Download African Americans in the War

AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE CIVIL WAR
I. When the Civil War broke out African Americans raised many questions
A. ____________________________________________________________________________
B. ____________________________________________________________________________
C. ____________________________________________________________________________
D. ____________________________________________________________________________
E. ____________________________________________________________________________
II. Lincoln and the U.S. government provided no clear answers as Lincoln's stated goal was the
preservation of the Union; African Americans clearly saw slavery as the central issue in the war
III. African Americans (free and enslaved) did everything within their power to ensure Union victory,
believing the fight to be as much theirs as that of white Americans
IV. ______________________________________ in an effort to balance the interests of his constituency
A. Abolitionists wanted a war to end slavery, but Lincoln only promised to stop its spread
B. Slaveowners in the Border States feared the loss of their slaves
C. Most northern Democrats and southerners now living in the Midwest opposed emancipation
D. Immigrants and other urban workers, many who were already hostile towards free black
laborers, feared emancipation's impact on their jobs and incomes
V. Changing Government Policies
A. Early in the war there was ______________________________________________________
1. In May of 1861 Gen. Benjamin Butler declared all slaves "______________________
_________________" and ordered that they not be returned to their masters
2. But, in July, Commanding General Winfield Scott ordered that Virginians be allowed
to enter Union territory to reclaim their fugitive slaves
B. ________________________________________________ (August of 1861 and July of 1862)
1. Declared that all contraband of war was Union property, including slaves
2. This concerned Lincoln as officers began freeing slaves indiscriminately and so he
countermanded many military orders of emancipation
C. Lincoln's Plan
1. In 1862 Lincoln proposed a policy of _______________________________________
_____________________________________ with federal compensation to slave-owners
2. ______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Lincoln also began pursuing options for the expansion of the ____________________
of free blacks in Liberia, Haiti, and South America, a policy he supported until his death
D. ___________________________________________________________
1. Rumors of a plan for emancipation began in the summer of 1862, with many believing
it would come in August; when it did not, abolitionists grew increasingly unhappy
2. When the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was issued five days after Antietam
on September 22, 1862, the _________________________________________________
a. Many whites were angry that the purpose of the war had shifted, and a large
number of soldiers resigned as a result
b. Peace Democrats complained that more lives would be lost to fight a war for
abolition than a war for union
c. Abolitionists were frustrated that the Proclamation did not end all slavery and
had no real ability to effect slavery in the south either, especially if the southern
states stopped fighting before the proclamation went into effect on 1/1/1863
3. January 1, 1863
a. The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect and ____________________
_________________________________________________________________
b. More than ______________________________________________________
c. Slaves in territory already re-conquered by the Union were not freed
IV. ___________________________________________
A. As the nation transitioned from slavery to freedom ___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
B. Most military officers did not know how to manage the freedmen, so specific people were put
in charge of what was called "_____________________________________________________"
1. ____________________________ were set up where ex-slaves were hired out, usually
to plantations now leased to northerners, and where it was ensured that they were paid
2. Land usage
a. Black families were given two acres of _______________________________
for each working hand in the family
b. They were required to _____________________________________for their
own use with tools provided by the federal government
c. All blacks were required to raise a certain amount of _____________________
d. Blacks often believed the land would be theirs after the war, but ___________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
C. __________________________________ organized by both blacks and whites provided the
majority of the financial support for former slaves
D. _____________________________
1. Former slaves needed to be taught basic non-agricultural skills like _______________
2. Most teaching was done by volunteers, both black and white
3. By 1863 almost all Union occupied territory had educational systems in place
4. Those who worked during and after the war to educated African Americans made one
of the most significant contributions to their realization of freedom
V. ______________________________________________________
A. Prior to the implementation of the draft in 1863 _____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
B. The implementation of the draft in 1863 started a ____________________________________
1. White rioters, primarily __________________________________________, were
outraged when their names appeared on the public draft rolls
a. _______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
b. They were also frustrated that the sons of the politicians who were voting to
continue the war and implement the draft could buy their way out ("$300 men")
2. Rioters __________________________________ to the ground, attacked the homes of
wealthy whites, and _______________________________________________________,
burned their homes and businesses, and specifically targeted the ____________________
