Download or read book Lincoln and the U S Colored Troops written by John David Smith and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Abraham Lincoln issued his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, he not only freed the slaves in the Confederate states but also invited freed slaves and free persons of color to join the U.S. Army as part of the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), the first systematic, large-scale effort by the U.S. government to arm African Americans to aid in the nation’s defense. By the end of the war in 1865, nearly 180,000 black soldiers had fought for the Union. Lincoln’s role in the arming of African Americans remains a central but unfortunately obscure part of one of the most compelling periods in American history. In Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops John David Smith offers a concise, enlightening exploration of the development of Lincoln’s military emancipation project, its implementation, and the recruitment and deployment of black troops. Though scholars have written much on emancipation and the USCT, Smith’s work frames the evolution of Lincoln’s ideas on emancipation and arming blacks within congressional actions, explaining how, when, and why the president seemed to be so halting in his progression to military emancipation. After tracing Lincoln’s evolution from opposing to supporting emancipation as a necessary war measure and to championing the recruitment of black troops for the Union Army, Smith details the creation, mobilization, and diverse military service of the USCT. He assesses the hardships under which the men of the USCT served, including the multiple forms of discrimination from so-called friends and foes alike, and examines the broad meaning of Lincoln’s military emancipation project and its place in African American historical memory.

Download or read book Freedom by the Sword written by William A. Dobak and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Civil War changed the United States in many ways—economic, political, and social. Of these changes, none was more important than Emancipation. Besides freeing nearly four million slaves, it brought agricultural wage labor to a reluctant South and gave a vote to black adult males in the former slave states. It also offered former slaves new opportunities in education, property ownership—and military service. From late 1862 to the spring of 1865, as the Civil War raged on, the federal government accepted more than 180,000 black men as soldiers, something it had never done before on such a scale. Known collectively as the United States Colored Troops and organized in segregated regiments led by white officers, some of these soldiers guarded army posts along major rivers; others fought Confederate raiders to protect Union supply trains, and still others took part in major operations like the Siege of Petersburg and the Battle of Nashville. After the war, many of the black regiments took up posts in the former Confederacy to enforce federal Reconstruction policy. Freedom by the Sword tells the story of these soldiers' recruitment, organization, and service. Thanks to its broad focus on every theater of the war and its concentration on what black soldiers actually contributed to Union victory, this volume stands alone among histories of the U.S. Colored Troops.

Download or read book President Lincoln s Recruiter written by Michael A. Eggleston and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-03-25 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historians have often marginalized the effect of African American troops on the outcome of the Civil War. While many histories briefly mention the service of the blacks, few reveal their impact. Lorenzo Thomas was one of the most exceptional people to serve in that war, but no biography of his life has been written. Most of his career was spent as an administrator in the U. S. Army, from his graduation from West Point in 1823 until the start of the war when he was the army's Adjutant General. His life changed when he was charged by Secretary of War Stanton to go West and recruit troops for the Union that were desperately needed. Stanton and Thomas did not get along and with pressure mounting to get more troops, Stanton saw this as an opportunity to get Thomas out of Washington. Thomas did exceptionally well in recruiting tens of thousands of troops for the Union. After the war ended, President Andrew Johnson replaced Stanton with Thomas as temporary Secretary of War. This precipitated the impeachment hearings against Johnson and some say that the testimony of Thomas caused the impeachment of Johnson to be dismissed.

Download or read book The United States Colored Troops written by Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-02-23 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures*Includes accounts of the battles written by black soldiers*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents"Who would be free themselves must strike the blow....I urge you to fly to arms and smite to death the power that would bury the Government and your liberty in the same hopeless grave. This is your golden opportunity." - Frederick DouglassAfter the Battle of Fort Sumter made clear that there would be war between the North and South, support for both the Union and Confederacy rose. Two days after the surrender of the fort, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call-to-arms asking for 75,000 volunteers, a request that would rely on Northern states to organize and train their men. While most Americans had hoped to avert war, many abolitionists had come to view war as inevitable, and the news from Fort Sumter suggested a chance to rectify the country's original sin through the defeat of the South. Though abolitionists were a minority that was mostly confined to New England and often branded as radicals, they had long sought to end slavery and secure basic civil rights for blacks. One of the most famous abolitionists, the escaped slave Frederick Douglass, realized immediately what kind of opportunity the Civil War presented to all blacks, whether they were slaves or free: "Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship."In 1861, Lincoln was particularly concerned about alienating the border slave states that had not joined the Confederacy, particularly Kentucky and Missouri. The fighting at Fort Sumter had already driven Virginia into the Confederacy, and Lincoln rightly worried that the conscription of black soldiers might alienate whites in the North and the border states. As he famously put it, "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." When Generals John C. Fr�mont and David Hunter issued proclamations emancipating slaves in their military regions and permitting them to sign up for active duty, the Lincoln Administration swiftly and sternly revoked their orders. Ultimately, and perhaps not surprisingly, the War Department would only change its tune once it felt that doing so was a military necessity. Most notably, even before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union had organized its first black regiment; in July of 1862, General David Hunter, the same one whose emancipation order had caused a political crisis in 1861, impressed slaves in the South Carolina Sea Islands and enlisted them in the Union Army to deprive the Confederates of the ability to rely on them. While it was obviously a sensitive issue to emancipate slaves in border states, Lincoln clearly understood the military value gained by adding Southern slaves to the Union war effort, and it was a logical stepping stone from Hunter's actions to simply recruiting blacks to aid the North.In time, the addition of black soldiers would help turn the tide of the war, adding hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the ranks, and the U.S. Colored Troops would fight in some of the most famous battles of the war, including at Fort Wagner, Fort Pillow, and at the Battle of the Crater during the siege of Petersburg. While there continues to be controversy over the way Southern slaves were utilized by the Confederacy, it's unquestionable that freedmen and escaped slaves were crucial to lifting the North to victory from 1863-1865.The United States Colored Troops: The History and Legacy of the Black Soldiers Who Fought in the American Civil War traces the development of black regiments during the war and the impact they had on the second half of it.

