, Research Paper

Critical Issue

Drumhead

The Blacks in the Civil War

For the beginning, in the center and in the stoping of the Civil War in the United States, the Black Americans were cardinal as soldier and civilian. At first, people tried difficult to acquire around this fact. Even President Abraham Lincoln disposal sent Black voluntaries place with an apprehension that the war was a & # 8216 ; & # 8216 ; White adult male & # 8217 ; s war & # 8221 ; . The policy was finally changed non because of humanism but because of the Confederation & # 8217 ; s battleground glare. The South brought the North to a realisation that it was in a existent bash that it needed all the arms it could put custodies on.

The First Louisiana Native Guards became the first Black regiment to have official acknowledgment from the authorities. The Union brass had ab initio prevented the Blacks from seeing action in the war. Colonel Robert Shaw and his work forces of the Massachusetts 54th had to get the better of fright, jeer and racism before they were allowed to contend. By the terminal of 1863, many 1000s Blacks found employment in the Union Army. There were some 50, 000 Black soldiers in the ranks. Although Black soldiers were promised $ 13 a month, they were insulted with an offer of $ 7 a month. Black soldiers and crewmans became indispensable elements in a war that could no

t have been won without their help. The triumph of the Union forces was due to a number of factors, including Northern technology and the spirit of the age. But the most preeminent factor was the contribution of slaves and freedmen who provided the margin of difference that turned the tide against the Confederate forces in 1864 and 1865. According to official records, there were 185, 000 Black soldiers in the Union Army. Their mortality rate was disproportionately high, 21% of the total number of Black soldiers. Equally visible and heroic were the sailors in the Union Navy. One out of every four Union sailors was black, they served on Union ships as coal heavers, stewards, boatswains, firemen and gunners. In addition the North was forwarded by more than 200,000 civilians, mostly freed slaves. They served as spies and scouts. The most remarkable of all Union spies was a woman named Harriet Tubman. She organized slave intelligence networks behind enemy lines and led scouting raids. With the defeat of Confederate forces, the Black South exploded in a series of Jubilees that continued until the winter of 1865. But without the means to realize their freedom, most freedmen were driven back to the plantation by hunger and violence. The Civil War was the bloodiest in U.S. history. More Americans died fighting each other than died in all its other wars.