Why Did African American Civil War Start

Before we speak about the African American experience we must understand why the war begin. There is a common miss belief that the war was started because of slavery. Now slavery did play a big role but, “The Civil War began as a southern war for Confederate independence and a northern war to defeat the Confederate rebellion and restore the Union. At the outset, neither side thought that the war would last very long or eventually lead to the destruction of slavery. The Confederacy was founded to protect slavery.”[1] The Union was willing to accept slavery where it already existed but was opposed only to the extension of slavery into the new territories.
Most slaves fought on the side of the Union, but there were some slaves that fought on the side of the Confederates. Some figures that were mentioned in class : “In the Union army, over 179,000 African American men served in over 160 units, as well as more
The difference being that African American who fought on the side of the Union where fight for the possibility of freedom and citizenship. African Americans that fought on the side of the confederacy were likely forced to enter the war by slaveholders. There were multitudes of task given to black soldiers during the war no matter what side. African Americans on both sides of the war served in relief roles. Normally relief roles would require African American worked as nurses, cooks, and blacksmiths. A difference present in the south was that the South refused to arm blacks. Most off the food grown for the confederacy was grown by African Americans and slaves also worked for the military by building roads and other fortifications, being servants, and cooking. Another valuable resource that the newly freed slaves provided was information. “Black also served as spies and scouts to the Union Army, providing valuable information about Confederate forces, plans, and familiar terrain.”[3]