'African Americans in American Society 1920s Essay\r'

' nearly murkys contri provideded to the success of our domain in both war that we as a spate contrive ever fought. In evidence to properly thank them for their heroic effort, I as a Hispanic Caucasic must give opinion where credit is due. In indian lodge to properly do so, I must begin with the contri exceptions of â€Å" desolate America” first with the American innovation and continue up until the bea fight II. Make no mistake benighteds do partings surface past World contend II, but in the interest of clock sentence and accuracy I must turn upride within the confines of our earlier history.\r\n ane main aspect that should be analyze is the fact that no matter how tricky the sputter, fouls set near always oercome severeness no matter what the cost. Of transmission line, contributions make by down in the mouths are non limited to war al ane, but include a roomy spectrum of achieve workforcets that have advanced civilization as a whole. My personal consider and convey go to al together people who have executed and continue to serve this country at any capacity. But we must never forget the contributions do by our lightlessness brothers and sisters who gave their lives fighting for a mother that so saliently affected their lives as head as our well being.\r\nCharles Dickens tell it best in his book A Tale of Two Cities, â€Å"It was the best of propagation it was the worst of periods”. The American variety was a time of great endeavor for people of all guides. But, handsacings in fussy chthonicstood the literal meaning of nationalist rhetoric, eagerly took up the cause of American granting immunity, fighting bravely in the premature confrontations with the British. Though the rotary motion freed some blacks and discipline the country on a course toward the abolition of hard growerry, political accommodation to patterntation owners forestalled e universecipation for numerous a non her(prenominal) blacks in the sulphureastward for 90 to a greater extent age.\r\nA black man was one of the first martyrs of the patriot cause. Crispus Attucks, apparently a slave who had take place away from his owner 20 historic period before, died in the capital of mum Massacre in 1770. Though facts were disputed at trials consequently as now, witnesses said Attucks hit a British armed forces officer with a extensive piece of firewood, grabbed a bayonet and urged the multitude to beleaguer comely before the British fired. Attucks and dickens others were killed while eight were wounded, cardinal mortally. slows served at the troths of Lexington and Concord.\r\nPeter Salem, a freed slave, stood on the green at Lexington facing the British when the first battle broke out with the view that was heard around the human racetrack. nonpareil of the last workforce wounded in the battle as the British break loose to Boston was Prince Estabrook, a black man from watt Lexington. At least 20 blacks, including Peter Salem, were in the ranks two months afterward when the British bombardmented an American position outback(a) Boston in the Battle of dugout Hill. Salem has been awarded for firing the shot that killed Major John Pitcairn, the British officer who led the Redcoats when they had attacked his small unit at Lexington.\r\nUnable to venture outside Boston and then threatened with cannon b browse the city, the British left Boston for natural York. As the war changed from a Massachusetts endeavor to a broader conflict end-to-end the colonies, the politics of race changed dramatically. forbiddings had been welcomed in the upstart England militia, but social intercourse initially trenchant once morest having them in the Continental army. coitus ask take for from the sulfur if all the colonies were to take on their independence from England. Since southern plantation owners precious to keep their slaves, they were afraid to give g uns to blacks.\r\nCongress ordered all blacks removed from the army, but black veterans appealed directly to George Washington, who took up their cause with John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress. forbiddings athletic supportering in the army were allowed to stay, but unsanded enlistments were forbidden. Though the Declaration of independence stated that â€Å"all men were prepared equal,” some blacks pre movely saw more prospect on the British side. The British g everyplacenor of Virginia promised adjacent freedom and wages to any slave who would join the Kings army.\r\nHundreds flocked to the standard of the governor, Lord Dunmore, but he was denied a base on the land by the American beat backs and many of the blacks who joined him died of smallpox on overcrowded ships. The devotion of blacks was a serious render for the American leaners because blacks made up fifth part of the two million people in the colonies. With the British selliers already outnumbering the American soldiery, and recruitment difficult for the patriots, the northern colonies soon again began to enlist blacks. Rhode Island made up a regiment almost entirely of blacks.\r\nAs the war continued, colonies as far south as Maryland and Virginia were recruiting free blacks for the American cause. As the war spread into the South, Congress appoint it needed to recruit slaves. It offered to give in South Carolina slave owners $1,000 for able-bodied manful slaves. The slaves would receive no pay, but would be given $50 and their freedom at the end of the war if they served â€Å"well and faithfully. ” The South Carolina Assembly threatened to leave the war, dooming the plan in the southernmost colonies. Recruitment of blacks to the American cause continued further north, but the patriots had less success than the British.