Study of History

1865 was an incredible year for the United States. Events that occurred in 1865 are as follows: President Lincoln considered the returning all southern blacks to Africa but was told that it was logistically impossible. John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln. Andrew Johnson becomes president. Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery throughout the United States and its territories. The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by the states (Raymond, 2007). In this paper I will discuss another event in 1865; African American troops fighting for the Conferdate States of America.

What is the Confederate of America?

Confederate States of America (also Confederacy), was 11 slaveholding Southern states of the United States. The slaveholding states seceded from the Union and were arrayed against the national government during the American Civil War. After President Lincoln was elected South Carolina seceded from the Union. During the next two months ordinances of secession were adopted by the states of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas (Raymond, 2007). In February 1861, the seceding states sent representatives to a convention in Montgomery, Alabama The convention, on March 11, 1861, unanimously ratified a permanent constitution. The Confederate of America constitution, which resembled the federal Constitution, prohibited the African slave trade but allowed interstate commerce in slaves.

African Americans fighting for the Confederate States of America?

As many as 90,000 blacks (slaves and free citizens), were utilized in some capacity by the Confederate army. The majority of these men fell under one category, body servants. The Body Servant was an extension of the master-slave relationship. Mudrock stated that “the Body servant tended to their wounded master, sometimes taking the body home to bury”. The jobs of the body servants varied greatly. On occasion the Body Servant fought side by side with his Master. Another job of the the body servant was to look after his master's horse. It was the duty of one of these servants to have the horse ready in the morning by the time the officer was ready to ride. Also, an officer's servant was expected to keep the officer's quarters clean, to wash the clothes, brush uniforms, polish swords and buckles, and to run errands, such as going to the commissary and getting rations (Delaney, 2007).

Why would African American fight for the Conferdate States of America.

The fact that some Southern blacks might have played an important role for the South is a very interesting. What is really interesting is no