The Civil War was a battle between the Northern and Southern states from 1861 to 1865 and began with the North attempting to prevent the South from becoming a separate union. The years that followed were rooted in Civil War conflict. Slavery became a central theme during the Civil War, and as the war raged, African Americans across the United States began to cultivate the path of war. Their involvement was due to an accumulation of their opposition to slavery, their participation in the war itself, and even how they were affected as they attempted to rebuild their lives after slavery. Inevitably, African Americans proved to be a major factor in the direction, outcome, and consequences of the American Civil War. In 1861, the Civil War broke out because the southern states did not want to join the north to form a single union. Many Northerners were opposed to maintaining the institution of slavery, while many Southerners wanted to maintain it. Supporters of abolishing slavery wanted equality for all and African Americans to gain human rights. Indeed, the atrocities of slavery were well known throughout the United States, with African Americans enduring hardships as slaves. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay On March 7, 1864, the New York Times newspaper published an article explaining that during slavery, African Americans were no only poorly treated, but dehumanized as slaves. African Americans who were desperate to escape these circumstances found themselves fighting in the Civil War, intended to boost their confidence and status in the country. These opportunities included the possibility of enlisting in the war. African Americans who fought in the Civil War were either freed slaves or runaway slaves who sought refuge from their slave masters. However, they gained a sense of pride and dignity from participating in the civil war. African Americans involved in the war helped show that the country would be at its best. This depiction also helped shift the focus of the Civil War from the southern rebellion against being a collective union to the demoralization of slavery itself and the theme of equality. The New York Times article continued that African American slaves who were once dehumanized were now praised for their service and that they had influenced the potential: "of a new era" and it implied that because of Such a dramatic change in attitude in such a short time at the time could be seen as evidence of a social revolution (Document F). But this revolution will not happen without resistance. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln responded to a white writer, apparently from the North, who opposed equality for African Americans. There were people who opposed equality in the North and South, and people in favor of equality in both North and South. As Lincoln realized his racial views were not universally popular, he wondered why the letter's author would not support the freedom of African Americans when they had expressed a willingness to fight for whites during the civil war. He claimed in the letter published in 1863 that people who opposed freeing slaves were irrational because slaves fought for these same people for so long. Lincoln emphasized human life rather than black and white and insisted that African Americansshould do anything for white people, because white people were so unwilling to do anything for them. Lincoln observed the freedom promised to African Americans and expressed his intention to honor this commitment (Document C). Less than a month after this letter appeared, Lincoln issued a carefully worded proclamation declaring the freedom of enslaved Africans in Confederate territory. African Americans undoubtedly influenced this decision, especially since Lincoln had already developed a plan for colonization. PresidentAbraham Lincoln proposed resettlement of blacks to a foreign country, particularly the Caribbean or Latin America. In 1862, a group of African Americans met during the Civil War to consider his proposal in what history calls the African American Resolution in Newtown New York on August 20, 1862. African Americans responded to Lincoln's proposed dismissal by reminding the country of their backbreaking work during the war and as slaves and their blood, sweat and tears they experienced in slavery. Experiences that left slave families torn apart and slaves unable to function in society, without education or money. Experiences like what Rebecca Parsons and her children went through when Rebecca was freed from slavery. When Rebecca Parsons, who had been enslaved by TA Parsons, declared her intention to leave her plantation and live with her extended family, TA Parsons consented because he had no other choice. The Thirteenth Amendment granted her the right to liberty, but it required Rebecca to pay her $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 and validated African Americans' assertion that they had no human rights but should be equal (Document K). Being removed would not then give equality but would only satisfy people who were opposed to the end of slavery and disliked African Americans (Document B). Although Lincoln did not believe that colonizing millions of African Americans was possible, his proposal came from the idea that the profound differences between the white and black races made resettlement desirable. It was the reactions of African Americans that helped him understand that they had the right to stay in the United States after being granted that right. Africans spent a lot of time defending their human rights and breaking down the idea that they were mere property. During the Republican Party platform in 1864, slavery was used as a scapegoat to start the Civil War. The Republican Party believed that slavery was the backbone of the Civil War. Fortunately, the Republican Party has forgotten that the war started because it wanted to remain a separate union. By remaining separate, they knew they had a better chance of becoming powerful in politics, economics, and even enforcing slavery (Document D). Contrary to the ideas of the Republican Party, the conflicts of the Civil War were rooted in the flawed 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 and enslaved African Americans sought protection from Confederates who wanted to force them to build river fortifications. These freedom seekers forced Butler and the Lincoln administrationto decide whether fugitive slaves entering Union lines would be returned to their slave masters according to law or placed in custody, with the government assuming some responsibility for their welfare. General Butler raised issues that challenged the humanity of African Americans fleeing slavery and perhaps everywhere else. Butler's own answers to his questions were that these freedom seekers were "war contrabands" who could serve the Union army in useful functions, such as digging trenches. His thinking characterized former slaves as mere property and seemed to imply a desire to exploit them. There was no respect in the way he approached the situation. This document thus highlights the pressure that Union forces faced in managing the numerous escaped slaves that presented themselves to them 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 treat the issue of slavery to their advantage, at least until President Abraham Lincoln made it 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 were given the chance to be free, they sought opportunities that had never been afforded to them when They were slaves. According to the political map in Document L, the racial composition of the constitutional conventions of the ten former Confederate states still awaited complete reconstruction within the Union. Far from showing what many white southerners then believed, whites controlled the delegate list to every constitutional convention except South Carolina's. This racial imbalance prevailed even though black men made up a large portion of voters in five southern states: 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 time when the country rebuilt its foundations 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 did not achieve equality, it still had successes. Not only were the states united, but a new Constitution was written, and African Americans were no longer slaves and began to prove that they were capable of being independent citizens. African Americans eagerly sought employment and educational opportunities. Charlotte Forten, from a prominent abolitionist family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the first black teacher from the North to instruct former slaves in the South in 1862. She found that freed slaves did not hesitate to sacrifice their time free to continue their studies. They were firm and determined to do something with their lives. In what was later called the Port Royal Experiment on the island of St. Helena, South Carolina, Forten, a cultured, idealistic and driven 24-year-old, was amazed by the people's thirst for learning. African-American children and adults. Forten documented that their thirst for education was not dampened by the distractions of youth, by grueling fieldwork under the scorching sun, or by a life of oppression (Document E). This prompted those who favored equality to.