African-American Soldiers In The Civil War

African American Soldiers in the Civil War Believe it or not African Americans played a huge role in the Civil War and also affected the outcome of it. The time period of the Civil War was from 1861 to 1865, and it was not favorable for African Americans because many white people usually despised them and African Americans in the South were kept as slaves. Additionally, they sought to end this treatment by joining the Union Army to stop the use of slavery. In saying that the African American people of the Union Army faced many challenges and had many successes. The 54th Regiment, the treatment of the African American soldiers, and their other roles as soldiers were three other areas that affected the African American soldiers. The issue of the 54th Regiment gave African Americans the freedom to fight in the Civil War. The regiment was called by Governor John A. Andrew in Massachusetts 1863. The 54th Regiment didn't only just grant African Americans the right to fight in the Civil War, but it was also the first ever African American military unit in United States’ armed forces’ history. The man chosen to lead this unit was Colonel Robert Gould Shaw who led this army and encouraged the …show more content…
The other jobs the men and women picked up were: carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters. The Union Army had many African American soldiers and volunteers, so they addressed these people to certain jobs accordingly. A well known African American women, Harriet Tubman, served as a scout and a nurse mainly to help reach the goal of ending slavery. Additionally, the notable Fredrick Douglas was known for protests to end slavery, and he thought he would contribute to the cause by recruiting his two sons, Charles and Lewis, to join the Union Army. These people stuck to their jobs until the end of the Civil