Blacks in the Army
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Despite extreme prejudices from the white society, African American soldiers were true heroes in the American Civil War. At the beginning of the Civil War, Lincoln called for a recruitment of 75,000 men. Many blacks came to volunteer, but were sent away unwanted. Most of the white population considered the Civil War to be a пїЅWhite manпїЅs war.пїЅ Gov. David Todd had said, пїЅThis is a white manпїЅs government, and we are able to defend and protect itпїЅ (McRae). Although very few, there were some white generals who wanted to recruit blacks into the Army. LincolnпїЅs reasoning behind not letting blacks into the Army was because he wanted to preserve the Union, without having to deal with the issue of slavery. In addition, he did not want the Border States to separate from the Union and join the Confederacy. If he let blacks join the Army, then white soldiers would have refused to fight with them. Many people felt that blacks were not able to fight as well as whites, and considered it a waste to enlist them. Gov. John Andrews of Massachusetts said, пїЅIt is not my opinion that our generals, when any man comes to the standard and desires to defend the flag, will find it important to light a candle and
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In actual numbers, black soldiers comprised 10% of the entire Union Army. see what his complexion is, or to consult the family Bible to ascertain whether his grandfather came from the banks of the Thanes or of the SenegalпїЅ (McRae).
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