As early as May 26, 1862, Mr. Sumner introduced a resolution
declaring that the time had come for the Government “to invite
all, without distinction of color, to make their loyalty
manifest by ceasing to fight or labor for the Rebels, and also
by rendering every assistance in their power to the cause of
the Constitution and the Union, according to their ability,
whether by _arms_, or labor, or information, or in any other
way.”
After much debate, an Act was passed to amend the Act to
provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws
of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions,
approved February 28, 1795. The new Act, approved by the
President July 17, 1862, contained the following provision:--
“That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to
receive into the service of the United States, for the
purpose of constructing intrenchments, or performing camp
service or any other labor, or any military or naval
service for which they may be found competent, persons of
African descent; and such persons shall be enrolled and
organized under such regulations, not inconsistent with the
Constitution and laws, as the President may prescribe.”[137]
This was the beginning of colored troops.
In his speech at Faneuil Hall, October 6, 1862,[138] Mr. Sumner
justified an appeal to the slaves.
In the Senate, February 9, 1863, he introduced the following
bill, providing for the enlistment of slaves and others of
African descent, which was referred to the Committee on
Military Affairs and the Militia, and ordered to be printed.
* * * * *
A Bill to raise additional Soldiers for the Service of the
United States.
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_, That each and every
able-bodied male person of the age of eighteen years and under
forty-five years, made free by the Act of Congress, approved August
sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, entitled “An Act to confiscate
property used for insurrectionary purposes,” or the Act of July
seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled “An Act to
suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and
confiscate the property of Rebels, and for other purposes,” or by
Proclamations of the President of the United States, dated September
twenty-second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and January first,
eighteen hundred and sixty-three, respectively, or by any other legal
and competent authority exercised in suppressing the present Rebellion,
shall severally be forthwith enrolled as a military force of the United
States by the commanding officer within whose department such persons
shall be found, and they shall be organized, armed, equipped, and
mustered into the service of the United States, to serve during the
present war, to a number not exceeding three hundred thousand men.
SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That the said military force shall
be organized according to the regulations of the branch of service in
which they may be designated to serve, and receive the same rations,
clothing, and equipments as volunteers, and a monthly pay of seven
dollars, to be paid one half at the end of each month, and the other
half when discharged. They shall be officered by persons appointed and
commissioned by the President, and governed by the rules and articles
of war, and such other rules and regulations as may be prescribed by
law. Each person so serving as a non-commissioned officer or private in
such military force of the United States shall be entitled to receive,
upon his discharge, ten acres of land, and each person so serving as a
commissioned officer shall be entitled to receive twenty-five acres,
the same to be located upon any lands confiscated during the present
Rebellion, and not reserved by the Government for public use; the land
so located to be occupied only as a homestead by the person entitled to
receive the same, and his family.
SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That the President be, and is
hereby, authorized to further order the voluntary enlistment or
enrolment of each and every able-bodied free male person of African
descent, of the age of eighteen years and under forty-five years,
within the United States, for military service, as provided by this
Act, except that the monthly pay of such free persons shall be the same
as that of the volunteers: _Provided_, The whole number called into the
service of the United States under the provisions of this section shall
not exceed one hundred thousand men.
There was no action of the Committee on this bill, and it fell
with the session.
* * * * *
February 10, 1864, more than a year later, the subject was
brought forward in the House of Representatives by Mr. Stevens,
in an amendment to the Enrolment Bill then pending, and finally
prevailed in the following terms:--
“That all able-bodied male colored persons, between the
ages of twenty and forty-five years, resident in the United
States, shall be enrolled according to the provisions of
this Act and of the Act to which this is an amendment, and
form part of the national forces; and when a slave of a
loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the service
of the United States, his master shall have a certificate
thereof, and thereupon such slave shall be free.”[139]