The Decision to Use African Americans as Troops

The Decision to Use African American Troops

America’s Civil War was a fight to preserve the Union in the North, and for independence in the South. Slavery and the rights of African Americans were caught in the middle of this struggle, and in this paper we will examine the controversy over the decision to use African American troops to fight for the Northern and Southern cause. First we will look into the background of the war and determine the root of its cause. We will use this background to compare the similarities and differences between the North and South against using African Americans as soldiers. We will examine how the progression of the war changed or altered these policies, and how these policies differed between the Union and Confederate States.
The Civil War started on April12, 1861 with the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter.(Divine, p.429) Years of arguments between the North and South on the issues of state rights and slavery ultimately led to the ...