Explanation:
In the years immediately following the Civil War, thousands of former
slaves moved westward, hoping to find new opportunities for employment.
Among the opportunities open to young black men was serving with the United
States Army. In 1866, the United States Congress authorized the creation
of six regular Army regiments to be staffed entirely by black soldiers. By
1869, these regiments were decreased by two. Black men were given the
choice of enlisting with the Ninth or Tenth Cavalry or the Twenty-fourth or
Twenty-fifth Infantry. It is these regiments that would eventually be
dubbed the Buffalo Soldiers (Katz 1996).
The term Buffalo Soldiers was bestowed by the Plains Indians, who were
the soldiers' enemies. Despite their enmity, however, the name reveals the
respect many Native Americans accorded to the black soldiers. The Indians
had high regard for the courage and valor shown by the black men in combat.
This paper argues that the Buffalo Soldiers played a crucial, though
often overlooked role in the history of westward expansion. By protecting
settlers, the Buffalo Soldiers paved the way for the settlement of the west
and the creation of the United States. By showing courage on the
battlefield, the Buffalo Soldiers also challenged prevailing misconceptions
about black people. In doing so, they contributed to the establishment of
multicultural societies in the West and by extension, in the rest of the
The Buffalo Soldiers initially came into being because during the late
19th century, the United States Military supported segregation. Black
freemen thus could not serve along with the white soldiers
