Summary: The First Black Regiment In Massachusetts

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America two years into the Civil War, battles going back and forth and many causalities to go along with it. In the beginning of the Civil War northerners refused black volunteers soldiers in battle. As the causalities rose it pressured to allow the black men to partake in the war. Once Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 black men started to get recruited to join the Union army. Frederick Douglass called out in harsh detail why black Americans should enlist in the army. This ultimately led to the first black regiment in Massachusetts. We will see the impact of the message it had on the soldiers and see what persuaded them. His words led to the enlistment of many black soldiers. Frederick Douglass knew since the start of the war that this war was not going to be fought by whites only. Douglass said “A war undertaken and brazenly carried on for the perpetual enslavement of colored men, called logically and …show more content…

The reasons that Douglass give to the blacks to join the military proven to work. It put a fire under them and they went to enlist into the first famous all black regiment, the 54th regiment in Massachusetts. Douglass’s harsh detail reason to join inspired black men who would never think of fighting in the war or even becoming a free man in the United States. Douglass’s call is very persuasive in getting the blacks joining; over a thousand blacks came to the aid of the Union once Douglass’s gave them great reasons to. Douglass encouraged the black troops to join because Douglass knew that after the blacks troop come the Union would have the advantage. Douglass also knew once the Union won that a lot of things will change for the better for the black people. At the end, Douglass impacted many men to join, his words towards the black population and his passion towards black men partaking in the war was a major turning point in the Civil