Frederick Douglass, the famous African American abolitionist, was once quoted as saying “[He] who would be free must himself strike the blow.” This quote is particularly relevant in the figurative and literal sense when it came to African American soldiers fighting in the Civil War. All African Americans had an uphill battle to fight when it came to getting the chance to prove themselves as adequate soldiers, and an even tougher battle to get recognition for what they had achieved. The first soldiers to get win both of these fights were the men of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first official all African American force in the United States military. Because of their achievements, the 54th Massachusetts had a positive impact on the views
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But it did not falter. It made Fort Wagner such a name to the colored race as Bunker Hill has been for ninety years to the white Yankees... To this Massachusetts 54th was set the stupendous task to convince the white race that colored troops would fight, – and not only that they would fight, but that they could be made, in every sense of the word, soldiers.” This sentiment was further discussed by Henry M. Cross in his novel A Yankee Soldier Looks at a Negro, in which he states, “Let no one speak against the colored soldiers. They have mingled their look with ours on the battlefield. The have done some of the best fighting of the campaign and have lost fearfully.” To further drive home the point, the author of The Negro’s Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union, James M. McPherson included this passage in his novel, “You have no idea how my prejudices with regard to negro troops have been dispelled by the battle the other day.” There is incontrovertible evidence that quotes of this nature, in which the author or speaker speaks of the praises and renown of the African American soldiers of the Civil War, occur in a much more frequent fashion and with greater conviction after the Battle of Fort Wagner. The path that the 54th Massachusetts Regiment paved allowed for other all African American regiments to be instated in the coming years. After the war’s end in 1865, the African American community in Boston, Massachusetts brought up the idea to build a statue in honor of the men of the 54th and their fallen leader, and the idea caught
But it did not falter. It made Fort Wagner such a name to the colored race as Bunker Hill has been for ninety years to the white Yankees... To this Massachusetts 54th was set the stupendous task to convince the white race that colored troops would fight, – and not only that they would fight, but that they could be made, in every sense of the word, soldiers.” This sentiment was further discussed by Henry M. Cross in his novel A Yankee Soldier Looks at a Negro, in which he states, “Let no one speak against the colored soldiers. They have mingled their look with ours on the battlefield. The have done some of the best fighting of the campaign and have lost fearfully.” To further drive home the point, the author of The Negro’s Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union, James M. McPherson included this passage in his novel, “You have no idea how my prejudices with regard to negro troops have been dispelled by the battle the other day.” There is incontrovertible evidence that quotes of this nature, in which the author or speaker speaks of the praises and renown of the African American soldiers of the Civil War, occur in a much more frequent fashion and with greater conviction after the Battle of Fort Wagner. The path that the 54th Massachusetts Regiment paved allowed for other all African American regiments to be instated in the coming years. After the war’s end in 1865, the African American community in Boston, Massachusetts brought up the idea to build a statue in honor of the men of the 54th and their fallen leader, and the idea caught