War_with_in_the_Civil_War

War With in the Civil War Since my ancestors arrived in the United States, we have always been looked down upon and discriminated against. When the Slave runners first brought us to America, we were taken against our will, separated from our family’s and forced to work as laborers. We became less than dogs. We became slaves to the rich/greedy Americans. We were given no pay, little food and worked all day every day. If we did not obey we were badly whipped and beaten sometimes to death. Africans like myself have fought for our freedom, and up until the Civil War it was never given to us. When the Civil War began, we wanted to fight so we could free all slaves, in hopes that we could fight along side white men equally.       The road to freedom was long and hard for us. 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 ironically did not have much intention of freeing the slaves. His greatest interests lie in preventing a war from occurring. However, even Lincoln could not stop the outbreak of War.       Ex-slaves, myself and other African Americans wanted to get in on the action. We wanted to fight against those who had enslaved our people and our families. My brothers volunteered and tried to enlist, but everywhere they went they were rejected. The Americans believed that we lacked the courage to fight. They said that my people and I should not be enslaved. Even though we where slaves this country was all we know. We refused to give up our fight to defend our homeland as free Americans. I think it was our pretence to fight; a lack of white men (solders), as well as constant changing circumstances, that eventually changed Lincoln's mind because he was being bombarded with pressure to let free African Americans fight in the war. Finally, in the summer of 1862, Lincoln knew that the war would not be won without the end of slavery, so Lincoln drew up the Emancipation Proclamation. This document would come to free us slaves in the Union. On July 17, 1862, Congress "repealed an act of 1792 that would not let us serve in the state militia. A new Militia Act was put in place. The new act would permit free black men and ex-slaves to fight in the state militia. After our long hard fight to be allowed to serve in the Union Army, African Americans would finally have the chance to prove our selves. We served our home proudly as free men and fight to free our fellow brothers who were not as fortunate as us. Enrollment began sometime in late in1862. Thousands of black men just like me enlisted. There were not to be any black officers, but we didn’t care we where just glad we could fight for our fellow brothers plus I think we did receive some kind of pay. When the Confederate Army and President Davis found out that we where enlisting in the union army it made him burst with rage. Davis stated that Union officers recruiting slaves were 'outlaws' and would be execution as felons and all 'slaves captured in arms' would face the death penalty However, this did not stop us. The South has been killing our people for years what’s new. What was hard was dealing with constant discriminated by many of the white soldiers in the Union Army. Many rejected the idea of fighting along side of us. The soldiers would say blacks are not equal and it’s a disgrace to fight along side these Negroes. As a Black soldier I knew I would be subject to discrimination and harassment. Through it all, we still lined up for enlistment. We never backed down it was not right that we where free and our brothers in the South where still suffering. As free black men we did not have it much better than our brothers in the south. They put us on the front lines to fight. We were assigned all the rough tasks and if we did not follow command we would be whipped. The whites received all the equipment and medical supplies first. The solders must have thought that our lives where disposable because nearly twice as many blacks died than the white soldiers. We might have won our freedom but we keep fighting for our rights to be treated equal. They keep telling us that we would receive equality when we proved ourselves on the battlefield. Battle after battle and we still are not treated likes equals. Treated like the white solders. This made us impatient and frustrated. We wondered if we would ever truly be free we also asked ourselves questions about fighting in this war. Would this war really change our way of life & would they take away our freedom after the war. Some men are not like most men. We often ask ourselves if any of the white commanders treat his troops with dignity and respect. We heard that one of the Union officers commented that African American made better soldiers than some of the white troops he had commanded. This gave us great pride because we had proved ourselves to be equal to the whites in their ability to fight. This gave other African Americas the motivation to continue and fight in the war. The performance of the Union black soldiers had impressed many of the Southern officers. They began petitioning the idea, but Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President, rejected the idea. In later months talk began to stir in the southern states again about the idea of using slaves in the war.  When the war had ended, our country would once again be united as one nation brother united with brother we had won our freedom and the end of slavery had finally come. Even thought we where fighting in the civil war we had been fighting in our own war & won that war. We had successfully fought for our rights to fight along side white soldiers and had won equal rights as soldiers. Though the road to equality would only last a while but, we had proven ourselves to be worthy opponents in battle & we had shown the nation that we too could fight bravely and hold ground. Because of this our ability to fight as soldiers would never be questioned again.