Preview

What Role Did Butler Play In The Recruitment Movement

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
368 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Role Did Butler Play In The Recruitment Movement
When Union forces began recruiting and training, Butler encountered a problem, many of these men knew only domestic and field work and even more of a bigger problem, they were illiterate. Butler appointed Lt. Col. J.B. Kinsman and Eaton as chief of a Department of Negro Affairs; this meant that they were to serve as aids to persons who gave secular and religious instruction to blacks in Virginia and North Carolina. In March 1863, Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton, ordered the beginning of the systematic recruitment of Negroes. Though Butler began a process of educating blacks, he now was facing another difficult task, of how to properly train these men. The recruiting process was difficult, there was a communication barrier and these slaves

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Union army, but were not allowed to join the forces yet. Speeches such as the one…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Colonel John Preston was sent by Jackson to Richmond with an urgent request for more trained and experienced troops. First on the list was the Stonewall Brigade. The Stonewall Brigade was immediately ordered to the valley—to the great irritation of General Joseph Johnston. The Stonewall Brigade was delighted to be reunited with their beloved General. But not even the addition of the famous brigade was enough to calm Jackson’s fears. More were needed and Jackson requested Congressman Alexander R. Boteler to lobby in Richmond in his…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Emancipation, issued as a military degree freed all enslaved people in states still rebellion after January 1, 1863. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not actually free a single slave, it was an important turning point in the war. Just two months before the proclamation, Congress passed the Militia Act, mandating that black soldiers be accepted into the military.The Massachusetts Governor supported the formation of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Regiment proudly. Early in February 1863, the abolitionist Governor of Massachusetts issued the Civil War’s first call for black soldiers. Massachusetts did not have many African-American residents, but by the time 54th Infantry regiment headed off to training camp two weeks later more than 1,000 men had volunteered. By the end of the war, 180,000 African Americans volunteers had served in the Union military.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The life in the camps was not great. The camps were full of disease and malnutrition was present. The projects they work was known as the “drudgework” of war. They raised fortifications, cooked meals, and laid railroad track. The life was difficult but the opportunity was freedom. With slaves coming up to the north, a dilemma arose with the Union Army on what to do with the slaves but was resolved by the First Confiscation Act. In the document “General Benjamin F Butler reacts to self-emancipating slaves, 1861”, he states that without slaves the southern plantations will be behind for a couple weeks and the plantation owners will need to find new people to carry out these jobs. Butler is explaining with this law the north can gain an advantage against the south. The textbook and this primary document explain in more detail about slaves coming from the south and are placed in “contraband camps” in the north. The text gives more detail on the life in the camps and the document provides more detail on the thoughts of the General in the Union…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The ideologies that drove citizens to combat in the Civil War varied dramatically between Northern and Southern soldiers. Many soldiers who enlisted in the Federal Army of the North did so as to preserve the young nation, which had less than a century ago, gained its independence from England. The idea of “freeing the slaves” was a very small concern in the minds…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    An Empire for Slavery

    • 1553 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Some slaves in Texas approached responsibility for work in such a manner that they were given a great deal of leeway for their own daily job assignments and were even given supervisory positions over other slaves. Some bondsman, working as managers, tended to plantations and farms in the absence of the owners. This practice is quite remarkable when we sometimes visualize a slave as a black man with a chain and heavy ball attached to one foot. The conception of manager slaves apparently was propagated in such an…

    • 1553 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nevertheless, attempts to improve the position of African Americans in the former Confederacy faced considerable…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Haulman, he discusses an important event regarding racial tensions with the Tuskegee Airmen that is most commonly referred to as the “Freeman Field Mutiny.” It all started when a group of sixty one black officers were arrested after attempting to enter a white only officers’ club. A few days later all but three of these officers were released. The other three were accused of using force and were detained for an extended period of time. The black officers were asked to sign a new base regulation acknowledging the separation of officer clubs on base. Despite the exceeding pressure from their superiors, black officers refused to sign the agreement and were arrested again. They would later be released after the War Department announced that they did not authorize segregated officers’ clubs. Later, all officers who had been arrested were given letters of reprimand. Its events like this that give the reader insight into the Tuskegee Airmen’s struggle with racism during their time at war.…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Toussaint L'Overature

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the 1861 essay by Wendell Phillips, the author uses poignt, relevant alusions coupled with powerful selection of detail to reassure Northern Americans reluctant to allowing African Americans to join the military that the African American community is more than competent to defend their own freedom and to demonstrate to the African Americans willing to join that they are to be seen as no less than a regulation soldier.…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wendell Phillips

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Wendell Phillips’s speech delivered in 1861 near the beginning of the Civil War claims that African Americans should be given the right to serve in the military, for various contemporary generals were not of a European background yet brought America prominent victories that drastically influenced the course of American history. Although African Americans in the past were subjugated by the Americans on a regular basis, a few exemplary victories by African descendant generals clearly proved that African Americans should be, in fact, allowed to serve in the military as the rightful soldiers of America. Phillips uses hyperbole, understatement and metaphor to persuade the audience that the support of African American soldiers will be a contributing factor in imminent American victory.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Reconstruction Dbq

