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The Fight for Equal Rights Black Soldiers in the Civil state of warHistorical BackgroundOnce let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.Frederick Douglass The issues of emancipation and force help were intertwined from the onset of the Civil War. News from Fort Sumter set off a rush by free black men to enlist in U.S. military units. They were turned away, however, because a Federal law dating from 1792 barred Negroes from bearing arms for the U.S. army (although they had served in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812). In Boston disappointed would-be volunteers met and passed a resolution requesting that the Government modify its laws to permit their enlistment. The Lincoln administration wrestled with the idea of authorizing the recruitment of black troops, concerned that su ch a move would prompt the border states to secede. When Gen. John C. Frmont (photo citation 111-B-3756) in Missouri and Gen. David Hunter (photo citation 111-B-3580) in South Carolina issued proclamations that emancipated slaves in their military regions and permitted them to enlist, their superiors sternly revoked their orders. By mid-1862, however, the escalating number of former slaves (contrabands), the declining number of white volunteers, and the increasingly pressing personnel needs of the Union Army pushed the Government into reconsidering the ban. As a result, on July 17, 1862, Congress passed the Second Confiscation and Militia Act, freeing slaves who had masters in the Confederate Army. Two days later, slavery was abolished in the territories of the linked States, and on July 22 President Lincoln (photo citation 111-B-2323) presented the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet. After the Union Army turned back Lees starting line invasion of th e North at Antietam, MD, and the Emancipation Proclamation was subsequently announced, black recruitment was pursued in earnest. Volunteers from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Massachusetts filled the first trustworthy black regiments. Recruitment was slow until black leaders such as Frederick Douglass (photo citation 200-FL-22) encouraged black men to become soldiers to ensure eventual beneficial citizenship. (Two of Douglasss own sons contributed to the war effort.) Volunteers began to respond, and in May 1863 the Government established the Bureau of Colored Troops to manage the burgeoning numbers of