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Chapter 11
African Americans
and the Civil War
(1861-1865)
Who’s Who in the Civil War

The North = Union, Yankees (blue)
– Abraham Lincoln (President)
– Numerous leaders, but Ulysses S. Grant at
end of war

Strategy: Protect the Union (as in USA)
– Gain control of Southern coast, West via
Mississippi River, and in Deep South
– Implement Anaconda Plan to squeeze
South
Who’s Who in the Civil War

The South = Confederates, Rebels
(grey)
– Jefferson Davis (President)
– Numerous leaders, but Robert E. Lee at
end of war

Strategy: Fight a “War of Attrition”
– Get England or France to help due to
cotton needs
– Wear North down
Section 1 - The Civil War Begins

Lincoln’s Aim - Preserve the Union!
– Helping/hindering black people was
secondary
– Especially concerned about the border
states – keep them with Union cause
– Call for 75,000 volunteers to serve for 3
months
– Black volunteers rejected
Essential Questions

At the start of the Civil War, what was
Abraham Lincoln’s primary objective
and how did he work to achieve it?
Union Progress (1861-1862)
Section 1 - Black Men Volunteer
and Are Rejected

Black population realized that
– Fate of Union was tied to issue of slavery
– And the fate of slavery was tied to the
outcome of war

They understood this before northerners
– New York, Philadelphia, Boston made
various attempts to offer services
– Prepped to be ready whenever called upon
to serve
Section 1 - Union Policies toward
Confederate Slaves
Slaves started liberating themselves as
soon as the war started
 US Gov’t had no specific policy to deal
with these slaves
 BUT…Union leaders usually more
concerned for slave owner’s interests

African-American Troops Served
as Teamsters

These African-American troops served as teamsters for the Union Army in
Virginia. Most Northern white people—including political leaders—believed that
black men lacked the courage and fortitude for combat. They expected
black men would do little more as soldiers than haul freight, erect
fortifications, serve guard duty, and prepare food.
“Contraband” – Fortress Monroe
(VA – May 1861)

General Benjamin Butler refused to
return three runaway slaves under the
terms of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850,
because Virginia was no longer part of
the USA!
– Slaves were declared as contraband
(means enemy property)
– Leads to First Confiscation Act, August
1861 (clarifies slave status)
A Ride for Liberty - The Fugitive
Slaves
SOURCE: Oil on board, The Brooklyn
Museum, Gift of Miss Gwendolyn O.L.
Conkling.

A Ride for Liberty—The Fugitive Slaves, 1862. On March 23, 1862, artist
Eastman Johnson was with General George B. McClellan’s Army of the
Potomac near Manassas, Virginia. Just before dawn, Johnson witnessed a
family of three fleeing slavery, and he was prompted to commit the episode to
canvas.
“Contraband” – Reaction by
Black Leaders
Upset that Blacks could not enlist
 Also upset that the issue of slavery
ignored
 General David Hunter abolished slavery
in areas of SC, GA, and FL

– Lincoln revokes order and reprimands him
Section 2 – Lincoln and
Emancipation
 Lincoln’s
initial position = reluctant
to move against slavery
– Wanted to keep border state loyalty
– He supported compensated emancipationcolonization

Black Americans, abolitionists, and
growing number of Republicans were
upset that slavery wasn’t abolished by
Lincoln!
Section 2 - Lincoln Moves
toward Emancipation

Realizes that victory in war and the
reestablishment of the Union were tied
to slavery issue
– Emancipation would “Strike at the heart of
the rebellion”
– Tells his cabinet, summer 1862
– Warned to wait for major victory so it does
not look like a desperate move by a losing
leader
Section 2 - Lincoln Delays
Emancipation
Waited for a major victory on the
battlefield
 Did not come until September 1862 at
Antietam

Battle of Antietam
“Bloodiest Single Day of the War”
September 17, 1862
23,000 casualties
in one day!
Essential Questions

How did Lincoln’s policies on slavery
change as the Civil War continued?
Emancipation Proclamation
Limited to areas still in rebellion
 Did not include border states
 Changes war goals

– Preserve the Union
– Make people free
Effects of Proclamation
on the South
Ended chance of foreign recognition
 Encouraged

– Slaves to flee
– Slaves to resist
Black Men
Fight for the Union

Emancipation Proclamation
– Authorized black men to enlist
– Union was losing the war and needed
manpower
– Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Mass.
Regiment
Black Men
Fight for the Union (cont.)

Discrimination and hostility
– Segregated units
• White officers
– Often held racist beliefs
– Lower pay scale
• White privates $13/month
• Black privates $10/month
Black Men
Fight for the Union (cont.)

Combat
–
–
–
–
Suffered disproportionately more casualties
Fort Wagner
Olustee
The Crater
Confederate Reaction to Black
Soldiers

Enraged
– Refused to recognize black men as
soldiers
• Treat as rebellious slaves
• General Order Number 11
– Fort Pillow Massacre
• Union response
• Union commanders angry
Black Men
in the Union Navy

Tradition of serving in the U.S. Navy,
1790s
– Integrated
IX. Liberators, Spies, and Guides

Black men and women
– Robert Smalls
– Harriet Tubman
– Mary Elizabeth Bowser
– John Henry Woodson
X. Violent Opposition to Black
People

New York City Draft Riot, July 1863
– Draft
– Irish men angry
– Rich white northerners could purchase an
exemption
• Riot lasted four days
Violent Opposition to Black
People (cont.)

Union troops and slaves
– Often treated slaves horribly
– Others found compassion for enslaved
people
• “I have no heart in this war if the slaves cannot
be made free,” a Union soldier wrote.
XI. Refugees

Thousands of black people escaped
bondage
– Some followed Union armies
– Others struck out on their own
• Faced re-enslavement or execution if caught
XII. Black People and
the Confederacy
Confederacy based on defense of
slavery
 Benefited from the labors of bonds
people

– Toiled in fields
– Worked in factories
Black People and
the Confederacy (cont.)

Impressment of black people
– Military demands for manpower
• Slave owners contributed slave labor
• Government first asked then compelled
– Registration and enrollment of free black people
military labor

“Twenty nigger law”
– Exempted men who owned twenty slaves
from draft
Black People and
the Confederacy (cont.)

Confederates enslave free black people
• “All free negroes . . . shall be placed on the
slave status and be deemed to be chattels. . .
forever.”
• Ordered Confederate armies to capture free
black people in the North and enslave them.
– Robert E. Lee, Pennsylvania 1863
Black Confederates
– Free black people volunteered
services
• Show loyalty and gain white acceptance
• Southern leaders generally ignored
offers unless for menial labor
Black Confederates (cont.)

Small number of black men fight for
CSA
– Some black civilians profit if South wins
• John Wilson Buckner
• William Ellison
Black Enlistments

General Patrick Cleburne recommends,
early 1864
– President Davis cease and desist order
– Most southerners considered arming slaves
appalling
– Defied southern assumptions
• “If slaves will make good soldiers our whole theory of
slavery is wrong.”--Howell Cobb

March 1865 Confederate Congress voted to
enlist 300,000
• Receive same pay as white soldiers
• Slaves freed only with consent of owners and
state agreed

One week before war ended.
XIII. Conclusion

185,000 black soldiers and sailors served in
the Union military
– Most had been former slaves
– Almost 40,000 died in combat or of disease
during the war

Abraham Lincoln and the shift in public
attitudes
–
–
–
–
White man’s war
Colonization
Enlistment
Appreciation