African American Soldiers in the War of 1898

One of the great travesties in the study of American history is the lack of credit given to the accomplishments of African Americans. In times of war while the United States was becoming an empire, roles of African Americans were overlooked. There is no greater example than that of the Spanish American War. African American soldiers played a remarkable role in this war, and all too often their role has been disregarded and passed over by authors of the subject. Evidently, these authors were almost all white. Only with research from African American authors and historically accurate descriptions from the soldiers themselves, can one find the true nature of the role that African Americans played in the Spanish American War.
In 1898 the United States was in a moral dilemma, considering whether to aid Cuba in its fight for independence from Spain. When the United States joined the fight and turned the Cuban fight for independence into the Spanish American War, the debate cont...