\r\nThe offer of agile freedom extend by Virginia’s unfortunate loyalist governor was ultimately made by the British with with(predicate)out the colonies. Slaves joined the British by the tens of thousands. The helping of the loyalist blacks varied considerably. just about were captured by Americans and either returned to their masters or hardened as war loot and sold back into slaveholding. Approximately 20,000 were with the British at the end of the war, taken to Canada or the Caribbean. Some became the founders of the British colony of Sierra Leone in West Africa.\r\nEven though the British offered slaves a better deal, many blacks served on the American side. They made up a sizeable share of the men in the Continental navy, state navies and the large force of American privateers. swarts had long been in the confinement force on ships and at seaports. On the water, then as now, skill counted for more than politics. The precise purpose of blacks in the revolution is difficult to quantify. pitch-darks in those days generally did not write. The people who did write first histories of the revo lution were etiolateds and concentrated on the efforts of vacuousned men.\r\nAlso, many participants in the revolution were not specifically identified by race in the documents of the time and historians now have no way of knowing whether they were black. When blacks were allowed to serve in the American phalanx, they often did work as laborers, sometimes in adjunct to regular soldier duties. Usually they were privates, though a few rose to behold small groups of men. The words of the Declaration of Independence were taken literally by blacks and some black-and-blues. In, 1780, Pennsylvania became the first colony to relapse a law phasing out slavery.\r\nChildren born(p) to slaves after that date were granted their freedom when they circulateed 28. Other northern states followed. The Superior mash of Massachusetts held in 1783 that slavery go against the state constitution, and forward-looking Hampshire also ended slavery by a woo ruling. Vermont interdict slavery an d Connecticut and Rhode Island passed gradual emancipation laws. New York outlawed slavery in 1799 and New Jersey followed in 1804. The international slave trade was outlawed in 1808. Progress then came to a stop. A boom in cotton wool production spread the slave scrimping into the lower Mississippi Valley.\r\nSlave states were studious to control at least half the political power in the federal government, blocking any national front line against slavery until the Civil War. The 54th Massachusetts regiment On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln sign the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the rebelling territories of the federation and authorizing fateful enlistment in the sexual union Army. Since the beginning of the Civil War, free scorch people in general, and lightlessness Bostonians in particular, were ready to gather arms on behalf of the mating, yet they were prevented from doing so.\r\nPopular racial stereotypes and institutional contrariet y against Blacks in the armed forces contributed to the operate myth that Black men lacked the intuition and gallantry necessary to serve their country. By the fall of 1862, however, the lack of discolour brotherhood enlistment and confederate victories at Antietem laboured the U. S. government to reconsider its racialist policy. As Congress met in October to address the issue of Black enlistment, various armament of Black volunteers had already been form, including the First South Carolina and the Kansas aslant Troops.\r\nIt wasn’t until January 26, 1863; however, that secretary of war Edwin Stanton true the enlistment of Black troops. As a sequel, the 54th regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer infantry was founded, becoming the first all-Black northern regiment raised in the north. Training began for Black volunteers at Camp Meigs in Reedville, MA on February 21, 1863. Although some members of the residential area balmy opposition to the prevention of Black m en from achieving the rank of colonel or officer, most friendship activists urged Black men to isolate the luck to serve in the Union forces.\r\nThe precaution many Black volunteers had about the authorisation racism of White officers and colonels was calmed when Massachusetts governor John Andrew assured Bostonians that White officers assign to the 54th control would be â€Å"young men of troops experience, of firm anti-slavery principles, ambitious, superior to a vulgar contempt for colouration, and having faith in the capacity of colored men for military service. ” Andrew held to his word, appointing 25-year-old Robert Gould Shaw as colonel and George P. Hallowell as Lieutenant.\r\nThe son of soaked abolitionists, Shaw had been educated in Europe and at Harvard before joining the seventh New York National Guard in 1861. In 1862, when Governor Andrew contacted Shaw’s father about the prospect of commissioning his son as colonel of the soon-to-be organized f ifty-fourth, Shaw was an officer in the flake Massachusetts human foot. Although reluctant to accept the commission, Shaw ultimately became colonel. By the time training began at Camp Meigs, Shaw and his officers began work with the soldiers whose bravery would continuously change public perception of Black military skill and valor.\r\nBlack community leaders across the country much(prenominal) as Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown served as recruiting agents for the Union army. As a result, over 1000 volunteers enlisted in the 54th regiment, a response so overwhelming that Massachusetts organized a second Black regiment, the fifty-fifth. manpower of the fifty-fourth represented twenty-four states, the District of Columbia, the West Indies, and Africa. Approximately 25% of them had been slaves, over 50% were literate, and, although as civilians they had worked in forty-six dissimilar occupations, the overwhelming majorities (55%) were common laborers.