During the Civil War, African Americans were allowed to enlist in the Union Army thanks to Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.This law provided about 180,000 African American soldiers to enter the war at the time. Although some African American were permitted in the army they still faced many prejudicial difficulties. It is said that African American soldiers were paid $10 a month while the whites were being paid $13 a month. Fredrick Douglas one said "Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship." When he said this he was trying to tell the world that as an African American they have earned they right to fight for their country no matter what color pigment.