The African-American Civil War

164 Words1 Pages
African-Americans, both free and runaway slaves volunteered for the war in great numbers. From October, around 180,000 African-Americans served in the U.S. Army, and 18,000 in the Navy. Americans covered 10% of the entire Army by the end of the war, and nearly 40,000 died over the time of the war. Soldiers were given a pay which was dependant on there skin for example a ‘white Union private made thirteen dollars a month; his black counterpart made seven dollars until Congress rectified the discrepancy in 1864. A Confederate private ostensibly made eleven dollars a month, but often went long stretches with no pay at all.’The first coloured troops originated from Massachusetts, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Black soldiers did not receive