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Theses: how were the African Americans treated differently than white Americans? Once the Union government had decided in early 1863 to enlist black soldiers, military efficiency and moral arguments demanded that all soldiers, whatever their color, be treated equally. The deep-seated racial prejudice pervasive in American society, however, meant that such a policy faced real resistance. As a result, federal officials moved in hesitant, sometimes ambiguous, but ultimately inevitable steps toward a policy of equal protection and benefits for black soldiers and their families. Nevertheless, social attitudes and conditions meant that even color-neutral legislation had an unequal impact on whites and blacks. An equitable government policy developed only slowly and did not ensure a similar response from white society. All too often, and especially among the families of Southern black soldiers, black dependents had to worry about their physical safety, faced greater financial insecurity during the war, and received fewer benefits when the war was over. Even in the North, where families might have expected to have the efforts of the black soldiers recognized and supported, such was not always the case.

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