Why African Americans Fought for both the Union and the Confederate Sides during the Civil War

Why African Americans Fought for both the Union and the Confederate Sides during the Civil War

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), African Americans served on both the Union and the Confederate sides.The Civil War was primarily about the issue of slave trade and whether its existence would be allowed in the country further. ¹ The Union soldiers fought for the North who were advocating for the abolishment of Slave trade in the country. In contrast, the Confederacy troops fought for the South who wanted the institution of slavery maintained due for their economic reasons as their economic production was industrial based. In the Union Army, more than 170000 African American soldiers served in the multiple units of the Union Army. In addition, others served in the Navy and support positions during the war. The Union soldiers were comprised of the Northern free African Americans and the runaway slaves who originated from the South. Contrary, the confederacy soldiers were comprised of African-American slaves who served in the labor positions ²

Civil war black soldiers were not only willing but eager to be enlisted with the Union Army. The need to fight against slavery made them anxious in joining the Union military in order to be seen as equals and justify their right to equal treatment. ³ Fredrick Douglass, an abolitionist during the war advocated for equality and pressed the federal Union government to enlist the African American soldiers to be given an opportunity to fight for justice and fairness. Douglass was not alone in advocating for the abolition of slave trade. Similar to his need for abolition, John Brown believed that the Black soldiers were ready and capable of fighting for their liberation if they were issued with the chance. He therefore planned a raid on the Harper’s Ferry in 1859 in order to steal weapons that would be issued to the slaves in their revolution to end slavery. Unfortunately, the raid failed due to the lack of support from nearby slaves.

On the part of the African-American soldiers who fought for confederacy, they were reasons for them to do so. The major cause of the Civil war was due to the controversy on the slave trade between the North and the South. While the North fought for the federal army and the abolishment of slavery, the South preferred a slavery system due to their industrial-based economy. ⁴ Why would the African American Slaves fight for the Confederate States against the African American soldiers who were willing and ready to emancipate them from slavery? First, according to Fredrick Douglas, the Confederacy sensed defeat during the last month of the Civil War and had to recruit extra soldiers as it became imminent that the Union could the war. As a result, the Confederacy was in need of extra soldiers and therefore legally permitted the slaves to fight for them. Scholars estimate that around 3000-6000 African Americans were recruited by the Confederacy to fight in the war. Again, the Confederacy recruited about 100000 slaves to work in the weapon factories as the Whites could not be spared for such an effort-demanding role ⁵

Secondly, it was apparent that the African American slaves were forced to fight in the war by their owners. When it was likely that the Confederacy could lose the war, it deemed necessary for them to seek extra manpower. In line with this, the slave owners forced their slaves to participate in the war so that the Confederacy would win and the institution of slavery which the South advocated for would not be abolished. Moreover, some slave owners were tired of fighting in the war and therefore wanted their slaves to take part on their behalf ⁶

Finally, some Africans Americans believed genuinely that the Confederacy would defeat the Union and would be granted their freedom if they became part of the Confederacy manpower and won the war. This confidence was amassed from the legislation passed on March 13, 1865 allowing Black slaves to be freed if they became enlisted with the Confederate Army ⁷ In other States, there were Black slave owners who were in full support of the war and as a result became soldiers in the war in order to protect their economic reasons. For instance, in the State of Louisiana, there were quite large numbers of African American slave owners who had large plantations. For this reason, they participated in the war hoping that they would claim victory and continue exploiting their slaves for economic profits ⁸

Bibliography

Brown, DeNeen L. "They Thought Black Soldiers Couldn't Fight." The Washington Post , July 24, 2018: 12A-13B.

Hine, Darlene Clark, William C Hine, and Stanley C Harlod. African-American Odyssey. Vol. 1. London: Pearson Education, 2017.

Lande, Jonathan. "Trials of Freedom: African American Deserters during the U.S Civil War." Journal of Social History (Oxford University Press) 49, no. 3 (August 2015): 693-709.