The road to freedom from slavery was a long and hard for the African Americans. In the northern states the Civil War began as a fight against the succession of the Confederate states from the Union. Abraham Lincoln, who was President at this time, wanted to save the nation by bringing the southern states back to the Union, but this “Great Emancipator” ironically did not have much intention of freeing the slaves. His greatest interest lie in preventing a war from occurring. However, even he could not stop the out

…they stormed the fort, then butchered as many as three hundred of its disarmed defenders, black and white. ‘…deluded Negroes would run up to our men,’ a rebel soldier recalled, ‘fall upon their knees…scream for mercy, but were ordered to their feet and shot down’ (Ward 335)

Some soldiers were treated well and trained well, but most were brutalized and discriminated against. Often some of the soldiers would say they were treated no better than the slaves they were fighting to free. Black soldiers were assigned the more menial tasks even on the battlefield (Ward 253). They were often subject to harsh whippings if commands were not followed. They received inferior equipment and medical care. Nearly twice as many African Americans died of diseases on the battlefield then the white soldiers (Ward 253).Throughout the war, black soldiers fought for their rights to be treated equally. They were continuously told that in order to receive equal pay and to be considered for being commissioned as an officer, they would have to prove themselves on the battlefield. The problem with this was they were being denied the right to engage in battle. Many of the African American soldiers were getting impatient and frustrated. They had signed up for the army to fight and defend their freedom, not to do the laborious tasks the white soldiers did not want to do.

Some topics in this essay:
African Americans, African American, Civil War, Robert Shaw, Bedford Forrest, President Lincoln, Benjamin Confederate, William Carney, Union Army, War Department, african americans, civil war, african american, black soldiers, white soldiers, history african-americans civil, history african-americans, african-americans civil war, african american soldiers, african-americans civil, american soldiers, equal pay, 54th massachusetts, african americans won, american civil war,