At first African Americans were very questionable during the Civil War. The Union Navy had already accepted African American volunteers. Frederick Douglass thought the military would help African Americans have equal rights if they fought alongside them. Many children also helped in the Civil War, no matter how old they were. Since African Americans were out of favor, black units were not used in combat as they could have been. However, African Americans fought in numerous battles. African Americans fought valiantly. Northern leaders also saw another reason for having African Americans in the Civil War is that the Union needed soldiers. Congress loudly drafted them because they thought they might as well have more soldiers. By the spring of 1863, African Americans were fighting in many wars. They have been of great help to the Union. About 10 percent of the Union Navy was made up of African Americans. An estimated 190,000 African Americans fought in the Civil War. An estimated 38,000 of them died. Many of them believed that if they fought with the Union or the Confederacy, they would become equal to whites. Some African Americans were also treated better than some whites. The reason why some African Americans were treated better than some whites was because if a white soldier didn't do his job or didn't follow orders, they would put an African American in their place, obviously if that African Americans had followed orders in the past. There were many important battles where African Americans fought and really helped tremendously. Some of these important battles were like the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina by the 54th Massachusetts... middle of paper... were a great help to the Civil War. Of the 190,000 who participated in the Civil War, 16 of them received the Medal of Honor, and fourteen received the honor as a result of their actions at New Market Heights. The Union won the Civil War and after the Civil War, African Americans gained their freedom. While this may be known as the bloodiest battle in the United States, it gave African Americans freedom and the United States to remember how they got it. org/wgbh/aia/part4/4narr5.htmlwww.hist.unt.edu/web_resources_mil/am_civil_war1.htmwww.712educators.about.com/library/graphics/afam5.jpgwww.hsp.org/files/hsp1_campwmpenn.jpgwww.arcweb. sos.state.or.us/exhibits/1857/images/after/flag.jpgwww.larose.com/upimages/Union_Flag.JPGwww.remote-dba.net/images/american%20flag%20picture.jpg