Both free and enslaved African Americans participated in the Civil War. Blacks, however, faced many obstacles in the struggle compared to their white counterparts. The first obstacle blacks encountered was the “fight to fight.” Blacks were initially rejected as soldiers by both the Union and Confederate armies. Whites defined the war as a war between white men and were disinclined to include blacks in the fight. When a group of black Ohioans petitioned for the right to participate in the war, Governor David Tod of Ohio declared: “Know ye not…that this is a government of white men; that white men are capable of defending power and protecting it? (McPherson 2008)” Other objections were that blacks were “too timid and would not make good soldiers” and that white soldiers would not volunteer if forced to serve alongside “wild blacks.” Additionally, others believed that if blacks served honorably they would demand equal treatment in society. One Northern MP said: “If you make him the instrument with which battles are fought, the means by which your victories are won… you must treat him as a victor is entitled to be treated, with all the dignified and appropriate respect (McPherson 2008) ."Blacks enslaved by the Confederacy were transformed into body servants, cooks, janitors, and gravediggers. Additionally, their labor was used to build roads, erect fortifications, and transport war supplies. During this period, slave labor and punishments were intensified to increase production. Disciplinary procedures such as flogging and even death were used as “motivation” to make slaves work. A Maryland owner “confessed that in August 1861 he had killed one of his slaves, Jack Scroggins. , flogging him to death for fleeing to the Federal States... middle of paper... Bell had what seemed an inexhaustible supply of Negro plantation tunes... [and] a charming variety of Scottish ballads, which he sang with a voice of notable power and sweetness. Possessing the talent that he possessed, I was sure that he had only assumed the character of the cheerful, carefree Negro and no one would suspect the calm and alert detective, the cheerful Negro whose aim in life seemed to be to get enough to eat and a comfortable place to toast your shins. These spies managed to recover letters, plans and listen to conversations about enemy details. African Americans fought for their right to participate in a war that would ultimately lead to their freedom. and freedom. They refused to sit back and watch as a divided nation fought. Despite being treated unfairly and even inhumanely, they won and prevailed.