In Becoming American under Fire, Christian G. Samito provides a
rich account of how African American and Irish American soldiers
influenced the modern vision of national citizenship that developed
during the Civil War era. By bearing arms for the Union, African
Americans and Irish Americans exhibited their loyalty to the United
States and their capacity to act as citizens; they strengthened
their American identity in the process. Members of both groups also
helped to redefine the legal meaning and political practices of
American citizenship.
For African American soldiers, proving manhood in combat was
only one aspect to their quest for acceptance as citizens. As
Samito reveals, by participating in courts-martial and protesting
against unequal treatment, African Americans gained access to legal
and political processes from which they had previously been
excluded. The experience of African Americans in the military
helped shape a postwar political movement that successfully called
for rights and protections regardless of race.
For Irish Americans, soldiering in the Civil War was part of a
larger affirmation of republican government and it forged a bond
between their American citizenship and their Irish nationalism. The
wartime experiences of Irish Americans helped bring about
recognition of their full citizenship through naturalization and
also caused the United States to pressure Britain to abandon its
centuries-old policy of refusing to recognize the naturalization of
British subjects abroad.
As Samito makes clear, the experiences of African Americans and
Irish Americans differed substantially and at times both groups
even found themselves violently opposed but they had in common that
they aspired to full citizenship and inclusion in the American
polity. Both communities were key participants in the fight to
expand the definition of citizenship that became enshrined in
constitutional amendments and legislation that changed the
nation."
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