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African American Participation In The Civil War

Decent Essays

Without the participation of African Americans, the result of the Civil War would not have been the way it was. At the start, African Americans could not fight in the war as soldiers. Many African Americans still volunteered to help the war effort. The Union navy allowed them to fight alongside. They were very resourceful, with their knowledge of the South. In 1862, there was a law passed allowing them to serve. Shortly after the war, nearly 200,000 African Americans served. African American participation in the Civil War was important because it was a huge asset to leading the Union one step closer to success.
Many African Americans served in Civil War alongside the Union army for many reasons. Through the tough times, everyone has that one thing they hold onto. Lots of the soldiers got good pay, whether it was for food, uniforms, or the aid for their families, but that was not the only benefit that drew the soldiers to volunteer. For example, Private Trip was a former slave, and fought for his and his family’s freedom. The soldiers fought for respect to prove they are capable for what was ahead of them. They had fought for honor, pride and glory. …show more content…

These soldiers of the 54th regiment of Massachusetts were treated differently based on how they looked and worked. During the film, there was a lot of mistreatment, like in the woods, the white soldiers had called the African Americans “Monkey Children”, this was very discriminating because it was disrespectful and had referred to them as animals, trying to downgrade them. Not only were the African American soldiers mistreated, but there was no equality. First, their pay was $10/month instead of $13, they had protested for a year. Second, they had to wait for their supplies, whether it was shoes, uniforms or rifles, these were necessary and crucial yet they still had to

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