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We Are...

In: Social Issues

Submitted By bdogg8903
Words 1382
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Since the dawn of the nation, the armed forces have included black Americans. As early as 1652, leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony mandated that all Indians and people of African descent residing in "settled" areas enlist in a local militia. Prince Duplex, Sr. was one of nearly 300 men of African descent to enlist in the Connecticut militia during the Revolutionary War, and Oscar Marion, a slave on the South Carolina plantation of war hero General Francis Marion, fought side by side with his master, also serving as "personal assistant, bodyguard, sous-chef, bugler, courier, confidant, and oarsman." When the Medal of Honor—the nation's highest award for military valor—was established in 1861, African Americans were not excluded. In time, however, conferral of the award began to mirror the status of black Americans in general, embodying a tumultuous history that has not always been so honorable.

The origins of the award lie with the Civil War. On 21 December 1861—exactly a year and a day after the secession of South Carolina—President Abraham Lincoln signed Senate Bill 82 into law. The measure, created to honor "non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities," was at first an honor exclusively for Navy sailors, but by the following year was expanded to include the Army. Though originally intended to cover only the length of the Civil War, the Medal of Honor was made a permanent decoration in 1863, and has remained the highest honor of all military branches. Almost immediately after the award's establishment, black Americans—of whom nearly eighteen thousand are estimated to have served with Union forces—became eligible for the honor, at least in principle.

During the first forty years or so of the Medal of Honor, African American servicemen were regularly considered as

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