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In 1862, congress allowed the enlistment of African Americans into the U.S. military. Those who served and loved the country that did not love them back.
Military History of African Americans.
Black Americans participated in every American war from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.
Thousands of black troops, made up of both free men and enslaved, fought in the continental war. They were promised freedom for fighting but those promises were often broken.
Although black people fought in the war, state legislatures and the Continental Congress forbade the enlistment of free black or enslaved people.
white Americans opposed admitting them to the army for fear of armed uprisings.
In November of 1775, George Washington issued an order to bar black soldiers from the Continental Army.
Later on Jan 1776, alarmed by the impact of the British Dunmore proclamation, that would give freedom to enslaved black people who would fight on their side, Gen. George Washington authorizes the enlistment of free Blacks.
In the War of 1812, black soldiers signed up on both sides, the British Vice Admiral offered freedom to any enslaved black man willing to join its British Corps of Colonial Marines. Many of the black men served in the Navy.
In the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, Black Battalion fought in the battle after General Andrew Jackson called for "Free Colored Inhabitants" to join a segregated black regiment and receive the same bounty as white soldiers.
In 1861 when the Civil War began, nearly 200,000 black men served as Union soldiers during the war. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, officially sanctioned the enlistment of black soldiers into the Union Army.
The United States Colored Troops (USCT) was formed in 1863 after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. Almost all of the Black troops were led by white officers. In the fall of 1865, several months after the Civil War ended, the USCT was disbanded.
After the Civil War, the Army formed segregated regiments of black soldiers, most of them formerly enslaved, called The Buffalo Soldiers.
Through the century these regiments, including the 24th, served in the American West, fighting Indians, protecting roads and railroads & guarding mail.
Why were Black soldiers called “Buffalo Soldiers”?
Native American tribes who fought against the soldiers referred to the black cavalry troops as "buffalo soldiers" because of their dark, curly hair, which resembled a buffalo's coat & because of their fierce nature of fighting.
During the Spanish American war, The men of the Buffalo Soldiers were the only blacks that fought in Cuba.
Many Black soldiers left the military because they didn’t want to contribute to the suppression of freedom of other minority.
In World War 1, despite racial discrimination in the military, more than 200,000 black men served in France. Most troops served in service units rather than in combat.
the most successful black regiment, the 369th Infantry Regiment, The Harlem Hell fighters. Though they spent more time in battle than any other regiment and were one of the most decorated, they never got the recognition they deserved.
After World War 2 black soldiers were given passes to go and seek for employment in whites owned companies. It accelerated the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North.
By 1945, more black troops were being assigned combat roles. All-black combat units were established, the 758th Tank Battalion, the 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen), and the 477th Bombardment Group, known popularly as the Tuskegee Airmen.