Civil War black soldiers were eager to enlist in the Union Army. They were anxious to join the fight against slavery and they believed that military service would allow them to prove their right to equality.
Celebrated abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a strong advocate of allowing black men to fight, believing that this would prove their right to citizenship and the vote. Two of Douglass's sons served in the Union army. John Brown was another abolitionist who strongly believed that black were capabable and willing to fight for their freedom if given the chance.
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A Union militia act allowed enrollment of blacks early in 1862 and the Emancipation Proclamation permitted blacks to enlist in the military. This began African American military history. However, it was thought that African Americans would be used as military laborers, rather than fighters. For this reason, black soldiers were originally paid a laborer’s wage ($10 a month) rather than the wage paid to white soldiers ($13 a month). In 1864, after much opposition, Congress passed a bill allowing retroactive equal pay for Civil War black soldiers, but this act allowed for equalization only from January 1864.
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