Introduction

Secondary sources can provide a wealth of information on the subject of black soldiers during the Civil War, however, primary sources encourage students to draw their own conclusions, and what is history but the conclusions that are drawn from primary sources and documents by various historians.  It is important for students to understand that history can be interpreted in many different ways and what better way to help students to understand this than to allow them the chance to interpret primary sources to the best of their ability?  This blog provides this chance for students to do just this regarding primary sources concerning the history of black soldiers during the Civil War.  By applying any previous knowledge about the subject to the interpretation of the following primary sources, students are able to become the historiographers as they provide their own interpretation of history.

African American soldiers during the Civil War are not always at the forefront of Civil War studies in the classroom.  When news of the first shots at Fort Sumter was first heard by the black population of the United States, African Americans rushed to enlist in the army and fight for their freedom.  However, although African Americans had participated in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, they were banned from joining the army due to a Federal Law from 1792 (www.archives.gov).  The Lincoln Administration, after passing the Emancipation Proclamation, lifted this ban on African Americans and recruited black soldiers to the Union army (www.archives.gov).  The primary sources shared in this blog are mostly the result of this lift of the ban by Lincoln and his administration.

Although African Americans were able to join the army as soldiers, they often assumed lesser roles in the army as can be seen in some of the following primary sources.  African American men can be seen in photographs as sentries, servants to white generals, and army cooks rather than fighting in actual battle.  Black soldiers are also often relegated to the back or sides of photographs, unlike their white counterparts.  During the war, most newspaper editorial cartoons/illustrations were dedicated to white soldiers or African Americans in terms of slavery and emancipation rather than as soldiers themselves.  However, during the Civil War, a publication called Harper's Weekly took a Unionist stance and supported the abolition of slavery, emancipation, and African American rights, therefore, most of the editorial cartoons/illustrations concerning black soldiers have been pulled from Harper's Weekly.