When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he firmly stated that he did not want to abolish slavery, just prevent it from spreading to the new territories the United States was quickly acquiring. Northerners believed that at times Lincoln was too soft on the topic to end slavery, while southerners were in so much derail that nothing the President said or did would calm them down. The Civil War was at a bit of a standstill, while the Union was winning battles left and right, the Confederates showed no signs of giving up. By this point, 1862, thousands, possibly millions of slaves had fled from the plantations in the south, to the comfort of the north. Lincoln had many people telling him that abolishing slavery would be a military strategy used to perfection. On September 22, 1862, just after the bloody Battle of Antietam, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that as of January 1, 1863, all slaved in rebellious states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Now news did not travel fast, so most slaves, let alone slave owners, were unaware of the Proclamation. Because the south was its own country in a sense, even though that is an act of treason, not many took this seriously. But once it reached the slaves, emotions and spirits became higher. Slaves now had hope, and the war took a turn, in a positive way for the north. So African American men from all over the country lined up to join the war. Lincoln was unsure about allowing blacks to join, but the Union desperately needed soldiers. On July 17, 1862 the Militia Act was signed, stating that any men of African descent can join the war. While many blacks joined the war, racism still came into play. Some generals believed that blacks were not as skilled or brave; the result of this was that blacks got paid ten dollars a week while whites received thirteen. Congress did pass a bill in 1864 demanding that everybody gets paid the same. In February 1863, Governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts issued the Civil War's first official call for black soldiers. The response was astronomical, 1,000 men volunteered from all over the country to be a part of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. This regiment was a bug turning point in the war, African Americans proved that they could do anything the white soldiers could. By the end of the war, 180,000 African Americans joined the war and only 40,000 died.
Sources
Information - Own mind and http://www.history.com/topics/emancipation-proclamation http://www.history.com/topics/african-american-soldiers-in-the-civil-war
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