15. The Crucible of War, 1861

Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Experiencing the American Promise: The Right to Fight: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question 15.1

1. The Union finally began recruiting black soldiers to fight in the Civil War in 1863 because

President Lincoln argued it was morally correct for black soldiers to help end slavery.

Frederick Douglass successfully lobbied the federal government to recruit them.

the Confederacy had started arming slaves.

so many soldiers had been killed, and the Union desperately needed new recruits.

Question 15.2

2. Why did people like James Henry Gooding—a soldier in the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Colored Regiment during the Civil War—believe that serving in the Union Army was beneficial to African Americans?

Serving in the military would confer respect, dignity, and masculinity on black men.

Learning how to fire a gun would help black men protect themselves from white violence.

Seeing the arrival of black Union soldiers would encourage more slaves to free themselves.

Earning the high salaries that the Union paid soldiers could help black men support their families.

Question 15.3

3. When they began serving in the Union Army in 1863, black soldiers were initially treated unequally to their white counterparts because they were

required to salute all white soldiers.

forced to wear different uniforms.

paid less than white soldiers.

forbidden from serving in the front lines.

Question 15.4

4. How did black Union soldiers help promote equality for freedmen in the South after the Civil War ended?

Many black veterans went on to become prominent activists in the black freedom struggle.

White southerners were less likely to abuse freedmen when black soldiers were nearby.

Black soldiers were employed by the Freedmen’s Bureau to help administer its programs.

The majority of black politicians elected during Reconstruction were veterans.

Question 15.5

5. How did military service change the way black veterans of the Civil War thought about their identity as Americans?

Black veterans believed that their service to their country entitled them to the rights of American citizens, including the right to vote and serve on a jury.

Compared to African Americans who had not served in the Civil War, black veterans were generally more patriotic and more proud to be American.

The poor treatment black veterans experienced during their service, including unequal pay and segregated units, made them pessimistic about their incorporation as citizens.