The Black Soldiers

1293 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: African americans in the military essay

The Black Soldiers by C.J. Blake All through our country’s history, African Americans have had to choose whether they were meant to live in the States or if they should go live somewhere else. Slavery without a doubt had a strong impact on their decisions. Despite the troubles African Americans have had, they made a great contribution and a very big impact on our military and armed forces since the Revolutionary War. The black man has fought against his country's wars, and he has also fought the war with their country to gain the right to fight and the right to freedom. America's first war was the war for independence from Great Britain was a major achievement. This accomplishment could not have been done if it was not for the African American soldiers in the armies. The first American to actually shed blood during the revolution that freed America from being under British rule was Crispus Attucks, a Black seaman. Attucks and four white men were killed in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. Attucks was still willing to fight against England along with other whites, althoug he was a fugitive slave running from his master. The colonists probably would have kept African Americans out of the military during the war if it was not for the proclamation by the Lord of Dunmore. He said "I do hereby... declare all... Negroes... free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining his Majesty's troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this colony to a proper dignity." This meant that if any black man was willing to fight for the British they would become legally free. Then, the Americans could not afford to not let black men from joining the army. After that General George Washington officially reversed his policy about letting "free Negroes to enlist." "Of the 300,000 men that served in the Continental American Army during the War of Independence, about five thousand were Black. In addition to several all-Black companies, there was also an all-Black regiment was from Rhode Island. Between 1775 to 1781 there were no battles without Black soldiers. African American soldiers defended for the colonies at Lexington, Ticonderoga, Concord, Benington, White Plains, Saratoga, Brandywine, Savannah, and Yorktown. There were two Blacks with George Washington on the day he crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day in 1776. Unfortunately despite African Americans' help to the war effort and the large

Show More
Related

  • The 54th Regiment of Massachusetts: African-American Soldiers of the Civil War

    2301 Words  | 5 Pages

    On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the rebelling territories of the confederacy and authorizing Black enlistment in the Union Army. Since the beginning of the Civil War, free Black people in general, , were ready to fight on behalf of the Union, yet they were prevented from doing so. Popular racial stereotypes and discrimination against Blacks in the military contributed to the prevailing myth that Black men did not have the intelligence and bravery necessary to serve their country. By the fall of 1862, however, the lack of White Union enlistment and confederate victories at Antietem forced the U.S. government to reconsider its racist policy. As Congress met in October to address the issue of Black enlistment, various troops of Black volunteers had already been organized, including the First South Carolina and the Kansas Colored Troops. It wasn't until January 26, 1863, however, that secretary of war Edwin Stanton authorized the enlistment of Black troops. As a result, the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer infantry was founded, becoming the first all-Black Union regiment raised in the north.(Emilio 1990)

    Read More

  • Compare Civil War To The Modern Day

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    than a certain number of slaves would be exempt from military duty. Some just decided not to

    Read More

  • American Minorities during World War II

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    World War II opened up several opportunities for African American men during and after the war. First of all, the blacks were able to join the military, the Navy and the Army Air Corps’ (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1). The African Americans were allowed to join the military because they were needed, but they would be trained separately and put in separate groups then the white men because America was still prejudice. (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1). The same went for the African Americans that joined the Navy, only they were given the menial jobs instead of the huge jobs (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1). African Americans that joined the Army Air Corps’ were also segregated (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1). The Army Air Corps’ African American also known as the Tuskegee Airmen were sent to the blacks university in Tuskegee for their training (Reinhardt and Ganzel 1). They became one of the most well known groups of flyers during World War II th...

    Read More

  • The Tuskegee Airmen

    2006 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the years leading up to World War I, no black man had ever served as a pilot for the United States Army, ever since the beginning of the United States Army Air Service in 1907. The Tuskegee Airmen changed this and played a huge part in the fight for African-American rights for years to come.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Black Soldiers in the Civil War

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    The American Civil War is perhaps the most important event in U.S. history since the American Revolution. Over half a million men would perish between the Union and Confederate Armies. It is important to know that Ulysses S. Grant was an important figure (perhaps the most important behind Abraham Lincoln) in the war. Many will see him as the hero of the American Civil War. Nevertheless there were others who would play an important role to help the Union win the Civil War. The implementation of black soldiers was crucial to the Union in order to achieve victory against the Confederate Army. Yet, the contributions and accomplishments of black soldiers during the Civil War were overlooked for nearly a century following the Civil War. However, within the last 30 years, many scholars and historians have begun to publish books on the history of black soldiers and their contributions to the Civil War. During the Civil War, free blacks were permitted to serve in the Union Army. But it was not until 1863, that black soldiers would see combat and charge against the confederate armies. It is estimated that around 186,000 African American served the Union Army throughout the war, with the creation of 163 colored regiments. My research paper will focus on the Black regiments of the American Civil War and their importance to U.S. history. Some of the important issues that will be discussed in this paper will include the struggles of black soldiers during the Civil War, from their wage earnings (where most made less money than white soldiers); the clothes they wore (most had no uniforms at all). Also, many of these soldiers had trouble getting the basic necessities like shoes, socks and soap. Other areas I will discuss will be the discriminatio...

    Read More

  • African Americans in The Civil War

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 more soldiers.

    Read More

  • Deculturalization and the struggle for equality

    1787 Words  | 4 Pages

    Decades of research has shown us that African Americans have been depressed for hundreds of years. Although the Declaration of Independence states “All men are created equal,” that rule did not apply to African Americans. By the end of the Civil War more than 180,000 black soldiers were in the United States Military. After the Civil War, many Africa...

