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African Americans in The Civil War Essay

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African Americans were very questionable at first in the Civil War. The Union Navy had been already been accepting African American volunteers. Frederick Douglass thought that the military would help the African Americans have equal rights if they fought with them. Many children helped in the Civil War also, no matter how old they were. Because the African Americans were unfavorable, black units were not used in combat as they might have been. Nevertheless, the African Americans fought in numerous battles. African Americans fought gallantly. Northern leaders also saw another reason to have African Americans in the Civil War is that the Union needed soldiers. Congress aloud them to enlist them because they thought they might as well have …show more content…

African Americans were on the open ground right in the way of deadly artillery fire. Although the attack failed, the black solders proved their capability to withstand the battle. Although black soldiers proved themselves as reliable hard fighting soldiers, discrimination in pay and other areas remained wide spread.According to the Militia Act of 1862, African Americans barely just barely received $10.00 a month, plus clothing costs of $3.50. Many African Americans struggled to pay, some of them didn't get any money until June 15, 1864, when Congress gave equal pay for all black soldiers. Even though the African Americans were a big help to the Civil War, they were still treated like slaves. So like if they were wounded during a battle, they wouldn't really take care of them as much as they treated the white people if they got hurt or anything like that. The year 1864 was a memorable eventful for African American troops. On April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest led 2,500 men against the Union, occupied by 292 black and 285 white soldiers. After driving in the Union back and giving the garrison one opportunity to surrender, Forrest's men went into the fort with ease and drove the Federals down to the river into a deadly crossfire. Many who died were high and only sixty-two of the U.S. African Americans survived the fight. Many accused the

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