by Michelle Johnson

Created on: July 13, 2009   Last Updated: July 15, 2009

During a war in which the union fought against slavery, African-American were not even allowed the "privilege" of dying for the cause. While the law that said this was from 1782 and somewhat outdated, its policies were strictly adhered to.

When the Civil War started a man named Jacob Dobson offered to find 300 African-American volunteers to defend Washington, but he was turned down just like many other men who offered African-American help. When another man, General John W. Phelps rallied African-Americans to fight the Union government flat out told him that the soldiers would not be recognized as part of the army. He was told to put the men to work in solider camps doing manual labor instead (He refused to do this because he believed this would make him almost as bad as a slave driver).

The union continued to turn down African-American troops until Senator James Lane came along. In the summer of 1862, the War Department asked Senator Lane to raise troops for the Union Army. He assumed that meant people of both races since he had been illegally enlisting runaway slaves in the Union Cavalry since the fall of the previous year. He created the First and Second Kansas Colored Volunteers. When the Secretary of War heard what Lane was doing, he telegrammed him saying that he was not allowed to enlist anyone except "loyal white men." Lane ignored this and continued to drill his soldiers and send them into combat. Later the War Department acknowledged Lane's groups as a Union Army regiment.

While Senator Lane made a huge impact, African-Americans were unable to fight legally until congress became desperate for men. On July 17, 1862, Congress approved the enlistment of African-Americans. On October 28, 1862 the Seventy-Ninth United States Colored Infantry became the first African American infantry not only to fight, but to win.

In October 1863, the Union government declared that slaves in the Border States could enlist in the army with their masters' permission. The slave owners would be paid for their "property" if the owners were loyal to the Union. African-Americans finally got what many had longed for: a chance to have the honor of fighting.

Even though wearing a Union uniform represented dignity, respect, and equality, there was still discrimination to fight. Blacks were in more danger: if they were caught they would always be enslaved or killed instead of becoming prisoners of war. Another discrimination that African-Americans fought against was different pay. Even though they were promised equal pay when they enlisted, they got paid ten dollars per month instead of the white mans thirteen dollars per month. In March, 1865, Congress agreed to match the two races' pay

In the end a total of 178,895 African-American soldiers fought in the union army. This number made up a whopping 12 percent of the army and without them the north probably would not have won the Civil War. In fact, these men were so valuable that one-hundred African-Americans were made officer and twenty three blacks won the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately by the end of the war around 35,000 African-Americans had lost their lives.

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