When did the Union begin recruiting African American soldiers for formal army units in the Civil War?

In 1862, President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation opened the door for African Americans to enlist in the Union Army. Although many had wanted to join the war effort earlier, they were prohibited from enlisting by a federal law dating back to 1792.

The second , larger puritan colony of massachusetts bay was conceived as a "city upon a hill". but it also struggled with internal turmoil like the salem witch trials and external conflicts like king philip's (metacom's) war.