GCSE History (CIE)

The American West Topic Summaries

Civil War (1861–1865)

African Americans’ experiences during the Civil War

  • Enslaved people during the war:
    • Enslaved African Americans sought freedom by fleeing to Union lines. Many were designated as “contraband” and employed by the Union Army.
    • Self-emancipation played a crucial role in undermining the Confederate war effort.
  • African American soldiers: 
    • Nearly 180,000 African American men served in the Union Army.
    • They faced discrimination, lower pay, and harsher treatment if captured.
    • Their service strengthened the Union war effort and challenged racist assumptions. Military service became a powerful argument for African American citizenship.
  • Reconstruction Amendments:
    • The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865.
    • The 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.
    • The 15th Amendment prohibited racial discrimination in voting rights.
  • Black Reconstruction:
    • This refers to the period when African Americans actively participated in Southern politics by voting and holding local, state, and federal offices. 
    • Black political participation represented a revolutionary change in American democracy.
    • This period provoked intense white resistance in the South. 
  • Limits of reconstruction:
    • Southern states enacted Black Codes to restrict African American freedom, and white supremacist groups used violence and intimidation to suppress Black political participation.
    • By the late nineteenth century, segregation and disenfranchisement were widespread.
  • Long-term impact:
    • Reconstruction failed to secure lasting equality for African Americans. No reparations were paid to formerly enslaved people or their descendants, meaning there were generations of inequity and economic depression in addition to unresolved racial tensions.
    • African Americans continue to struggle for civil rights and to dismantle systemic racism well into the 21st century.

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