African Americans In The Civil War Essay

1523 Words7 Pages

In the years of the Civil War, African Americans played an important role in contributing to the Union Army and the confederate army. A great deal of African American men volunteered to join the Union Army but only after they gained freedom did they participate in fighting the war. Besides the Union Army, there was the confederate army which consisted of slave labor whom were forced to aid the confederacy following their masters. Later in the war, the Confederacy ran short on men and were in need to supply soldiers, leaving no choice but to enlist the colored men. Not only were African American men impacted from the war, but African American women also served to supply and aid in the war. Often they would accompany the men in their family and provide nursing to those in discomfort. The emancipation proclamation issued during the Civil War gave …show more content…

As miserable as it is to be a slave in the South, being a black women worsens the condition. The role of a black women in both the Union and the Confederacy have always been portrayed and elaborated on the orthodox that black women are meant for manual labor, for being tools and for assisting men. However, black women in the South are treated much harsher of course. Majority of black women enslaved were vulnerable to rape, physical abuse and having their families taken away. While the Confederacy took black male slaves into the camp, black women were left to care for their children themselves while managing their plantations and other labor. Although they had no power and no say to their freedom nor the Union, they contributed the most to themselves, their children and their family. The contrast of standards in African American women in the Union and the Confederacy differ widely, though they are both derived from the old traditional values that marked scars on their skins throughout the Civil

Open Document