District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Sen. Cory Booker reintroduced their bill Tuesday to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the approximately 200,000 Black soldiers who fought to preserve the Union during the Civil War.
The bill’s introduction coincides with Black History Month.
Black Americans served the United States in times of war since long before the Civil War. Yet there was resistance to enlisting Black Americans to take up arms at the start of the Civil War.
On May 22, 1863, the U.S. War Department issued General Order No. 143, which established the Bureau of Colored Troops for the recruitment and organization of regiments of the Union Army composed of Black men, called the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the war, about 179,000 Black men had served as soldiers in the Army, and another 19,000 served in the Navy.
Black women were not allowed to formally enlist as soldiers or sailors. They served as nurses, cooks, spies and scouts for the Army and Navy.
“Hundreds of thousands of African Americans who fought for the Union in the Civil War have largely been left out of the nation’s historical memory, despite having sacrificed their safety, and in many cases their lives,” Norton said. “This bill will help correct that wrong and give the descendants of those soldiers the recognition they deserve.”
Norton thanked Booker for his companion bill in the Senate.
“African Americans have laid down their lives serving in our country’s armed forces for hundreds of years,” Booker said. “Though often overlooked or forgotten, the United States Colored Troops were vital to preserving the Union during the Civil War. We must honor their legacy and ensure their service and sacrifice are remembered as an integral part of our nation’s history. More than 150 years have passed since the end of the war, and this bill will ensure these American heroes are finally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their fight for liberty, equality, and justice.”
