Circular Entitled Colored Soldiers! Equal State Rights! And Monthly Pay with White Men!
12/15/1863
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This recruiting poster was directed at black men during the Civil War. It includes information on protection of "colored troops" and refers to efforts by the Lincoln administration to provide equal pay for black soldiers and equal protection for black POWs.
Black troops faced greater peril than white troops if captured by the Confederate Army. In 1863, in response both to the enlistment of black troops by the Union and fear of slave uprisings, the Confederate Congress threatened to severely punish the officers of black troops and to enslave the black soldiers. As a result, President Abraham Lincoln issued General Order 233, quoted in this document, threatening reprisal on Confederate prisoners of war (POWs) for any mistreatment of black troops. Although the threat generally restrained the Confederates, and neither the North nor the South officially followed through with their threats, black captives were typically treated more harshly than white captives by the Confederate Army.
This circular was enclosed in a letter from Dr. Martin Robinson Delany to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Delany was a black doctor, abolitionist, newspaper editor, writer, and politician who recruited for the United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.). After meeting with President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 about how to end the war, Dr. Delany was commissioned as a major, becoming the first black field officer in the United States Army. After the Civil War, he worked for the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands – better known as the Freedmen's Bureau.
Black troops faced greater peril than white troops if captured by the Confederate Army. In 1863, in response both to the enlistment of black troops by the Union and fear of slave uprisings, the Confederate Congress threatened to severely punish the officers of black troops and to enslave the black soldiers. As a result, President Abraham Lincoln issued General Order 233, quoted in this document, threatening reprisal on Confederate prisoners of war (POWs) for any mistreatment of black troops. Although the threat generally restrained the Confederates, and neither the North nor the South officially followed through with their threats, black captives were typically treated more harshly than white captives by the Confederate Army.
This circular was enclosed in a letter from Dr. Martin Robinson Delany to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Delany was a black doctor, abolitionist, newspaper editor, writer, and politician who recruited for the United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.). After meeting with President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 about how to end the war, Dr. Delany was commissioned as a major, becoming the first black field officer in the United States Army. After the Civil War, he worked for the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands – better known as the Freedmen's Bureau.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Adjutant General's Office.
National Archives Identifier: 5730498
Full Citation: Circular Entitled Colored Soldiers! Equal State Rights! And Monthly Pay with White Men!; 12/15/1863 ; File Number D-135 1863; Letters Received, 1863 - 1894; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Record Group 94; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/circular-colored-soldiers, April 21, 2025]Activities that use this document
- From Slavery to Juneteenth: Emancipation and Ending Enslavement
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