For Their Rights as Citizens :: essays papers

For Their Rights as CitizensDuring the Civil War, most 200,000 African Americans fought alongside dust coat community. What did these African Americans fight for? Some fought for the liberty ofothers of their kind. While others fought for equality in the eyes of white people. Even almost fought for revenge against the Southern way of life. But what I believe that they fought for was their rights as citizens. They treasured to be treated as Citizens of the United States of America, and have on the alone of the privileges endowed to citizens.If we fight to maintain a republican Government, we want Republican privileges.....all we ask is the proper enjoyment of the rights of citizenship, p205. This tells me that the African Americans were thinking of their rights of citizenship before the fight had concluded. To them, being a citizen of the United States meant that they coulddo what ever they cherished to do. They could operate dreams they had to go visiteverywhere a nd anywhere in this country freely. cipher would be holding them down orselling off their children anymore. They would no longer be automatons, they would havea say in what they wanted to accomplish in life, from banking to farming, to being landowners themselves.The African Americans also wanted to demonstrate that they were unbidden to fightfor their rights. Sergeant Charles Singer wrote, show the whole world that we are willing to fight for our rights... p.215. This shows that they wanted to prove that they were willing to die for those rights allotted to citizens. Let us by a harsh cause now made holy by our blood, raise ourselves from the mire, p.216. To me this shows the willingness of the African Americans to join together fight for a cause, and not fear death. Because in the end, they would earn citizenship and all of its benefits. This is a goodreason to fight, earn freedom from oppression, and be given the rights allotted to allcitizens.Some fighting under(a) the banner of citizenship and its rights, believed that theydisserved the same rights as the white people. ...I am not willing to fight for anything less that the white man fights for.......Give me my rights, the rights that this Government owes me, the same rights that the white man has, p.208. This tells me that the African Americans wanted no less than what the white people already had.