The Civil War was a battle between the Northern and Southern states from 1861 to 1865 and initially began with the North attempting to prevent the South from becoming a separate union. With the years to follow rooted in the conflict of the Civil War. Slavery became a central theme during the Civil War, and as the war raged, African Americans throughout the United States began to cultivate the path of war. Their involvement was due to the accumulation of their opposition to slavery, their participation in the war itself, and even how they were affected as they tried to rebuild their lives after slavery. Inevitably, African Americans proved to be a major factor in the direction, outcome, and consequences resulting from the American Civil War. In 1861, the Civil War broke out because the Southern states did not want to join the North to become one union. Many Northerners were against maintaining the institution of slavery, while many Southerners wanted to support it. Those in favor of abolishing slavery wanted equality for all and African Americans to gain human rights. This is because the atrocities of slavery were well known throughout the United States, as African Americans endured hardships as slaves. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay On March 7, 1864, the New York Times newspaper published an article explaining that during slavery, African Americans were not only treated badly but dehumanized like slaves. African Americans desperate to escape those circumstances found themselves fighting in the Civil War, which served to bolster their confidence and status in the country. Such opportunities included the chance to enlist in the war. African Americans who fought in the Civil War were freed slaves or runaway slaves seeking refuge from their masters. However, they gained a sense of pride and dignity for being able to participate in the civil war. The African Americans involved in the war helped describe how the country would be at its best. This depiction also helped shift the focus of the Civil War from the Southern rebellion against the collective union, to the demoralization of slavery itself, and the theme of equality. The New York Times article goes on to say that the once dehumanized African American slaves are now being honored for their service and have influenced the potential: “of a new age” and suggests that due to such a dramatic change in attitude in such a short time, evidence of a social revolution could be seen (Document F). However, this revolution would not have happened without resistance. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln responded to a white, apparently Northern, writer who opposed equality for African Americans. There were people against equality in both the North and the South and people for equality in both the North and the South. While Lincoln realized that his racial views were not universally popular, he wondered why the letter writer would not support freedom for African Americans when they had expressed a willingness to fight for whites in the Civil War. In the letter published in 1863 he argued that people who opposed freeing slaves were irrational because for so long slaves had fought for those same people. Lincoln pointed to human life rather than just black and white life and insisted that African Americans must do anything for whites because whites were so reluctant to do anything forThey. Lincoln noted the freedom that had been promised to African Americans and expressed his intent to honor that pledge (Document C). Less than a month after this letter was published, Lincoln issued a carefully worded proclamation declaring the freedom of enslaved Africans in Confederate territory. African Americans undoubtedly influenced this decision especially because Lincoln had previously drawn up a colonization plan. PresidentAbraham Lincoln proposed the resettlement of blacks in a foreign land, particularly in the Caribbean or Latin America. In 1862, a group of African Americans met during the Civil War to consider his proposal in what history knows as the African American Resolution in Newtown, New York, on August 20, 1862. African Americans responded to Lincoln's removal proposal by remembering to the country their backbreaking labor during the war and as slaves and their blood, sweat and tears they experienced in slavery. Experiences that left slave families divided and slaves unequipped to function in society without education or money. Experiences like the one Rebecca Parsons and her children faced when Rebecca was freed from slavery. When Rebecca Parsons, who had been enslaved by T. A. Parsons, declared her intention to leave her plantation and live with her extended family, T. A. Parsons agreed because she had no other choice. The Thirteenth Amendment recognized her right to freedom, but required Rebecca to pay him $4,000 if she wanted to leave with her children. She did not have such a large sum and was forced to leave without her children, who were crying behind her. This document illustrates the great difficulty African Americans had in becoming free, validating African Americans' claim that they have no human rights but must be equal (Document K). Being removed would therefore not guarantee equality but would only satisfy people who opposed the end of slavery and detested African Americans (Document B). Although Lincoln did not think that colonizing millions of African Americans was possible, his proposal arose from the idea that the profound differences between the black and white races made resettlement desirable. It was the responses of African Americans that helped him understand that they had the right to remain in the United States after they had earned the right to do so. Africans have spent a lot of time defending their human rights and breaking down the idea that they are mere property. During the Republican Party platform in 1864, slavery was used as a scapegoat for the outbreak of the Civil War. The Republican Party believed that slavery was the backbone of the Civil War. Conveniently, the Republican Party forgot that the war had started because it wanted to remain a separate union. By staying separate they knew they would have a better chance of becoming powerful in politics, economics, and even supporting slavery (Document D). Contrary to the ideas of the Republican Party, the conflicts of the Civil War were rooted in the faulty thinking of those who opposed equality and human rights for African Americans. For example, early in the Civil War, Union General Benjamin Butler wrote to Secretary of War Simon Cameron about the chaotic conditions he found in Virginia. Butler reported that many desperate enslaved African Americans sought protection from Confederates who wanted to force them to build river forts. These freedom seekers forced Butler and the Lincoln administration to decide whether fugitive slaves who entered Union lines would be returned to thetheir masters in accordance with the law or taken into custody, with the government taking some responsibility for their well-being. General Butler raised questions that questioned the humanity of African Americans fleeing slavery and perhaps elsewhere. Butler's answers to his questions were that these freedom seekers were "war smugglers" who could serve the Union Army in useful tasks, such as digging trenches. His thinking labeled former slaves as mere property and seemed to imply a desire to exploit them. There was no respect in the way he handled the situation. This paper therefore highlights the pressure that union forces faced in dealing with the numerous escaped slaves who came their way and the temptation to make strategic use of this suddenly available source of labor. Other Union generals would have similar questions about freedom seekers and would handle the slavery issue to their advantage, at least until President Abraham Lincoln made it abundantly clear who held the powers of commander in chief. Having President Lincoln fully committed to the emancipation of slaves was a victory for African Americans and when they had the chance to be free they sought opportunities that had never been afforded to them while they were slaves. According to the political map contained in Document L, the racial composition of the constitutional conventions of the 10 former Confederate states was still awaiting complete reconstruction in the Union. Far from showing what many white Southerners then believed, whites controlled the delegate slate of every constitutional convention except South Carolina. This racial imbalance prevailed even though black men made up a large portion of the voting public in five Southern states. south: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. This information was collected after the Civil War during the Reconstruction period (Document L). The Reconstruction period was supposed to be the era in which the country rebuilt its foundation and helped African Americans become independent, functioning citizens. Abraham Lincoln's strategies began to develop during the Civil War as Union soldiers began living in the South. Although the Reconstruction era ultimately failed because African Americans failed to gain equality, it still had some successes. Not only were the states united, but a new Constitution was drafted and African Americans were no longer slaves and began to demonstrate that they were capable of being independent citizens. African Americans avidly sought employment and educational opportunities. Charlotte Forten, who came from a prominent abolitionist family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the first Northern black teacher to educate former Southern slaves in 1862. She saw that freed slaves did not mind sacrificing free time to get an education . They were resolute and determined to make something of their lives. In what was later called the Port Royal Experiment on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, the educated, idealistic, and driven twenty-four-year-old Forten was amazed by the hunger for learning that African American children and adults displayed. Forten documented that their thirst for education was not slowed by youthful distractions, grueling field work under a scorching sun, or a life of oppression (Document E). This influenced those who were in favor of equality to support black education and employment. However, it also caused fear in many white communities and eventually led to a white rebellion in the form of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Codes. This behavior on the part of citizens.