Download African Americans and the Civil War Chapter 11 Section 2

African Americans and the Civil War
Chapter 11 Section 2
Objectives
•
Analyze why Lincoln decided to issue the
Emancipation Proclamation and what it
achieved.
•
Assess the different roles that African
Americans played in the Civil War.
Emancipation
As war progressed,
abolitionist Frederick
Douglass urged Lincoln
to abolish slavery and
allow African Americans
to fight for the Union.
Lincoln was further pressured to address the
issue of slavery because
• Union troops did not know what to
do with enslaved people who came
under their control in conquered
territories. (Union General Benjamin
Butler declared the fugitives under
his protection contraband.)
• slavery was very unpopular among
the Union’s European allies.
Emancipation
• Lincoln didn’t have the
constitutional authority to
abolish slavery
• He could, however, pass
military orders
• The Emancipation
Proclamation freed all
slaves in Confederate held
territory
Antietam
• Lincoln needed a big
victory to announce his
plan
• The British were ready to
recognize the Confederacy,
but were waiting for a
Confederate win on enemy
soil
• McClellan and Lee met at
Antietam Creek in
Maryland
• The Battle of Antietam was
the bloodiest single day in
American history, over
25,000 casualties
• The Union won only a
slight victory, but it was
enough.
Massachusetts 54th Infantry
• Lincoln needed soldiers
to supplement the draft.
• African Americans
volunteered in droves.
• The 54th Mass. Was the
first all African-American
regiment in the war.
Prejudices faced by African American troops
•
often assigned menial tasks and longest
guard duty
•
fought three years to win equal pay
•
killed if captured by Confederate troops
Enslaved people also contributed to the war effort by
•
using various forms of resistance against the Confederacy
•
refusing to work for their southern owners
•
running away to Union camps and working for the Union, often serving
as spies or scouts
Objectives
•
Analyze why Lincoln decided to issue the
Emancipation Proclamation and what it
achieved.
•
Assess the different roles that African
Americans played in the Civil War.