Transcript Minorities of the Civil War

Emily Pierce, Hannah Joyner, Alex, and Austin Patrey
S.S./ Period 1
 Most free African Americans lived in the South. Virginia
(part of the Confederacy for the first half of the war, but
then switched to the Union side) made a law in February of
1862, authorizing the impressment of free black labor. Free
African Americans from the ages of 18 to 50 were forced to
be in the war for 180 days, without their consent.
 Other free African Americans aided voluntarily in the war
effort by being teamsters, laborers, guides, cooks, washers,
and soldiers.
 Many slaves enlisted in the army, even though armies
weren’t supposed to be integrated. Consent of the slave and
master were need to be enlisted. They were slaves, cooks,
guards, menservants and soldiers.
 Only 1% of African Americans lived in the North.
180,000 African Americans served in 163 units of the
Union Army and 1000’s more in the Navy. Without the
help of the African Americans, the Union may not
have won the war.
 African Americans couldn’t enroll in the Confederate
Army until about 1865. Most African Americans
enrolled in the Union, though. African Americans
enrolled in the Confederate Army:
 Needed consent of the master and slave
 Confer the rights of a freeman after the war
 Lots of their land was taken from them- they had to
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move
Civil War caused more conflicts between the U.S. and
Native Americans
Civil War took up a lot of government resources, so
Native Americans in the Midwest weren’t paid the way
the treaties said they had to be, which led to even
more conflicts
Some Native Americans served in the war
U.S. didn’t have the resources to keep the Native
Americans suppressed or happy
 The Civil War influenced Latino violence to get rights (Zoot- suit riots)
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in Los Angeles in spring of 19434
Irish, German, Italian, Jewish, Indian, and African American people
fought in the war
Irish immigrants who came to Boston and New York were recruited
into the Union regiments
Irish armies were known to be strong and brave
The Zouaves were an elite troop of soldiers that had distinct uniforms
and were made up of mostly Europeans, even though they recruited
soldiers from Native North American troops
 Filipinos, Chinese Americans, Jewish Americans, Japanese
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Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities also faced
racial prejudice at this time
Minorities trying to get into the navy or army were not
accepted or given the lowest jobs
Returning minority veterans still faced discrimination and
prejudice when they returned
Lots of minority groups migrated to the cities after the war
to find jobs that they could use their new skills on
This ended up breaking up a lot of prejudice because
people realized that if you have the skills, then you should
be able to do the job, no matter what color you are