"To Colored Men!" Broadside
ca. 1861 - 1865
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After President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the U.S. Army began recruiting black men in earnest. The Confederate government regarded captured black soldiers as fugitive slaves, not prisoners of war. It threatened to execute or sell them into slavery. This broadside reassured potential black recruits that the U.S. Government would treat all of its troops as soldiers – and retaliate in the event of Confederate mistreatment of black U.S. soldiers.
Text adapted from "The Fight for Equal Rights: A Recruiting Poster for Black Soldiers in the Civil War" in the February 1992 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
Text adapted from "The Fight for Equal Rights: A Recruiting Poster for Black Soldiers in the Civil War" in the February 1992 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Adjutant General's Office.
National Archives Identifier: 1497351
Full Citation: To Colored Men!; ca. 1861 - 1865; Letters Received, 1863 - 1888; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Record Group 94; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/to-colored-men, June 26, 2019]Activities that use this document
- Black Soldiers in the Civil War
Created by the National Archives Education Team - Comparing Civil War Recruitment Posters
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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