gun shot in Charleston, South Carolina in 1861.
After July 22, 1862 when then President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation and freed blacks in rebel-held resisting territories, black recruitment was sought after and increased. Initially, because of prejudice and fear of uprisings, there was hesitation from both the Union and Confederate armies to use black soldiers in combat, but according to the National Archives, "by the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy."
Notable figures like Frederick Douglass encouraged black men, including Douglass's own sons, to enlist under Ulysses S. Grant's command to gain citizenship, and although enlistment began slowly, volunteers from South Carolina, Tennessee and Massachusetts ultimately signed up in great numbers. Lincoln was convinced their presence would intimidate Confederate soldiers and in 1863 wrote, "the bare sight of fifty thousand armed and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once." Confederate soldiers were not deterred, of course, but black soldiers did play a significant role in the Union's victory.
After Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrendered on April 9, 1865, slavery was abolished for nearly 3 million blacks living in the South. Racism still persisted long into the Reconstruction era, but black veterans gained some support and appreciation for their service, as Allen C. Guelzo reported on The Root: "The white officers who commanded black troops often became their advocates in the postwar years, and Union veterans refused to celebrate postwar anniversaries if black veterans were excluded or ex-Confederates planned to display the Confederate flag."
This anniversary marks much more than the Confederate's defeat, it represents the abolition of slavery and the early and active participation of black Americans in the Emancipation. African-Americans can celebrate the legacy of this war knowing that thousands of black soldiers risked their lives in the struggle for their freedom.
Comments: (21)
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By: ADMR on 4/12/2011 1:47PM
All I Have Ever Known Is That The North Kicked A** - Great Info!
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By: Toni on 4/12/2011 4:13PM
Why do we keep using the image of Frederick Douglas, when he ended up with a white woman?
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By: billW on 4/13/2011 12:13AM
@tonia.because he didnt want a nasty field hand negro like you
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By: TJ on 4/13/2011 6:03AM
Frederick Douglass's first wife was the color of his mother and his second wife was the color of his father.
So what?
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By: renee on 4/14/2011 11:57AM
so he ended up with a white womans as you say... who cares...the point is..that he was a great man..... so what are you coming down on the man because he wasnt with a black woman... you need help...
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By: craig on 4/12/2011 5:10PM
"This April 12 marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, the fight between the preservation of slavery against the preservation of the union."
This is a total lie. The Civil War was not a fight between the "preservation of slavery against the preservation of the union". It was a fight for state's rights against the tyranny of an all-powerful central federal government. We face a similar battle today where state's rights have been ignored and a federal tyranny is trying to control all aspects of everyone's lives, and impose socialism on all.
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By: girlking on 4/13/2011 5:38PM
@craig,
The states rights and tyranny that you speak of was about slavery. It's really too bad most so called Americans don't know history. You should have watched "The Civil War" documentary that was PBS last week you would have the correct information.
And, no one was allowed to "keep" slaves after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
History continues to be re-written at the altar of political correctness. Go back search the facts. While they may be harder to find, they are still there. The victor gets to re-write history, but the truth is still there, buried and not totally gone. Similar crap goes on with "Black History Month" where blacks celebrate a succession of myths about their history, glorifying events and individuals out of proportion to their real contributions, and in many cases just making stuff up.
You're right history does seem to be re-written particularly by white people. Some white people wouldn't know the truth if it came up and introduced itself to them. And unlike some white people, African-Americans don't celebrate false myths about ourselves and I dare say that since you probably have never participated in our celebrations you don't know what we celebrate.
And again I say it's really too bad that so called Americans don't know history.
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By: ERob on 4/14/2011 1:09PM
SoI guess we Blacks "made up" the fact that this nation was built on our blood, sweat, and tears, too, huh? It is precisely because of the re-writing of history that so much of what we have contributed to this nation has been suppressed to the point of making it myth. Just like you said, "The victor gets to re-write history, but the truth is still there, buried and not totally gone." Same thing happened when Europeans invaded Egypt; "historians" will have us believe all of the advancements in science, mathematics, medicine, architecture, astronomy, and on and on, did not originate on the African continent, and try to tell us that aliens built the pyramids! That's why we need to celebrate our achievements and contributions year round, not just the coldest (!) month of the year. If we're not careful, in 50 years, they might try to tell my grandchildren that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a white man.
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By: craig on 4/12/2011 5:18PM
Here's a quote from Lincoln which shows his goal was to "preserve the Union", that is preserve federal tyranny, and his goal was explicitly NOT to abolish slavery:
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_slavery
Later, after the North won, they imposed Negro legislators on the South during reconstruction for no other reason than to humiliate white Southerners. This greatly increased the hatred of white Southerner's toward Negroes, a hatred which lasted many generations. Prior to the North interferring and imposing on the South, the races got along fine. "Slavery" gave structure to Negro lives, and most liked it ... once the war was over and they were "freed", most did not know what to do and wanted to remain on the plantation working for the so-called master that employed them previously.
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By: craig on 4/12/2011 6:07PM
Lincoln's political leanings were not about freeing slaves. That was a tactic to demoralize the south and its economy. Many Northern states were allowed to keep slaves after the Emancipation Proclamation.
In addition, after the Civil War, Lincoln believed it would be in the best interests of Negroes to leave the USA as they would not have any fit into the society of America.
"Since the 1840s Lincoln, an admirer of Clay, had been an advocate of the ACS program of colonizing blacks in Liberia. In an 1854 speech in Illinois, he points out the immense difficulties of such a task are an obstacle to finding an easy way to quickly end slavery.[13]
Early in his presidency, Abraham Lincoln tried repeatedly to arrange resettlement of the kind the ACS supported, but each arrangement failed (See Abraham Lincoln on slavery). By 1863, following the use of black troops, most scholars believe that Lincoln abandoned the idea. Biographer Stephen B. Oates has observed that Lincoln thought it immoral to ask black soldiers to fight for the US and then to remove them to Africa after their military service. Others, such as the historian Michael Lind, believe that as late 1864 or 1865, Lincoln continued to hold out hope for colonization, noting that he allegedly asked Attorney general Edward Bates if the Reverend James Mitchell could stay on as "your assistant or aid in the matter of executing the several acts of Congress relating to the emigration or colonizing of the freed Blacks." "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Colonization_Society
History continues to be re-written at the altar of political correctness. Go back search the facts. While they may be harder to find, they are still there. The victor gets to re-write history, but the truth is still there, buried and not totally gone. Similar crap goes on with "Black History Month" where blacks celebrate a succession of myths about their history, glorifying events and individuals out of proportion to their real contributions, and in many cases just making stuff up.
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