Did Slaves Advance During the Civil War?

                During the civil war, in order to gain advancement it was necessary to submit to some discrimination.  Fugitive slaves were accepted into the Union Army, but only by allowing some discrimination.  In the south, slaves had to submit to discrimination to be treated better after the war ended.  If slaves did not submit to discrimination, they would have never advanced in society.

                Slaves that escaped went to the Union army.  The army could not turn the slaves away since the Union was against slavery, but they were not sure what to do with the slaves and whether to allow the male slaves to fight with them in the army.  "Their [slaves] enlistment was a serious offense to popular prejudice" so the only way for blacks to be allowed to fight with the army was to submit to discrimination¹.  Blacks "were not to receive the same pay as white soldiers" if they were admitted into the army¹.  Receiving less pay to be allowed to fight with white men helped the blacks gain some advancement in their place in society.  Receiving lower pay rather than no pay at all and not having to work as a slave was definitely the better option for them. Also, "The chance for a commission helped covert many a white soldier to the policy of arming blacks"².  By allowing blacks to join the army, white people moved up in ranks so the white people allowed black people to join the army.  Submitting to this discrimination made sense for black people because instead of having no rank in the army or in society, they could at least start to be a part of the army/society.  If blacks had refused to submit to discrimination, it would not have helped blacks gain higher ranks like whites.  Instead, they would not gain any advancement in society.  Whites also would rather "let Sambo be murthered instead of myself [themselves]"³. This discrimination did not affect the probability of blacks getting killed in battle; it just meant white people wanted to have blacks killed in war before them.  By submitting to this discrimination, blacks were able to fight alongside whites making the discrimination in general worth it to gain advancement.

                In the South, slaves also gained advancement by allowing some discrimination.  Many slaves went to war, but did not actually fight on the battlefield.  They acted as servants for the white men who were fighting, and the slaves performed jobs like cleaning and cooking.  By complying with this discrimination, the slaves gained advancement after the war.  Southern white people wanted to justify fighting the war and convince themselves that many of the slaves had been supportive of the war and helped the confederacy.  The actions caused by this ideology are part of what is known as the “Lost Cause”.  One action that was taken as a part of the “Lost Cause” was that slaves that helped during the war could apply for pensions.  By submitting to discrimination, slaves were able to gain advancement that made submitting to discrimination worth it.  In the tintype below are a slave, Silas, and his master, Andrew.  Since Silas helped his master, Andrew, during the war, Andrew granted an acre of land with a church presumably built on it to Silas’ black congregation after the war.  By submitting to discrimination during the war and going along with helping his master, Silas was able to apply for a pension and gain land for a church for his congregation.

Civil War Tintype

        

                 During the Civil War in the north and south, it was more beneficial for slaves to submit to some discrimination in order to gain advancement.  Slaves were able to perform duties they had never been allowed to perform before and gain land and money.  During the war, slaves were able to take a step in the right direction by allowing some discrimination.  If the slaves had tried to fight against the discrimination, the slaves would not have gained better treatment, and they would not have been treated as equals with white people.  By submitting to some discrimination during the Civil War, slaves were able to gain some advancement in society.

¹President Lincoln, as recalled by Frederick Douglass,

on the pay of black soldiers

²MacPherson, James. Ordeal by Fire. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

³Song excerpt by “Private Miles O’Reilly” (Charles G.

Halpine) titled “Sambo’s Right to be Kilt”

Image and Source: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/chandler-tintype/