At the height of the conflict, African American soldiers made up 10% of the Union Army and 23% of all enlisted men on U.S. Additional men from the commonwealth served with the United States Navy. Of the approximately 180,000 African American men who served in the United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War, 8,612 came from Pennsylvania-the largest contingent from any Northern state. “Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.” -Frederick Douglass Collection of the National Archives, public domain. United States Colored Troops, Port Hudson, LA, c.
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