Double Vee and Me.2023
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Fakumoh-Dick 1
Ekpoboaredo Fakumoh-Dick
Dr. Melaine Lindsay
HIS-15
October 30, 2023
Contributions of African Americans and the Union's Civil War Victory
Men of African descent from the North viewed the Civil War as a chance to achieve
emancipation. Whether they enlisted in the Union Army or contributed as civilians, their
motivation was to combat discrimination. Distinguished for its valor at Fort Wagner, the 54th
Massachusetts Regiment exemplified the dedication of black Northerners who enlisted in the
Union Army. Prominent individuals such as Douglass fervently championed emancipation as a
primary objective of the Union's war effort.
The "Double Vee" strategy, which gained prominence during the Civil War era via
African-American periodicals, sought to eradicate prejudice on a state and international level.
Black Americans were encouraged to serve in the military by publications such as the Chicago
Defender, which argued that success overseas would bolster the argument for equal rights within
the United States. "Our struggle is also against the foreign tyranny that seeks to subjugate us,"
emphasizes a "Double Vee" source (Anonymous, Chicago Defender, March 1864).
Many African Americans were taken aback when, in 1863, the Union issued the
Emancipation Proclamation, which proclaimed war on slavery. Slaves in Confederate territory
were emancipated by this legal act, which altered the course of the conflict and abolished slavery
in the United States.
Amidst the American Civil War, black women assumed pivotal responsibilities as
laborers, caregivers, and physicians, all of which assisted troops and attended to the injured.
Prominent individuals, including the laundress and Nurse Susie King Taylor, emphasized these
contributions in her autobiography titled "Reminiscences of My Life in Camp."
Fakumoh-Dick 2
Post-Emancipation Proclamation, the deliberate incorporation of black personnel from
both free Northern and Confederate states bolstered the Union Army strategically while
decreasing Confederate labor. The successful seizure of a Confederate ship by Robert Smalls
exemplified the critical role that black personnel played in securing Union victories from a
tactical standpoint.
Northern African Americans maintained their military service and received noncombatant
assistance after the Civil War. Their "Double Vee" emblem represented their simultaneous
struggle against both domestic racism and international fascism. The Emancipation Proclamation
of 1864, which authorized abolitionist activities during the conflict, had an unexpected effect on
African Americans. The varied contributions made by black women and the deliberate
participation of black troops in the Union Army serve as comprehensive illustrations of the
complex and diverse function that the black community performed in the Union's triumph during
this pivotal era in American history. These factors intricately linked local and global endeavors
aimed at securing freedom and equality.
In conclusion, the narrative of Northern African American involvement in the Civil War
is one of resilience, determination, and strategic contribution. From their pivotal roles in the
Union Army to the implementation of the "Double Vee" strategy, black individuals not only
shaped the course of the conflict but also played a vital role in securing Union victory. As Nell
Irvin Painter notes in "Creating Black Americans," the struggle for freedom was so profound that
even President Lincoln, at one point, considered efforts to physically separate races, with a
proposal to banish black people to Central America. This historical context underscores the depth
of antiblack racism and the challenges faced by African Americans during this critical period
(Painter 2006). The complex and interconnected nature of their efforts reflects a profound
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commitment to emancipation, echoing the enduring struggle for liberty and equality on both
domestic and global fronts.
Work Cited
Carter, George E., and Okon Edet Uya. “From Slavery to Public Service: Robert Smalls, 1839-
1915.”
American Quarterly
, vol. 24, no. 3, JSTOR, Aug. 1972, p. 320.
Crossref
,
https://doi.org/10.2307/2711532
.
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Fakumoh-Dick 4
Gonzalez, Aston. “Reading the Emancipation Proclamation: Viewing Race and Freedom During
the Civil War Era.”
Civil War History
, vol. 68, no. 2, Project MUSE, June 2022, pp. 194–209.
Crossref
,
https://doi.org/10.1353/cwh.2022.0015
.
Painter, Nell Irvin.
Creating Black Americans
. Oxford UP, USA, 2006.
In the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection, various disciplines played a
crucial role in shaping Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace's ideas. Two significant
influences came from economics, particularly the work of Thomas Malthus, and geology,
through the concept of uniformitarianism.
Thomas Malthus's theory of population dynamics, as outlined in his work "An Essay on the
Principle of Population," suggested that populations have the potential to increase exponentially
while resources grow linearly. This concept deeply impacted Darwin, who recognized the
struggle for existence among organisms. The idea that not all individuals could survive due to
limited resources resonated with Darwin, forming a key component of natural selection.
Geology, specifically the principle of uniformitarianism, advocated by geologist Charles Lyell,
argued that geological processes observed in the present operated similarly in the past. This
notion of gradual, uniform change over time contributed to the understanding that Earth's
geological features were shaped by long-term processes. Darwin and Wallace applied this idea to
biology, proposing that species evolve gradually through small, cumulative changes over long
periods.
These interdisciplinary connections showcase how the theory of evolution was not an isolated
concept but was informed by ideas from economics and geology. The integration of these diverse
disciplines allowed for a more comprehensive understanding of the natural world and laid the
foundation for the groundbreaking theory of evolution by natural selection.
.