3. Eventually troops were called in to put down the riots
VI. Black Troops?
A. From the beginning of the war ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________ , but their offers were initially rebuffed
1. Some believed that blacks were a servile race and thus _________________________
2. Others believed that blacks were unfit to serve as soldiers because they were
_______________________________ into giving information and weapons to the enemy
3. Army officers feared that black soldiers would ________________________________
4. Fears that black soldiers would come back from the war and _____________________
_________________ citizenship (as they had after the Revolution) drove some resistance
5. Some whites feared that armed and trained blacks would ________________________
_________________________________________ northern whites as well as southerners
B. Unable to enlist, blacks did everything they could to prepare in case they were allowed
1. ___________________ formed to practice drilling (though often police stopped them)
2. Several groups offered to go into the South and organize slave revolts, but the
government turned them down
3. Blacks constantly ________________________________ to allow them into the army
C. Abolitionists agitated for the arming of blacks
1. William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Philips said that it was cruel to deny African
Americans the chance to ___________________________________________________
D. Some white northerners were frustrated that they had to fight a war for the freedom of blacks,
but that blacks were not fighting themselves
VII. Black Troops!
A. Before August of 1862 _________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
B. In May of 1862 General David Hunter formed the ___________________________________
_______________________from a group of slaves freed while he moved through South Carolina
1. Lincoln forced him to disband the unit
2. The soldiers were sent home without pay and without fighting
C. In August, the ___________________________________________ permitted the president to
"employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary and proper for the
suppression of this rebellion", ______________________________________________________
D. On August 25th Lincoln authorized the reorganization of Hunter's regiment
E. In September of 1862 the first regiment of the ______________________________________,
a militia unit composed of free men of color organized by the Confederacy, was mustered in by
General Benjamin Butler; by November there were three full regiments
F. Since the war's outbreak, Frederick Douglass had beseeched Lincoln to enlist blacks, and in
large part through his work eight northern states had black regiments by 1863
G. By the end of the war more than __________________ blacks had enrolled in the Union army
H. ____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
1. Initially many white officers, particularly from West Point, were hesitant to lead black
troops and were ostracized for doing so
2. Some, however, did so enthusiastically, including Colonel Thomas Wentworth
Higginson of the First South Carolina Volunteers, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw of the
Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, and General N.P. Banks who commanded the First
and Third Louisiana Native Guards
G. Some blacks did receive officer's commissions; two of General Benjamin Butler's Corps
d'Afrique were entirely staffed by black officers
H. Ex-slaves serving as ___________________________________ provided incredibly valuable
information to Union forces and were often able to lead raiding parties behind Confederate lines
to destroy fortifications and supplies
I. Women
1. One such spy was _______________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________ and hundreds of other black women
did the same, particularly in the contraband camps, but also on naval vessels and in
military hospitals
VIII. Black Soldiers in Service
A. Black soldiers were often _______________________________________________________
B. Beginning in September of 1862 black soldiers saw combat duty and from then until the end of
the war ________________________________________________________________________
C. The Confederacy considered the north's use of black troops outrageous
1. Most _________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
and Davis ordered that they be sent into slavery, though most were executed
2. Lincoln declared that for every Union soldier killed in violation of the rules of war a
rebel prisoner would be executed and for every Union soldier enslaved a rebel soldier
would be put into hard labor
D. ____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
1. Decatur Dorset won a medal for gallantry at Petersburg, VA in 1864
2. James Gardner won a Medal of Honor for running in front of his brigade to shoot a
Confederate officer at Petersburg
3. Four men in the 54th Mass. earned the Gilmore Medal at Fort Wagner, SC
E. Unequal Treatment by the Military
1. ____________________________________________________ was the most glaring
a. Whites privates earned $13 a month and $3.50 for clothing
b. Black privates earned $7 a month and $3 for clothing
c. _______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
d. Sgt. William Walker (3rd SC) was court-martialed and executed for leading
his men to stack their weapons by their captain's tent and refusing duty, claiming
that the government failed to fulfill its contract
2. After many protests, _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
F. More than ______________________________________________________ in the Civil War
1. Their mortality rate was nearly 40% greater than that of white troops
2. Excessive _____________________________________________________________
__________________________ with which they were put into combat all played a factor
3. The "__________________________" policy of the Confederates resulted in the death
of thousands
a. At the _____________________________ CSA Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest,
future founder of the KKK, refused to accept the surrender of black soldiers,
instead shooting many and burning the rest alive
b. Many CSA commanders had a policy of not reporting the capture of black
soldiers, leaving their fate unknown