The document outlines key events and developments regarding African Americans during the American Civil War, beginning with Lincoln's election and the South's secession in 1860-1861. It then details how the Union and Confederacy gradually adopted policies that affected slavery and the use of African American troops, such as the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the recruitment of all-black regiments. By the end of the war in 1865, over 186,000 African Americans had served in the Union army, with more than 38,000 losing their lives.

1. African AmericansAfrican Americans
in thein the
Civil WarCivil War
A Timeline

2. November 6, 1860
 Abraham Lincoln is
elected president.

3. December 10, 1860
 South Carolina is the first
state to secede the Union.

4. February 9, 1861
 Confederate states unite
under Jefferson Davis.

5. March 2, 1861
 Congress has no goal to
end slavery.

6. March 4, 1861
 Lincoln is sworn in as
president. In his first
inaugural speech Lincoln
states:
– “I have no purpose, directly or
indirectly, to interfere with
the institution of slavery in
the States where it exists. I
believe I have no lawful right
to do so, and I have no
inclination to do so.”
 Lincoln has no plans to
free the slaves.

7. June 8, 1861
 General Butler declares
slaves who come near
Fort Monroe
"contrabands of war."
– Blacks are not people, they
are property.
– How would you feel if
someone owned you? Could
sell you? Take you away
from your parents?

8. July 22, 1861
 Congress issues a “Joint
Resolution on the War.”
– It declares that the war is
being fought save the Union
not to end slavery.

9. August 6, 1861
 Congress passes the
"Confiscation Acts."
– This forgives slaves who
fought or worked for the
Confederate Army.
– It also releases them of further
duty to their masters.
– It authorized Union forces to
seize “rebel property,” or
slaves.

10. August 30, 1861
 General Fremont gives
freedom to all slaves
owned by Confederates in
Missouri.
 Lincoln later changes the
General’s orders.
 He removes Fremont
from command.

11. December 1, 1861
Simon Cameron is the
Secretary of the Treasury.
He writes a report for
President Lincoln every
year. Cameron writes that
slaves should be
emancipated. Lincoln does
not like this. He makes
Cameron rewrite the report.

12. March 6, 1862
 Lincoln changes his mind. He wants to end slavery. He
asks Congress to help him to end slavery. The
government will pay for any slave owners free.
April 10, 1862
 Congress passes a joint resolution declaring it will give
money to states if they want to abolish slavery.

13. April 16, 1862
 On April 16 Lincoln signs the the “Compensated
Emancipation Act.”
– This gives $300 to Union masters in the District of Columbia for each
slave they free.
– Slaves who agreed to leave the country are paid up to $100 each.

14. May 9, 1862
 General Hunter issues
"General Order No. 11."
– He declares martial law in
Florida, Georgia, and South
Carolina.
– He also frees the slaves in
those states.
– Hunter asks African
Americans to be soldiers. He
starts the 1st South Carolina
regiment.

15. May 19, 1862
 Lincoln takes back
General Hunter's May 9
order.

16. July, 1862
 General John W. Phelps begins giving equipment to three
regiments of Africans in Louisiana.
 General Phelps resigns after General Butler disagrees
with him.
August 22, 1862
 General Butler needs reinforcements. He authorizes the
recruiting of black soldiers in New Orleans.

17. August 22, 1862
 Horace Greeley publishes
“A Prayer for Twenty
Thousand” in the New
York Tribune.
 He scolds Lincoln for
stopping General Hunter
from freeing slaves.

18. August 25, 1862
 Abraham Lincoln
responds to Greeley with
a letter in the New York
Times. It is titled,
“Emancipation or
Preservation of the
Union?”
 He tells readers he wants
to save the Union not end
slavery.

19. September 23, 1862
 President Lincoln
changed his mind.
 The Emancipation
Proclamation is
published.

20. September 27, 1862
 The 1st Regiment Louisiana Native Guards, becomes the
first black regiment to be officially put into the Union
Army.

21. January 1, 1863
 The Emancipation
Proclamation takes effect.
 President Lincoln’s
Emancipation
Proclamation declares
that all slaves in
Confederate states will be
free.

22. March 21, 1863
 Frederick Douglass writes
“Men of Color, To
Arms!” urging African
Americans to join the
Army.
– “…The case is before you.
This is our golden
opportunity. Let us accept it,
and forever wipe out the dark
reproaches unsparingly hurled
against us by our enemies. Let
us win for ourselves the
gratitude of our country, and
the best blessings of our
posterity through all time…”

23. May 22, 1863
 General Order 143
creates the Bureau of
Colored Troops. It is
created to recruit and
organize black regiments.
 Three or more white
officers will be in charge
of each black regiment.

24. May 27, 1863
 Eight Black regiments
take part in the successful
attack on Port Hudson,
Louisiana.

25. July 18, 1863
 54th Massachusetts
Colored Infantry leads the
attack on Fort Wagner,
South Carolina.
 They lose half their
troops.

26. April 12, 1864
 Confederate General Nathan
Forrest captures Fort Pillow in
Tennessee.
 There were 262 African
American and 295 white
soldiers. Only 62 of the black
soldiers live.
 The Confederates killed most
of the garrison after it
surrendered. They buried
Black soldiers alive. They set
fire to tents containing Union
wounded.
 Forrest later becomes the first
imperial wizard of the Ku Klux
Klan.

27. April 18, 1864
 At Poison Spring,
Arkansas, members of the
1st Kansas Colored
Volunteers who are
wounded or wish to
surrender are shot by the
Confederates.
 "Remember Poison
Spring" became a rallying
cry for black troops.

28. June 15, 1864
 Congress raises the pay of
black soldiers to make it
equal to that of whites.
Slaves built the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C.

29. March 3, 1865
 Congress passes a
resolution to emancipate
the wives and children of
African-American
soldiers.
A slave family in South Carolina, 1862.
Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

30. March 13, 1865
 The Confederacy
approves arming slaves as
soldiers. But only if as
their masters approve.

31. April 9, 1865
 Civil War ends.
 Over 186,000 African-
Americans had served in
the Union army
 More than 38,000 had
died.

32. More Information
http://mac110.assumption.edu/aas/Intros/soldiers.html
or
http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001303.shtml
or for pictures
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/