On March 2, 1863, the out spoken abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, published an article in hist newspaper, the Douglass Monthly. It was called "Men of Color, to Arms!" Since they knew that if the North lost, it meant they would be enslaved once again, free African Americans and former slaves joined the army. Frederick Douglass wrote and spoke supporting of the recruiting of African American soldiers in the army.

The South was losing more and more ground. They were the ones who had previously thought of African Americans as inferior beings, yet they eventually turned to slaves to rescue them. Towards the end of the war, the South began to recruit slaves for the Civil War. They were desperate for soldiers and they knew that the North would win any day if they had not recruited the slaves. Some southerners, such as a Louisiana planter, argued that since slaves “casued the fight,” they should take part in the battle to defend themselves.

Elijah Marrs was a slave from Jessamine County, Kentucky hoping to be recruited into the army to gain freedom. As he had his raggedy clothes replaced with his new army clothes, he declared, “I feel freedom in my bones” (Henretta 19).

Even though the African American soldiers fought for the North in the Civil War, they continued to encounter racism and discrimination from everyone. To give an example of the most common discrimination, they were labeled "United States Colored Troops”. This was an everyday form of discrimination towards African Americans. They were given ten dollars per month, minus three dollars for clothing allowance. However, white soldiers received thirteen dollars plus three dollars and fifty cents for clothing allowance per month. Some African American regiments, such as the Massachusetts 54th Volunteers, actually refused to accept payment in 1863 for up to a year. In 1864, however, Congress passed a law for all African American soldiers to receive equal pay as white soldiers. African American soldiers could not serve as officers, received inferior ammunition and weapons, and received absolutely no medical treatment on or off the battlefield. This resulted in much greater number of African American deaths due to disease or simple wounds (http://itd.nps.gov/cwss/history/aa_history.htm). Also, African American soldiers could not surrender under any circumstances. Since the confederate soldiers were so angry at the thought of African American soldiers, they would regularly shoot or enslave African American soldiers who had already surrendered. At the Battle of Fort Pillow, almost one thousand African American soldiers were slaughtered after surrendering to confederate troops. In all, approximately one-third of all African American soldiers gave their life during the Civil War (http://afroamcivilwar.org/).

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