2. African Americans in the civil war
• The 54th regiment was made up of free African
Americans which also included the sons of Frederick
Douglass
• Sergeant William H. Carney became the 1st African
American to earn the Medal of honor
• In general, African American’s played a huge role in the
civil war. African American’s fighting for the Union side
making up 9.5% of the Union army's population.
• Also on the confederates used African Americans for
labor, but also for war. A issue comes up with rather or
not these men, who fought for the south, were armed
or not.
3. African American’s role in
reconstruction
• African American’s were placed in government
positions by president Abraham Lincoln
• African American also gained farmland, schools,
and medical
• Dislike of these new rights grow in from the south
and many southern states passed “Black Codes”
which restricted the right to own land, were to
live, a curfew was made, and it also forced
African Americans to become agricultural
laborers such as sharecroppers.
4. African American’s role in World War I
• During WW I many African Americans served in the US
armed forces, but were segregated throughout the war.
By the time of Germany’s armistice, over 350,000
African Americans served in the American
Expeditionary Force
• Most of the African American units though hardly saw
any combat
• The 369th Infantry regiment became took the cake in
WW I. They were also called the “Harlem Hellfighters”,
fighting for the US. They were the 1st to cross the
Rhine, perform well at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau
Wood.