    • 1395 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Freedman’s Bureau worked to help tens of thousands of former slaves in the Southern states and D.C. After the Civil War, 4 million slaves were freed, but these newly made citizens were dislocated from their homes, facing starvation, and owning only the clothes they wore. The federal government created the Freedman’s Bureau to protect former slaves and help them adjust to a society they fought to be accepted in. As Gregory Squires states, “The Civil War freed the slaves and the Freedmen's Bureau was created to facilitate that transition…” The Bureau was established in the War Department in 1865 and it took major strides in improving the lives of African Americans. It issued food and clothing, created hospitals and campsites, helped African Americans locate family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employment and legal representation, and worked with African American soldiers and sailors to secure back pay and pensions. The creation of the Freedman’s Bureau was one of the greatest ways the federal government provided aid to so many former slaves. Though the Freedman’s Bureau was later disbanded in 1872, it was still able to accomplish many of its goals, especially in the field of education. The organization was able to establish many college and training schools for African Americans, including Howard University and Hampton Institute. Howard University was named for the general who founded the Freedman’s Bureau. He believed that the mission of the Bureau was a temporary, yet necessary one. He didn’t want African Americans to have to depend on the federal government forever, but saw the Bureau as a way to help millions of newly freed slaves find their feet. Though the Bureau wasn’t able to heal the rift between southern whites and African Americans, it was still able to improve the lives of African Americans and was able to assure…

    • 1395 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The commanders were allowed to remove office-holders and were members of the Union. African American’s political power was not strong enough to enact a change and most of the African Americans would vote for white leaders. African American leader would not have enough pull in the electorate, but found common ground with other leaders. Carpetbaggers went to the South supporting economic modernizations and civil rights initiatives. Scalawags were desperate ground from the old Whig party, loyal yeomen and entrepreneurs. From building schools to social services the government responsibilities went up and so did the…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For the freed slaves during Reconstruction after the Civil War that lasted from 1861 until 1865, the Freedman’s Bureau provided many resources to promote the welfare of the freed slaves. Since the Freedman’s Bureau brought families back together, created educational opportunities for blacks, and used the church as a means of social integration, this shows that the Freedman’s Bureau thought that these three elements were important in order to integrate slaves back into society by valuing education and providing a source of unification. Families were provided with funds from the Freedman’s Bureau in order to reunite many families that were divided during the slavery period, which posed dangers to many children who were left without parents after the slavery period. The federal agency assured the safety of the children of the freed slaves by funding transportation to reunite them with their parents. Education was a very important component of the Freedman’s Bureau efforts to desegregate freed slaves so that they would become literate individuals in order to assimilate to the society. Providing freed slaves with an education helped them acquire knowledge they did not have or were limited to while they were slaves under their masters. The church was a very important institution during the Reconstruction period for freed slaves. The Freedman’s Bureau made sure to utilize the church as an educational facility but also to maintain its value as a religious worship area for blacks. The federal agency provided churches for freed slaves through funding for new construction of churches and provideding education in churches .Whenchurches. When schools became overcrowded with freed slaves and their children who were wiling to educate themselves after living under hard times during slavery, new construction for educational facilities was encouraged to accommodate everyone who wanted to obtain an education.…

    • 3339 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reconstruction Revisited

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Foner writes that nowhere, was the transfer in black life more profound than in politics. The amazing political mobilization of the black community was one of the most striking features of that period, along with the emergence of a new black political class. At the beginning of the Reconstruction, blacks turned to ministers and men who had achieved prominence as slaves to represent them politically. During Congressional Reconstruction, prominent black artisans, who possessed skill, independence and often literacy, who where deeply apart of the freedman’s community served as a bridge between the black world and the public political sphere dominated by whites. Black politicians where not perfect and had flaws of their own. Thomas Holt, author of “Black Over White” is quoted within “Reconstruction Revisited” that “largely, black leaders from the free racially mixed class of Charleston, were not concerned enough with the needs of the black community and failed to act in the interests of black peasants.” It was not only the divisions within the black community that shaped the course of the Reconstruction. Division within the white community also helped shape the course of the Reconstruction. Federal, Army and state authorities were equally indifferent to the freedmen’s aspirations. Congress established the Freedmen’s Bureau to create a new social order by government mandate. This Bureau had many jobs all of which where focused on giving blacks a better life. Southern state governments enacted black codes modeled after the slave codes that existed before the Civil War and President Johnson did nothing to prevent this while Congress did its best to…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Military Religion

    • 2341 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The chaplain corps continued in their role as liaison between the commander and troops, as well as they held religious services that provided an opportunity to teach illiterate soldiers how to read. Army chaplains were also involved with education and meeting other needs of freed slaves. The first female chaplain was elected to the Union army in 1864, and the first Jewish, black, and Indian chaplains were also recognized during the Civil War period.…

    • 2341 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays