Notes on African Americans and the Civil War (9.1–9.6)

9.1 Introduction

Lincoln’s initial war aim (April 1861): preserve the Union was paramount; abolition of slavery was not the primary objective. He detested slavery as a moral wrong and believed it should not expand into new Western territories, but he did not see immediate abolition as constitutional or politically feasible.
Early stance on freed slaves: Lincoln did not advocate for immediate emancipation or granting citizenship to freed blacks; he even suggested resettling freed people outside the United States.
Pressure from African Americans and enslaved people: Black abolitionists like Frederick Douglass challenged Lincoln to fight the Confederate slave system as a core part of the war; enslaved people fleeing to Union lines pressed the government to act.
Role of black troops: Close to the 1) number of black men who served, roughly 200{,}000, in all‑black Union Army regiments, who distinguished themselves on and off the battlefield. Their service helped shift the war’s meaning toward emancipation, freedom, and citizenship.
Political shift during the war: As the war progressed, Lincoln moved away from colonization and toward emancipation and Reconstruction planning; by 1865 he began to consider extending voting rights to some Black men, including Union Army veterans.
Outcome for the meaning of the war: African Americans helped redefine the Civil War from a struggle over Union to a struggle over emancipation and citizenship.
Postwar implications: Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865 led to provisional Reconstruction plans that included voting rights for some Black men, including veterans; his death delayed but did not erase those ambitions.
Connections to course goals: The module links African American history to broader American history, showing how Black agency compelled the nation to live up to its promises of freedom and equality.
Learning outcomes (summary):
- General understanding of African American history within American history;
- Ability to compare current events with historical information;
- Discuss origins, evolution, and spread of racial slavery;
- Describe the development of African American culture and its integration into American culture;
- Explain how African Americans during war times forced America to live up to its promises of freedom and equality;
- Use primary documents to explain why/how African Americans fought to make the Civil War about freedom and emancipation.
Readings/resources reference: Learning Unit on African Americans and the Civil War (listed for study).

9.2 The Election of 1860 and Secession

The 1860 Democratic Party convention (Charleston, SC) was deeply divided over slavery. Northern Democrats backed Senator Stephen Douglas (pro‑slavery moderate, supporting popular sovereignty); Southern Democrats walked out, refusing to endorse Douglas.
Outcome of the Democratic split: The party ended up with two presidential candidates. A second convention in Baltimore nominated Douglas; Southern delegates nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky. This split demonstrated the party’s inability to present a unified pro‑slavery platform.
Republican nomination: The Republican Party was not initially unified, but Abraham Lincoln of Illinois emerged as the candidate on the third ballot; New York Senator William Seward had been a leading contender but was sidelined due to his pro‑immigrant stance. Tennessee’s John Bell headed the Constitutional Union Party, comprising former Whigs and some Southern Democrats, aiming to avoid secession while not addressing deeper issues.
Electoral results and turnout: Lincoln carried all free states with the exception of New Jersey (which he split with Douglas); turnout was about 81.2% of eligible voters, a historical high. Lincoln won 180 electoral votes, while Breckinridge had 72, Bell had 39, and Douglas 12. Lincoln won despite receiving less than 40 ext{ percent} of the popular vote because the Republican field was split. (Note: distribution varied by state; Lincoln’s name was excluded on most Confederate ballots except for Virginia.)
Southern reaction and secession: The election heightened Southern fears of slavery’s future, contributing to secessionist moves. South Carolina called a convention and unanimously voted to dissolve the Union on December 20, 1860 (later followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas in the ensuing weeks).
Confederacy’s founding and nationalism: The seven seceding states formed a new nation with Jefferson Davis as president and a capital first in Montgomery, Alabama, then moved to Richmond, Virginia. Confederate nationalism centered on slavery, with religion framed as supporting the Confederacy’s mission (e.g., Christianity invoked in their founding documents). Jefferson Davis and others openly argued that slavery was foundational to the Confederacy as a political and economic system. A Confederate finance note (Fig. 9‑2) symbolized the nation’s creed: Washington in a Roman toga, Calhoun’s portrait, and enslaved African Americans in the fields.
Unionist southerners and enslaved Africans: Some Unionist southerners (notably in the Upcountry) remained loyal to the Union; a significant portion of enslaved Black southerners supported the Union or escaped to Union lines, directly challenging the Confederacy’s war effort.
Key takeaways: The election revealed the sectional divide and made secession increasingly likely; slavery remained central to Confederate ideology and identity; the Union faced a crisis over how to respond to secession and to the Confederacy’s slave system.

9.3 A War for Union? (1861—1862)

Lincoln’s inaugural stance: In his inaugural address, Lincoln declared secession legally void and asserted federal authority to hold federal property in seceded states, signaling a limited, conservative approach to war initially.
Fort Sumter and start of hostilities: Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC, symbolized the start of the Civil War. Lincoln attempted to resupply the fort; Confederate forces under P. G. T. Beauregard attacked; Major Robert Anderson surrendered on April 13, 1861. Lincoln then called for 75{,}000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion, triggering more states to secede or join the Confederacy. By spring 1861, eleven states had renounced U.S. citizenship; the Confederacy formed around slavery as its core principle.
Confederacy’s constitutional stance: Although some Confederates framed their cause as “states’ rights,” the Confederacy’s constitutional framework actively protected slavery and restricted states’ rights in ways that reinforced slavery’s centrality.
Black Americans’ wartime pressure: From early 1861, Black Americans urged service in the army and navy. Lincoln worried about border‑state loyalty and white volunteers’ willingness to fight alongside Black soldiers, but Union and Confederate realities soon constrained such concerns.
Contraband policy and early emancipation pressures: General Benjamin F. Butler, at Fortress Monroe (VA), began accepting fugitive slaves as “contraband of war” in May 1861, arguing that escaped slaves served the Union war effort. The First Confiscation Act (summer 1861) gave flexibility here, allowing contrabands to be kept within Union lines but not granted full citizenship. Contraband camps faced disease and malnutrition; contraband labor supported fortifications, railroad work, and provisioning.
Moral and strategic debates: The presence of contrabands and runaway slaves created a moral dilemma for Union soldiers (whether to assist runaways) and a strategic dilemma for Confederate and Union command alike; enslaved people’ flight sometimes provided intelligence to Union forces.
Early battles and abolitionist push: The Confederacy achieved several early battlefield successes (notably at Bull Run in July 1861), which dampened Northern expectations of a quick victory and amplified abolitionist pressure to pursue emancipation as an explicit war aim. Frederick Douglass argued forcefully that destroying the Confederacy’s slave system required fighting slavery itself. A notable frame: a call to wage war for the destruction of liberty and, correspondingly, the destruction of slavery (McPherson, Battle Cry).
Antietam as turning point toward emancipation: The fall 1862 clash at Antietam (near Sharpsburg, MD) was the war’s first major battle on Union soil and the bloodiest single day in U.S. history (over 20{,}000 killed, wounded, or missing in twelve hours). Although not a decisive Union victory, Antietam provided the political leverage Lincoln needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, reframing the war as a fight against slavery and reducing the Confederacy’s chances for European recognition.
Fredericksburg and continuing combat: The subsequent December 1862 battle at Fredericksburg was a Confederate victory with heavy Union casualties, illustrating the war’s ongoing brutality and the difficult political balancing act in pursuing emancipation while sustaining white Northern support.

9.4 War for Freedom (1863—1865)

Enlistment of Black soldiers and the Emancipation Proclamation: As the war expanded into Confederate territory, a growing recognition of emancipation’s strategic value led to the recruitment of Black troops. The Emancipation Proclamation (effective January 1, 1863) allowed “such persons of suitable condition” to enlist in the U.S. armed services to garrison forts, occupy positions, and man ships. Lincoln argued that arming Black soldiers would undermine the Confederacy and strengthen the Union (quoting his rationale): it “will soon close the contest” and provide a double advantage by weakening the enemy and strengthening the Union.
Scale and roles of Black troops: More than 180{,}000 Black men served in the Union Army (about 10 ext{ percent} of the Union forces). Most USCT units served as garrison and support troops behind front lines, but many did see combat. The Massachusetts regiments highlighted Black participation, notably the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry; the 54th became widely recognized for battlefield valor (the 54th’s legacy was popularized by the film Glory).
Notable leadership and recognition: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (white commander of the 54th) and other Black regiments received praise from white officers (e.g., Higginson’s report praising Black troops’ courage). The war produced at least fifteen Black soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for valor.
Pay disparity and civil rights implications: Black soldiers faced discrimination, lower pay than white soldiers, and the real threat of being enslaved or murdered if captured. James Henry Gooding, a Black corporal in the 54th, wrote to Lincoln arguing for equal treatment as “American SOLDIERS, not as menial hirelings.” Black troops and their families used battlefield service to demand equal citizenship and rights.
Confederate use of enslaved labor: The Confederacy impressed enslaved people for manual labor, cooking, and fortifications. Slaves who were forced to work for the Confederacy faced coercion, conflicting loyalties, and the reality that they were treated as property; some may have used battlefield opportunities to protect themselves or their masters. In March 1865, Confederate authorities passed a law to enlist Black soldiers, but only a small number (mostly Richmond hospital workers) had enlisted by war’s end. A narrative example: A.M. Chandler and the enslaved Silas: Silas accompanied Chandler to battle, and later, after an amputation, Silas returned to Mississippi with the Chandler family; this anecdote illustrates the complex loyalties and personal costs of wartime slavery.
Further notes on Confederacy and slavery’s centrality: The Confederate war effort remained rooted in slavery as its core principle; the broader question of racial equality and citizenship remained unresolved in the Confederacy and among many White Northerners.
The Draft and resistance: The Enrollment Act of 1863 (the Union’s draft) sparked political and social unrest; the New York City Draft Riots of July 1863 demonstrated Northern discontent with the war’s costs and the perception that wealthy men could evade service by paying substitutes.

