Free Blacks Join Union Army

At the beginning of the Civil War, there were many African Americans who volunteered to fight for the Union. However, the navy and the army denied these Americans the opportunity to fight in the Civil War. They were hired to drive wagons, cook meals, and work with shovels and other tools, but they were not soldiers.

But as the Civil War went on, more and more soldiers were needed. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was passed and the army and navy decided to allow African Americans to join. These African Americans were encouraged to join the army in an effort to free the millions of slaves in the South. It was believed that if these Americans helped to fight, they would not be denied the right to citizenship.

By the end of the Civil War, there were approximately 185,000 African Americans fighting in the army and the navy. Some of them were free from the North, but the rest of them were men who had escaped the slave states. Black soldiers were not treated the same as other soldiers. In the beginning they only received half their pay. By the end they all received the same amount. Most white soldiers would not fight alongside them. But the fighting record of black soldiers was honorable. The country’s highest award, the Congressional Medal of Honor, was given to 21 black soldiers.