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Home > Exhibition Archives > October 2011 - March 2012 > Freedom > Fighting for Freedom

Fighting for Freedom

Though African Americans fought in previous wars, they were not legally allowed to fight for the U.S. until 1862. With growing resistance to the draft and a demand for additional troops, Congress recognized the need for black soldiers and sailors. The Militia Act of 1862 allowed President Abraham Lincoln to recruit African-American men for military service. Some 198,000 African Americans fought in the Civil War—for the Union, for freedom, and for their right to full citizenship.

Broadside, “Meeting For the Organization of a Colored Regiment in the District of Columbia,” 1863 Ambrotypes, Portraits of black soldiers, no date, Gladstone Collection

Broadside, “Meeting For the Organization of a Colored Regiment in the District of Columbia,” 1863

Ambrotypes, Portraits of black soldiers, no date, Gladstone Collection
 
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