African Canadians in Union Blue: Volunteering for the Cause in the Civil War

When Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, he also authorized the U.S. Army to recruit black soldiers for the war effort. Nearly 200,000 men answered the call, and several thousand of them came from Canada. What compelled these men to leave the relative comfort and safety of home to fight in a foreign war? In African Canadians in Union Blue, Richard M. Reid sets out in search of an answer and discovers a group of men whose courage and contributions open a window on the changing understanding of the American Civil War and the ties that held black communities together even as the borders around them shifted and were torn asunder."Richard M. Reid's study of African Canadians who served in the U.S. armed forces during the Civil War provides insight into an era rich in significance for both Canada and the United States. Reid dispels longstanding myths about who the men were and what prompted them to volunteer. Among other things, he finds that many were not fugitives from slavery in the U.S. and that their motives included the personal and the professional as well as the political. Engagingly written, this book does much more than fill in a fascinating niche about the Civil War. It offers a fresh perspective into familiar subjects that look different when viewed from north of the border."