\r\nRegardless o f origin, occupation, or social class, the men of the 54th command both inspired Boston’s Black community and provided a symbol of preen for abolitionists across the country. Activists such as William Lloyd fort and Frederick Douglass visited Camp Meigs to show their support. Although the organization of the 54th command resolved the conflict over Black enlistment in the Union army, the struggle of Black soldiers to gain respect in the military was just beginning.\r\nUpon arrival in the south, the Black soldiers were often treated as common laborers and the potential for their valor on the battlefield was dis catched. Upon arriving in Georgia on June 11, they were ordered by Col. James capital of Alabama of the Department of the South to raid the townsfolk of Darien. Reports of Black soldiers burning buildings and ravaging the homes of townspeople confirmed stereotypes of Black soldiers as un-trainable brutes. Col. Shaw found the raid on Darien barbarous and distasteful, and sent a letter to Brigadier full general George C.\r\nStrong, requesting that the men be used in the planned attack on build up Wagner, South Carolina. On July 16, the 54th Regiment fought on board White soldiers of the 10th Connecticut Infantry in a coming upon on James Island, SC. This battle redeemed the Black soldiers’ fighting ability in the eye of White skeptics, including General Strong, who commanded the 54th Regiment to lead the assault on stronghold Wagner, plan for July 18. Strategically, a successful attack on Fort Wagner would allow Union forces to seize control of Charleston Harbor. Located on Morris Island, Fort Wagner protected Battery Gregg lose Fort Sumter.\r\nThus, seizure of Fort Wagner was precious because it enabled the Union to shell Sumter and close the seaport to confederate blockade runners, thereby paving material the way for further Union attack on Charleston. Fort Wagner was located at the northern tip of Morris Island, and was control led by 1700 troops and 17 artillery guns. Depleted to just over 600 men by the skirmish two days previous, the men of the 54th Regiment were ordered to lead the assault on Fort Wagner with the backing of regiments from New York, Connecticut, Maine, and Pennsylvania.\r\n ahead the charge commenced, Colonel Shaw ordered the regiment to â€Å" recruit yourselves as men. ” Within 200 feet of the Fort, the confederates began to attack as the brave men of the 54th Regiment struggled through darkness, four-foot deep water, and marshland. Colonel Shaw, accompanied by dwindling add up of dying men, managed to reach the top of the parapet where a pungent hand-to-hand bit ensued, the Black Union soldiers with bayonets against the White Confederate soldiers with handspikes and gun rammers.\r\nColonel Shaw was mortally wounded with a pierce through the heart, along with a dozen of his men. Meanwhile, members of the 54th Regiment †some wounded, some dying †began to lose; thos e who refused to back down were taken prisoner. As the smoke cleared, evidence of Confederate mastery was immediately apparent, with 174 Rebel casualties and 1515 Union soldiers abruptly or wounded. Of the eleven regiments who participated in the Union assault, the fifty-forth Regiment accrued the most casualties, with 256 of their 600 men dead or wounded.\r\nDespite the straining losses, the assault on Fort Wagner nurturen to the nation and the valet the valor of Black soldiers in general and the men of the 54th Regiment in particular. From the ranks of the fifty-forth came stories of unfailing patriotism and unfading glory. The men of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, their White officers, colonel, and allies, not only struck a despoil for American freedom and unity, they also turn out to the nation and the world the valor, bravery, and devotion of African American soldiers. In the sacrifice made by Col.\r\nShaw and his soldiers, Americans witnessed, for the first time, the supremacy of compare over racism, discrimination, and ignorance. Upon his death at Fort Wagner, the body of Col. Shaw was placed in a mass grave on Morris Island along with the bodies of his soldiers. The lack of proper military burial chamber for a man who had distinguished himself as a soldier and as a leader was intended to insult the honor of Shaw and his family, who were deemed as race traitors by Confederates and White unionists alike.\r\nHowever, upon learning that his son had been buried with his black soldiers, Francis Shaw stated, with dignity, that â€Å"We hold that a soldier’s most appropriate burial place is on the field where he has fallen. ” This avowal and the honor displayed by the Shaw family and veterans of the fifty-fourth helped immortalize Shaw and his men as symbols of the Civil War battle for unity and equality. As a result of the 54th Regiment, over 180,000 Black men enlisted under the Union flag between 1863 and 1865. African AMERICAN MILI TARY dish out from WWI through WWII.\r\nDuring the global conflicts of the first half of the twentieth century, U. S. servicemen fought in Europe for the first time in the nation’s history. African Americans were among the troops committed to combat in World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII), even though they and other black Americans were denied the full blessings of the freedom for which the join States had pledged to fight. Traditional racist views about the use of black troops in combat initially excluded African Americans from the early recruiting efforts and much of the actual combat in both wars.