History 304 Readings Wiki

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There are two dominant themes in studies regarding African Americans in the military during the Civil War. One is the Lincoln Administration's decision to free and then arm African Americans. The other properly centers the conscious decision by many African Americans to enlist and fight themselves. Both of these themes, however, ignore the "unsoldierly actions," like desertion, which are important to consider when writing about the experiences of Black soldiers. The motivations for these actions may reveal a pattern that indicates an often overlooked issue. (Sarah M)

The treatment of newly freed people in the Union army was many times too similar to what they had experienced during enslavement. The rigid expectations and harsh punishments, sometimes worse than what they had experienced before, drove some men to desert. Situations such as these often stoked the flame of conversations surrounding the contractual view of African American men enlisting in the army, that they had to personally fight in order to gain their liberty. (Sarah M)

I found the first paragraph interesting because of how brutally Johnson was punished and that it was inflicted by the Union. I think I find this surprising because generally, people associate the Union with anti-slavery because it is the place they went to be free of slavery. After all they were allowed to fight along the Union instead of being sold and forced to work. However this first paragraph just proves that the Union may have been anti-slavery, but they did not like black men. If they thought that black and white men were equal I don't believe they would have inflicted such a punishment and broadcasted it as though to make an example of Johnson. I don't think white men would have received the same punishment and this article doesn't mention an event such as this happening to a white man. (Emily Booth)

It was said that in the beginning, many whites feared having black soldiers in the Union. This also makes me think that the Union radiated the concept of anti-slavery but did not believe in equality. They pushed the ideas of anti-slavery, at least the government did, but they were still scared for, in this case, black men, to be regular citizens or soldiers. It's interesting to see the stark difference between being against slavery and believing black men were equal to white men. (Emily Booth)

This article mentions black women one time and it's to say how they pursued freedom over black men. Black men, as the article mentions, mostly gained "freedom" (I put it in quotations because I don't believe they felt free even as soldiers) by joining the army. Since women couldn't do this, the article says marriage was the most common way they obtained "freedom." It also mentioned they would do this by being "'stateless' insurgents", which I'm assuming means they wouldn't marry. (Emily Booth)

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