John Brown was a white man who hated slavery. He was very religious and thought slavery was against what Bible says. He was a mean and violent man. He thought that the only way to end slavery is with violence. On October 10, 1856 John Brown and group of black and white people, including his sons, rode into the small village in Virginia. The village name was Harper's Ferry. They had lots of weapons and stole even more. They attacked people at railroad station and took some of them hostage.  The people in town fought back and many people from Brown's group were killed. The day after, Robert E. Lee brought marines to town. They arrested John Brown and killed most of his group. Brown was hanged. Attack at Harper's Ferry started a way to Civil War because it made differences between the North and the South even greater.

North "free" states and South "slave" states had a disagreement about slavery for many years. At first, North wanted to stop slavery from spreading. Later, many Northerners wanted slavery to stop everywhere. The South wanted to keep slavery. They passed many laws and compromises, but at the end both sides had a problem. When Lincoln was elected, South decided to separate or secede from the Union. South Carolina was the first to go, and many other "slave" states joined them. They elected Jefferson Davis as president and started Confederate States of America. At first, president Lincoln thought they will come back. He waited for months for them to come back. But, that never happened. The Civil War started in Charleston, South Carolina on  April 12, 1861 when Confederate army led by General Beauregard attacked Fort Sumter.

Confederacy was the first to take black people into their service. The first black soldiers in Confederate army were free blacks, not the slaves. Tennessee was the first state to allow blacks to enlist in military, but the black soldiers were not equal to whites. Union (North) did not want to recruit blacks at the beginning of the war.

President Lincoln wanted to save the Union. He thought that if he allows black soldiers to fight for the North, the South will be very mad. When slaves ran from their plantations to join the war, Union soldiers kept them as "contraband", just like cattle or other property that they took away from southerners. When the South started winning at the start of the war, Congress wanted to start taking black soldiers. In July of 1862 the Congress passed an act that allowed president Lincoln to enlist black soldiers, but Lincoln still did not want to. He even said to congress that he will resign before black soldiers are in the Union army. He finally changed his mind and allowed enlisting black soldiers with Emancipation Proclamation  on January 1, 1863.

The first black regiment started in South Carolina and was named South Carolina Volunteer Regiment. It was formed in May of 1862. It was formed by general David Hunter. Lincoln did not like this, and the regiment was let go. It was formed again in November of the same year and it fought to the end of the Civil War. It was known as the 1st South Carolina.

Black troops fought in many battles. Many times the newspaper did not report it. The first battle in the Civil War fought by the black troops was in October of 1862. It was the battle of the Island Mount, Missouri. It was fought by the 79th Colored Infantry of Kansas.

The first black troop battle that was reported in "white" newspapers was fought in Hundred Pines, South Carolina. It took place in January of 1863. The reason it was reported was that reporter was sent to tell people if black soldiers know how to fight. He reported they did a great job.

Many people think that  54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was the most famous black regiment. It was organized in Boston, Massachusetts in 1863. Frederick Douglas' two sons were soldiers in this regiment. Most soldiers were free black people from the North. They were stationed in South Carolina. Their first battle was on the James Island. Their most famous battle was the battle of the Battery Wagner under the command of the Colonel Shaw. The regiment lost 281 soldiers. The regiment fought for the rest of the Civil War.

Black soldiers were not treated as equal to white soldiers.  Often they had to do work that white soldiers did not want to. They did what was called "fatigue duty". Often they served white soldiers and did hard physical labor. But when there was an emergency, they were sent to the battles. By the end of the Civil War many black soldiers fought battles of the front lines.

In the South, most blacks were slaves at the start of the Civil War. When they joined military they got paid for the first time. But they were paid less than white soldiers for doing the same thing. Government said that black soldiers do not fight as much as white soldiers, and, so, they do not need to be paid as much.  The things started to change in 1864. The Congress ordered that all soldiers get the same pay. But, most black soldiers continued to be paid less than whites. Their salary was usually $10 a week. White soldiers were usually paid $13 a week.

Many black soldiers fought hard and showed bravery. Many received freedom as a reward. Two black soldiers received a Congressional Medal of Honor for their brave fighting. They were Christian Fleetwood and James Gardner.

The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox, Virginia.  General Grant (North) and General Lee (South) met at the Appomattox Court House and Lee signed surrender papers. Grant gave him supplies for his soldiers and they shook hands. The war was over. The slavery was gone. The United States of America was one country again.  Less than a week after the surrender, Lincoln was murdered.

Lincoln asked the South to stop fighting and come back to the Union. When South did not do that, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862. It took effect on January 1, 1863. It ended slavery, but not completely. It said that slaves who lived in Confederacy will be free only if the Union won. It also did not include "territories" such as around New Orleans. Lincoln waited until Union started winning to issue it. It was one of the most important documents in our history. TO READ EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW: THE PROCLAMATION