Whites accepted this myth in spite of the participation of black men in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and African Americans were turned away in both the Union and the Confederate ranks. In part, the resistance to black soldiers was the result of racist beliefs that African Americans were mentally and temperamentally unsuited for military service. White Northerners and Southerners alike were of the opinion that the conflict would be a war for white men only. The service of black soldiers seemed unlikely at the beginning of the Civil War. Nonetheless, black soldiers served loyally and proved their worth in battle, winning the grudging admiration of even their Confederate enemies and a permanent place in the post-war U.S. The federal government also tried to pay African Americans less than white soldiers, and it subjected them to other humiliating forms of discrimination and ill treatment. Even when the Union army did accept them, black men had to serve in segregated units under the command of white officers. Their services as soldiers were initially refused, and they had to fight for the right to fight. Yet their experience was not entirely positive. Over a short time period, black men went from being powerless chattel to being part of a liberating army, helping to free nearly four million slaves from bondage. The service of black soldiers in the Union army during the American Civil War (1861–1865) represents one of the most dramatic episodes in African-American history.
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