9.5 Black Soldiers and Union War Victories (1864—1865)

Lincoln’s coordination with Grant to expand Black enlistment: After Union victories at Vicksburg (Mississippi) in 1863, Lincoln pressed Grant to recruit freed slaves into the Union Army; Grant supported arming Black soldiers, recognizing their strategic value in securing victory. Lincoln’s view: arming Black soldiers would “weaken the enemy and strengthen us.”
1864 military campaigns and emancipation: Black troops accompanied Union General William T. Sherman as he captured Atlanta, Georgia, and marched through the Deep South toward Savannah, ultimately reaching the Atlantic coast and Charleston. Sherman’s campaigns destroyed property and infrastructure but also freed thousands of enslaved people along the way. A Rhode Island Black soldier described liberated New Orleans as a city where Black soldiers could walk without the usual humiliations and restrictions, though still facing social hostility.
The social impact of Black troops in occupied Southern cities: In occupied New Orleans, Black troops encountered signs of hatred but also pride in their new status as Union soldiers; this reflected the broader social upheaval of emancipation in formerly slaveholding regions.
Fighting and heroism: Black regiments fought in dozens of battles and engagements across the South, contributing to Union victories and undermining Confederate war effort. Fifteen Black soldiers received the Medal of Honor for valor during the war.
Sherman’s Special Field Orders No. 15: In January 1865, following Savannah’s capture, General Sherman issued Special Field Orders No. 15, setting aside Sea Islands along the Atlantic coast (from Charleston to Jacksonville) for settlement by newly freed slaves. The order proposed land allotments of up to forty acres per family, and the Army settled about 40{,}000$$ Black people on former landholdings. The policy represented a central, hopeful program for Black land ownership and economic independence.
Reversal under Andrew Johnson: President Johnson revoked Sherman’s order soon after Lincoln’s assassination, arguing that lands hadn’t been abandoned and that seizure and redistribution were not legally justified in peacetime. The dream of independent Black yeomen farming land quickly faded under Johnson’s administration.
The Thirteenth Amendment and the end of formal slavery: As the war concluded, Republicans pushed for constitutional amendment to permanently end slavery; the Thirteenth Amendment was drafted during the war and brought to fruition after the war as the legal end of slavery in the United States. Lincoln’s insistence on equal rights for Black soldiers, combined with his broader war aims, helped drive the push toward constitutional abolition.
The broader outcome: The war’s end left a mixed landscape: legal emancipation had been achieved, but racial injustice persisted through Reconstruction-era racism, segregation, and voting discrimination. The collapse of slavery created a new set of social and political challenges that the nation would have to confront in the decades that followed.

9.6 Primary Sources

Slaves—Thirty Years a Slave: From Bondage to Freedom (Louis Hughes). Document download link provided.
Slaves—Selections from the WPA Interviews of Formerly Enslaved African Americans on Slavery. Document download link provided.
Soldiers—Selections from the WPA Interviews of Formerly Enslaved African Americans on Being a Civil War Soldier. Document download link provided.
Soldiers—"I Hope to Fall With My Face to the Foe" by Lewis Douglas. Document download link provided.
Soldiers—Letters from Spotswood Rice. Document download link provided.

9.7 Conclusion

The war ended with secession answered, slavery eradicated, and the United States re‑united territorially. African Americans—slaves and free people, soldiers and civilians—helped transform the Civil War into a struggle for emancipation and citizenship.
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863) framed the war as a “new birth of freedom” and asserted government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Reconstruction loomed as the next challenge: ensuring freedom, citizenship, and rights for African Americans in a devastated South. Northern and Southern soldiers returned home with physical and psychological tolls; land and labor arrangements for newly freed people were unsettled, with persistent racism and violence shaping their postwar reality.
The wartime actions of Black soldiers and the broader abolitionist movement had a lasting impact on American democracy, underscoring the argument that emancipation was inseparable from the nation’s political future.

9.6: Primary Sources (reference list)

Slaves—Thirty Years a Slave: From Bondage to Freedom (Louis Hughes). Document Download Link.
Slaves—Selections from the WPA Interviews of Formerly Enslaved African Americans on Slavery. Document Download Link.
Soldiers—Selections from the WPA Interviews of Formerly Enslaved African Americans on Being a Civil War Soldier. Document Download Link.
Soldiers—I Hope to Fall With My Face to the Foe by Lewis Douglas. Document Download Link.
Soldiers—Letters from Spotswood Rice. Document Download Link.