Download or read book Soldiering for Freedom written by Bob Luke and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2014-06-30 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of an enormous step forward in both the struggle for black freedom and the defeat of the Confederacy: turning former enslaved men into Union soldiers. After President Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, Confederate slaves who could reach Union lines often made that perilous journey. A great many of the young and middle-aged among them, along with other black men in the free and border slave states, joined the Union army. These U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), as the War Department designated most black units, materially helped to win the Civil War—performing a variety of duties, fighting in some significant engagements, and proving to the Confederates that Northern manpower had practically no limits. Soldiering for Freedom explains how Lincoln’s administration came to recognize the advantages of arming free blacks and former slaves and how doing so changed the purpose of the war. Bob Luke and John David Smith narrate and analyze how former slaves and free blacks found their way to recruiting centers and made the decision to muster in. As Union military forces recruited, trained, and equipped ex-slave and free black soldiers in the last two years of the Civil War, white civilian and military authorities often regarded the African American soldiers with contempt. They relegated the men of the USCT to second-class treatment compared to white volunteers. The authors show how the white commanders deployed the black troops, and how the courage of the African American soldiers gave hope for their full citizenship after the war. Including twelve evocative historical engravings and photographs, this engaging and meticulously researched book provides a fresh perspective on a fascinating topic. Appropriate for history students, scholars of African American history, or military history buffs, this compelling and informative account will provide answers to many intriguing questions about the U.S. Colored Troops, Union military strategy, and race relations during and after the tumultuous Civil War.

Download or read book Lincoln and Emancipation written by Edna Greene Medford and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this succinct study, Edna Greene Medford examines the ideas and events that shaped President Lincoln’s responses to slavery, following the arc of his ideological development from the beginning of the Civil War, when he aimed to pursue a course of noninterference, to his championing of slavery’s destruction before the conflict ended. Throughout, Medford juxtaposes the president’s motivations for advocating freedom with the aspirations of African Americans themselves, restoring African Americans to the center of the story about the struggle for their own liberation. Lincoln and African Americans, Medford argues, approached emancipation differently, with the president moving slowly and cautiously in order to save the Union while the enslaved and their supporters pressed more urgently for an end to slavery. Despite the differences, an undeclared partnership existed between the president and slaves that led to both preservation of the Union and freedom for those in bondage. Medford chronicles Lincoln’s transition from advocating gradual abolition to campaigning for immediate emancipation for the majority of the enslaved, a change effected by the military and by the efforts of African Americans. The author argues that many players—including the abolitionists and Radical Republicans, War Democrats, and black men and women—participated in the drama through agitation, military support of the Union, and destruction of the institution from within. Medford also addresses differences in the interpretation of freedom: Lincoln and most Americans defined it as the destruction of slavery, but African Americans understood the term to involve equality and full inclusion into American society. An epilogue considers Lincoln’s death, African American efforts to honor him, and the president’s legacy at home and abroad. Both enslaved and free black people, Medford demonstrates, were fervent participants in the emancipation effort, showing an eagerness to get on with the business of freedom long before the president or the North did. By including African American voices in the emancipation narrative, this insightful volume offers a fresh and welcome perspective on Lincoln’s America.

Download or read book The War Worth Fighting written by Stephen D. Engle and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of original essays, featuring an all-star lineup of Civil War and Lincoln scholars, is aimed at general readers and students eager to learn more about the most current interpretations of the period and the man at the center of its history. The contributors examine how Lincoln actively and consciously managed the war—diplomatically, militarily, and in the realm of what we might now call public relations—and in doing so, reshaped and redefined the fundamental role of the president.

Download or read book United States Colored Troop written by Willie Brown and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2016-03-30 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African American History was always interesting because an important part of it happened in the Civil War. My book will try and clarify many areas that will assist with a better understanding of what actually happened to the USCT. The writer will try and give a complete explanation of what made the USCT unique. This subject was made popular because of the Emancipation Proclamation, which created the United States Colored Troops. Even though it was created by President Lincoln, there were many obstacles to succeed and to fight as soldier. They were to be commanded by a white commanding officer and could not arise above the rank of sergeant. There are several Medal of Honor recipients from the USCT and the US Navy and a list of African American women that made a tremendous contribution to the Union Army. The Civil War couldnt have been won without the infusion of two hundred thousand enlistees of African descent.

