Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Exigencies of War: Black Military Service, Free Labor, and Education in Civil War Missouri

Date of Award

1-1-2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in History

Department

Arch Dalrymple III Department of History

First Advisor

John R. Neff

Second Advisor

Deirdre Cooper Owens

Third Advisor

Marvin King

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

In Civil War scholarship, black men’s enlistment and active participation in the war effort has been prioritized and connected directly to abolitionism. This project argues that black men’s decision to serve militarily in Missouri was more nuanced. While notions of self-sacrifice and collective emancipation encouraged some black men to join federal regiments, this study asserts that the vast majority of black Missourians based their decisions on their immediate needs and the needs of their families. As black families navigated the uneven collapse of slavery in a state not subject to the Emancipation Proclamation, many descended into utter destitution. Scores suffered and many died because of exposure, disease, and lack of food. Reflective of their desperation, most black Missouri men did not join the military to become a part of the “Sable arm” of the Union army but to earn wages to provide for themselves and their families. For African-American Missouri men, the need for food, shelter, clothing, and financial stability outweighed concerns about abolition, patriotism, or sectional reunification. Consequently, fugitive slaves, without the prospect for employment due to legal proscriptions, predominated black Missouri regiments during the Civil War. On the other hand, most men born free or freed before the war, as well as former slaves who found employment that paid better wages than the army, rejected federal military service. As free labor opportunities became more plentiful in Missouri in mid-1864, federal recruitment stagnated, resulting in the institution of the draft in the state. The fact that some black men chose not to fight does not negate their genuine desire to see slavery abolished in America. Their decisions, however, reflected their newly-found political autonomy as well as the conditions some black families faced during the war. As such, this dissertation demystifies an important aspect of black life during the Civil War and provides new pathways for scholars to think the about the varied and complex ways black men viethe conflict and their freedom.

Comments

The author requested to remove access to the thesis on 09/10/2019.

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