Free blacks and slaves played an important role, both symbolic and practical, in the Civil War. Initially prohibited by federal law from enlisting in the U.S. Army. For example, the Second Militia Act of 1792, which sought to establish a federal militia, specified that only “free able-bodied
white
male citizen” were eligible to serve in the newly-established military. [Emphasis added] During the Civil War era, the issue of permitting blacks to serve their country a country to which many were brought in chains, or their ancestors had been brought in chains reached an ultimatum. Federick Douglass, the former slave-turned statesman, noted the irony of the situation when he observed:
President Lincoln, despite his concerns about the constitutionality of allowing blacks to enlist in the army and concerns about their ability to assimilate, recognized that blacks would not only provide an essential boost to the Norths manpower supply, which was being depleted through combat casualties, but that the sight of black soldiers fighting for their own cause would help weaken the South. As Lincoln wrote to the then-governor of Tennessee, a state clearly in the Confederacy:
Common sense eventually prevailed, and Congress passed legislation, the Second Confiscation and Militia Act of 1862, which, together with Lincolns signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, definitely ended slavery as a legal institution in the United States, thereby clearing the way for the acceptance of black recruits into the Union Army. As expected, former slaves and free men jumped at the opportunity to fight for the Union, a development embodied in the establishment of the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an all-black unit commanded by white Colonel Robert Gould Shaw who, along with much of his regiment, would die at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. By the time the Confederacy officially surrendered on April 9, 1865, an estimated 179,000 black soldiers had served in the Union Army, with 40,000 of those dying, mostly from disease. In effect, blacks, once allowed to, fought valiantly for the Union cause.
white
male citizen” were eligible to serve in the newly-established military. [Emphasis added] During the Civil War era, the issue of permitting blacks to serve their country a country to which many were brought in chains, or their ancestors had been brought in chains reached an ultimatum. Federick Douglass, the former slave-turned statesman, noted the irony of the situation when he observed:
President Lincoln, despite his concerns about the constitutionality of allowing blacks to enlist in the army and concerns about their ability to assimilate, recognized that blacks would not only provide an essential boost to the Norths manpower supply, which was being depleted through combat casualties, but that the sight of black soldiers fighting for their own cause would help weaken the South. As Lincoln wrote to the then-governor of Tennessee, a state clearly in the Confederacy:
Common sense eventually prevailed, and Congress passed legislation, the Second Confiscation and Militia Act of 1862, which, together with Lincolns signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, definitely ended slavery as a legal institution in the United States, thereby clearing the way for the acceptance of black recruits into the Union Army. As expected, former slaves and free men jumped at the opportunity to fight for the Union, a development embodied in the establishment of the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an all-black unit commanded by white Colonel Robert Gould Shaw who, along with much of his regiment, would die at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. By the time the Confederacy officially surrendered on April 9, 1865, an estimated 179,000 black soldiers had served in the Union Army, with 40,000 of those dying, mostly from disease. In effect, blacks, once allowed to, fought valiantly for the Union cause.
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