    Read More

  • New York City Draft Riots

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Conscription Act delivered the final straw in the long list of discrepancies, the catalyst that turned that small forest fire into a raging inferno of hate and fear. The white working class (mostly Irish immigrants) were infuriated, they couldn’t understand how they, white, hard-working voters were being punished. The government was forcing them to fight a war they didn’t support and the only way they could avoid it was to pay 300 dollars (a years wages for most), yet they would pay African Americans 1,000 dollars for volunteering. The new federal draft conditions also expanded to include a wider age range of men it would take. “The conscription law targeted men between the ages of 20 and 35, and all unmarried men up to age 45.” Adding to the already high tensions of laborers, since the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation they ...

    Read More

  • African American Soldiers: Black Soldiers During The Civil War

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Union army did not allow runaway slaves from the South to serve in their army. However, in 1863, Congress passed the Second Confiscation and Militia Act, freeing all slaves in the South who had masters serving for the Confederacy. Now, these free slaves fled to the North and were allowed to join the Union. When Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, thousands of Blacks enlisted into the Union army. Unfortunately, the Union did not use the Black regiments as much as they should have, and Blacks soon began to stop enlisting. Again, acts of racism by whites affected Blacks

    Read More

  • The Negro in the American Revolution

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout American history, African Americans have had to decide whether they belonged in the United States or if they should go elsewhere. Slavery no doubtfully had a great impact upon their decisions. However, despite their troubles African Americans made a grand contribution and a great impact on both armed forces of the Colonies and British. "The American Negro was a participant as well as a symbol."; (Quarles 7) African Americans were active on and off the battlefield, they personified the goal freedom, the reason for the war being fought by the Colonies and British. The African Americans were stuck in the middle of a war between white people. Their loyalty was not to one side or another, but to a principle, the principle of liberty. Benjamin Quarles' book, The Negro in the American Revolution, is very detailed in explaining the importance of the African American in the pre America days, he shows the steps African Americans took in order to insure better lives for generations to come.

    Read More

  • Essay On World War 1

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    World War 1...what is it? Normally when you think about it you must be wondering how on earth am I still alive! World War 1 was also known as The Great War that took place from 1914-1918 within most parts of Europe. Within this informative essay I will be talking about the features, the results, the end, and how World War 1 changed the lives of the Europeans.

    Read More

  • What Made WWI and WWII Different?

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    War is like many things in life. War has made big changes a lot over time. Most things are unknown about war but there are some major differences between World war I and World War II. There are many different ways that World War I and World War II are different from each other. There are many differences between them. One difference between World War I and World War II is they had different reasons .World War I began because of an assassination. World War II began because Adolf Hitler did not keep his word and follow the Treaty of Versailles. Another way they are different is one was more destructive than the other World War II was very much worse than World War I . Lastly they both had different technology.Most people focus on how much both wars are so much alike. Such as who the wars were between; france, Austria-Hungary,Britain,and Germany. Mainly people do not realize how much they are different. Both wars are different in many ways but here are just a few things that made a major impact on what made them different.

    Read More

  • The Stalemate in World War I

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    The stalemate on the Western front had developed by December 1914 because of the new advances in defensive weaponry where both sides had developed lethal weaponry like the machine guns and artillery, which subsequently led to trench warfare. The Machine Gun was a very dominant weapon in the First World War. It could kill hundreds of men a minute due to its rapid firing rate of 600 bullets a minute. However the machine guns that were used in the First World War weighed between 30kg – 60kg, would require a four to six operators and could heat up extremely quickly; clearly not very effective as a offensive weapon (Duffy, Michael. "Machine Guns.") Machine Guns were only effective for defense as they were extremely heavy, required a lot of ammunition a needed to be fixed into the ground. This made it severely difficult to attack and move with machine guns. Artillery was even deadlier as a defensive weapon and was one of the most important weapons of the First World War as it was the cause of the majority of human losses. The artillery ranged from field artillery to heavy and long range artillery that could fire long distances and would trap the enemies in their trenches. The Trench Mortar was also a very effective weapon in the war, which was a “tube” that would fire at a vertical angle (higher than 45 degrees) and could therefore be fired within the safety of the trench, unlike artillery. All these new advances in technology made trenches almost impossible to attack yet also kept each side trapped in their trenches.

    Read More

  • Social Dichotomy of the 1920s

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the war, issues of race weren't ignored. Black men had come back from a war were they were treated like men. They still weren't treated as equally as whites, but they were treated better during the war than they were back home where they were treated like objects. This gave them more motivation to demand equality when they returned. But after the war, white hostility towards blacks increased. This became a dichotomy when there was competition for low wage jobs between the blacks and whites. There was also black encroachment into white neighborhoods. The whites d...

    Read More

  • Martin Luther King's Successful Philosophy

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nearly three centuries ago, black men and women from Africa were brought to America and put into slavery. They were treated more cruelly in the United States than in any other country that had practiced slavery. African Americans didn’t gain their freedom until after the Civil War, nearly one-hundred years later. Even though African Americans were freed and the constitution was amended to guarantee racial equality, they were still not treated the same as whites and were thought of as second class citizens. One man had the right idea on how to change America, Martin Luther King Jr. had the best philosophy for advancing civil rights, he preached nonviolence to express the need for change in America and he united both African Americans and whites together to fight for economic and social equality.

    Read More

More about The Black Soldiers

Open Document