Due to the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Black men were allowed to serve the US Army and were allowed them to fight for their freedom from slavery. Because of this, thousands of Black men enlisted to fight.
According to Britannica, "By the end of the war, about 180,000 African Americans were in the army, which amounted to about 10 percent of the troops in that branch, and another 20,000 were serving in the navy." Yet, even with these numbers, "African American soldiers were placed in segregated units, few of which saw action in battle," and "only a handful of African Americans achieved an officer’s rank."Sadly, even during a war, Black soldiers were treated unfairly in comparison to the white soldiers at their side. The same article adds: "Because they tended to be in camps, these men were at far greater risk of contracting a disease than were troops on the march. As a result, nearly three-fourths of the more than 40,000 African American soldiers who died in the war succumbed to either disease or infection rather than battle wounds."
Even after dealing with this kind of neglect, Black soldiers continued fighting for their freedom, performing admirably as there were even 25 black men who were "awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery during the war."
