The Brave Soldiers of the Massachusetts 54th
Abstract
This paper will explore the formation of the Massachusetts 54th Infantry Regiment, one of the first African-American regiments to fight in the U.S. Civil War. This topic was chosen because it is very interesting to explore more about a war fought between citizens of the same country over the issues of slavery, with so many willing volunteers, both black and white. It was equally compelling to see the marked amount of time it took for the union to even to permit the usage of black troops in the Union Army. This assignment will explore the overall experience of slaves in America, and contrast how blacks viewed the idea of being American with the majority, or white view of being American. The paper will begin with exploration of African-Americans in the context of the American immigration experience, with a brief description of the role of slavery in the development of the United States. This description of the role of slavery will lead into a discussion of the causes of the Civil War. Even in modern times, people debate whether the Civil War was fought because of slavery or because of greater debate over states rights versus federal rights. This paper will acknowledge that, while the war may not have been fought because the North found slavery morally intolerable, it would never have occurred absent the issue of slavery. In order to do my research, I began with an overview of the immigrant experience in America. I started with the text books used in class and branched out from there. Once I decided to specifically focus on the Massachusetts 54th Infantry, I did an internet search for information about the regiment. I was disappointed to find that most of the articles on the web about the 54th had the exact same text as a Wikipedia article about the 54th. However, using alternative search terms, I was able to find some interesting website relevant information, including some websites containing copies of...