\r\nNonetheless, large numbers of African Americans free volunteered to fight for their country in 1917-18 and 1940-45. Once again, many black servicemen hoped their military contribution and sacrifice would prove to their white countrymen that African Americans desired and deserve a fully participatory role in U. S. society. Unfortunately, the deeply entrenched minus ra cial attitudes prevalent among much of the white American population, including many of the nation’s top military and civilian leaders, made it very difficult for blacks to serve in the military establishment of this period.\r\n Afro-American servicemen suffered legion(predicate) indignities and original belittled respect from white troops and civilians alike. The historic contributions by blacks to the self-abnegation of the United States were usually ignored or downplayed, while combat failures similar to those of whites and impetuous racial incidents often provoked by whites were exaggerated into a condemnation of all African Americans. In the â€Å"Jim Crow” world of pre-1945 America, black servicemen confronted not only the repugnance of enemies abroad but that of enemies at home.\r\nAfrican-American soldiers and sailors had two formidable obstacles to deal with: discrimination and segregation. Yet, black servicemen in both world wars repeatedly demonstrated their bravery, loyalty, and ability in combat or in support of frontline troops. Oftentimes, they accomplished these tasks without proper training or adequate equipment. Poor communications and a lack of rapport with their white officers were two additional burdens hampering the effectiveness and efficiency of African Americans in the military.\r\nToo frequently, there was little or no recognition or gratitude for their accomplishments. One of the worst slights of both wars was the willingness of the white establishment to allow racism to forge the award of the prestigious Medal of Honor. Although some(prenominal) exceptionally heroic African Americans performed kit and caboodle worthy of this honor, not one received at the time the award that their bravery and self-sacrifice deserved.\r\nIt took over 70 years for the United States to rectify this error for WWI and over 50 years for WWII. Despite the hardships and second class status, their participation in both wars helped to substitute many African-American veterans as well as helped to eventually change the United States. Though still limited by discrimination and segregation at home, their rest in Europe during WWI and WWII made many black servicemen aware that the racial attitudes so common among white Americans did not prevail everywhere else.\r\nThe knowledge that skin color did not preclude dignity and respect made many black veterans defiant to submit quietly to continuing racial discrimination once they returned to the United States. In addition, the growing importance of black votes beginning in the 1930s and 1940s squeeze the nation’s political and military leaders to pay more vigilance to African Americans’ demands, particularly in regard to the military. Although it was a tedious and frustrating process, one too often marked by cosmetic changes rather than real reform, by the end of WWII, the U.\r\nS. military establishment behind began to make some headway against racial discrimination and segregation within its ranks. The represent was set for President Harry S Truman’s landmark executive order of 26 July 1948. Another main contribution of note would be the trails and tribulations of the Tuskegee Airmen. In the 1940’s, it was still believed that Blacks were incapable of flying aircraft. This myth was dispelled with the help of the U. S. Congress. On June 27, 1939 †THE CIVILIAN PILOT preparation ACT was passed.\r\nThis solitary ACT helped to create a reserve of civilian pilots to be called in case of War. Young black pilots were given the opportunity to train with U. S. sanctioned programs located at TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE. The SELECTIVE SERVICE ACT OF 1940 also increased the opportunity for a broader participation of Blacks in the military when it banned discrimination in the survival and training of all American citizens because of race and color. The success of the CIVILIAN PILOT instruction ACT helped put the 99TH pursuit SQ UADRON OF TUSKEGEE on the map.\r\nIt was said that â€Å"the success of Negro juvenility in the Army Air push would be predicated upon the success of the ‘Tuskegee Experiment. ‘” HBO’s docudrama, THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN, is a good depiction of this era of Black Americans seeking acceptance as military pilots. Because of the opportunity provided by the Civilian pilot film Training Act, the number of Blacks in the phalanx AIR FORCE jumped from 2,250 in 1941 to over 145,000 by 1944. The two major groups to see combat as AAF men were the 99TH PURSUIT SQUADRON and the 332ND FIGHTER GROUP.\r\nOut of the 332nd Group came the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Squadrons under the command of Lieutenant Colonel BENJAMIN O. DAVIS, sr. , who became America’s FIRST African AMERICAN GENERAL on October 25, 1940. By 1944, the 99th was added to the 332nd and participated in campaigns in Sicily, Rome, and Romania. The 99th and 332nd earned many DISTINGUISHED UNIT CITATIONS. The se historical examples are but a small specimen of the many great contributions and sacrifices made by black people in order to secure freedom and prosperity for this great nation.\r\nWe owe them a debt than can never be fully repaid. If anything these great contributions should cut short any negative or racial thoughts toward such a magnanimous people. You would recover that with all that has transpired throughout history, that we as a people could live and coexist together with peace and harmony. My only hope is that with time people will come to construct that we are all not that diverse from one another and that we can flourish together for a better future day for all of us.\r\n'