Brief Summary: The Role Of African Americans In The Civil War

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The civil war was started in 1861 which was caused by slavery. It was suppose to be a white man's war. White southerners would wage war to make the confederacy a seperate and independent nation free to promote slavery. As a result the white northerners took up arms to maintain the Union but not to free a single slave. The blacks has contributed a lot of work to gain their own freedom. For example, the slaves would run from their masters to become contrabands which was enemy property for the union. Also, they would labor behind the scenes for the nothern armies and rick their lives by going on the battle front. Northerners began enlisting blacks to assist them in the fight. Lincoln's second confiscation act and the militia act both of 1862,…show more content…
Blacks in the civil war devoted their lives to the pursuit of freedom and the abolition of slavery. Blacks were paid ten dollars a month for being enlisted in the military verus white soliders who were getting paid thirthteen dollars a month. They also acted as informants, liberators and guides. Black men worked as tea masters and cooks. Black women were nurses.African American soldiers participated in every major campaign of 1864–65 except Sherman's Atlanta Campaign[->0] in Georgia[->1]. The year 1864 was especially eventful for African American troops. On April 12, 1864, at Battle of Fort Pillow[->2], Tennessee[->3], Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest[->4] led his 2,500 men against the Union-held fortification, occupied by 292 black and 285 white soldiers. The Battle of Chaffin's Farm[->5], Virginia[->6] became one of the most engagements involving African Americans. On September 29, 1864, the African American division of the Eighteenth Corps, after being pinned down by Confederate artillery fire for about 30 minutes, charged the earthworks and rushed
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