Download or read book 19th Regiment U S Colored Troops written by Robert K. Summers and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-02-01 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Civil War began in April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for 90-day volunteers to put down the insurrection. 75,000 patriotic men enlisted. But as the war dragged on, it became clear that many more volunteers would be needed to replace the dead and wounded. The President issued more calls for volunteers, but fewer men answered each time. The true horror of war had begun to sink in. The Union Government then began to offer cash bonuses for enlistment, and instituted a draft. The first draft law was enacted on July 17, 1862. A more comprehensive one, the Enrollment Act, followed on March 3, 1863. But there were still not enough men to replace those lost in battle. After having initially resisted the idea, President Lincoln authorized the Army, in his Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, to begin enlisting free African-Americans. Later that year, he authorized the Army to begin enlisting slaves as well. This is the story of the 19th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, comprised of 1,000 men, most of whom were runaway slaves. The 19th Regiment fought at the famous Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia. Almost a third of the men had died in battle or from disease by the time their 3-year enlistment was up.

Download or read book Reminiscences of Two Years with the Colored Troops written by Joshua Melancthon Addeman and published by . This book was released on 1880 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Thunder at the Gates written by Douglas Egerton and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost immediately after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, abolitionists began to call for the raising of black regiments. The South and most of the North responded with outrage. Southerners vowed to enslave black soldiers captured in battle, while many northerners claimed that blacks lacked the courage to fight. Yet Boston's Brahmins, always eager for a moral crusade, launched one of the greatest experiments in American history. In Thunder at the gates, Douglas R. Egerton chronicles the formation and exploits of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry and the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry -- regiments led by whites but composed of black men born free or into slavery.

Download or read book History of the Fifty fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1863 1865 written by Luis F B 1844 Emilio and published by Legare Street Press. This book was released on 2023-07-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1863-1865 is a compelling account of the role of African American soldiers in the Civil War. Written by Luis F. Emilio, a veteran of the regiment, this book provides a firsthand perspective on the challenges faced by African American soldiers during the war. This book is an important contribution to the history of the Civil War and the ongoing struggle for social justice and equality in America. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Download or read book African Americans During the Civil War written by Deborah H. DeFord and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African Americans living in the time period directly preceding the Civil War were influenced by the constant tension between the North and the South. The aftereffects of the Civil War greatly affected African-American life as well. This work explores this intriguing time in American history.

Download or read book The 36th Infantry United States Colored Troops in the Civil War written by James K. Bryant, II and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Civil War, African American war correspondent Thomas Morris Chester was so inspired by the men of the 36th United States Colored Troops that he declared the group to be "a model regiment." Composed primarily of former slaves recruited from Union-occupied areas of eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, the 36th USCT participated in large-scale expeditions to liberate slaves, guarded Confederate prisoners at major POW camps, served in the trenches before Petersburg and Richmond, and stood as one of the first units to enter the abandoned Confederate capital on April 3, 1865. This volume, which includes a complete regimental roster, explores the background of these former slaves and their families, examines their initial recruitment and chronicles their military contributions throughout the war. More than a unit history, the story of the 36th USCT offers a vivid portrait of the challenging transition from slavery to freedom.

Download or read book Teaching with Documents written by and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Lincoln Mailbag written by Harold Holzer and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2006-01-05 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As president, Abraham Lincoln received between two hundred and five hundred letters a day—correspondence from public officials, political allies, and military leaders, as well as letters from ordinary Americans of all races who wanted to share their views with him. Here, and in his critically acclaimed volume Dear Mr. Lincoln, editor Harold Holzer has rescued these voices—sometimes eloquent, occasionally angry, at times poetic—from the obscurity of the archives of the Civil War. The Lincoln Mailbag includes letters written by African Americans, which Lincoln never saw, revealing to readers a more accurate representation of the nation’s mood than even the president knew. This first paperback edition of The Lincoln Mailbag includes a new index and fourteen illustrations, and Holzer’s introduction and annotations provide historical context for the events described and the people who wrote so passionately to their president in Lincoln's America.

Download or read book A House Built by Slaves written by Jonathan W. White and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-02-12 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers of American history and books on Abraham Lincoln will appreciate what Los Angeles Review of Books deems an "accessible book" that "puts a human face — many human faces — on the story of Lincoln’s attitudes toward and engagement with African Americans" and Publishers Weekly calls "a rich and comprehensive account." Widely praised and winner of the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, this book illuminates why Lincoln’s unprecedented welcoming of African American men and women to the White House transformed the trajectory of race relations in the United States. From his 1862 meetings with Black Christian ministers, Lincoln began inviting African Americans of every background into his home, from ex-slaves from the Deep South to champions of abolitionism such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. More than a good-will gesture, the president conferred with his guests about the essential issues of citizenship and voting rights. Drawing from an array of primary sources, White reveals how African Americans used the White House as a national stage to amplify their calls for equality. Even more than 160 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln’s inclusion of African Americans remains a necessary example in a country still struggling from racial divisions today.