The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts was established in early 1863 under the direction of colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Shaw was only twenty six years old when he was put in charge of the regiment. He came from a strong abolitionist family in Boston before the war. Before gaining his position as the colonel of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts, Shaw served in the Seventh New York National guard and the Second Massachusetts infantry. In February 1863, Shaw was apointed by Massachusetts …showed first 75 words of 1043 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1043 total…Act (passed on July 17, 1862) which deducted $3 from black soldiers' salaries for clothing while also specifying an addition of $3 per month to white soldiers' pay for a clothing allowance. The prejudicial discrepancy was finally resolved by an act of Congress, which authorized black troops to receive pay equal to their white counterparts. By the end of the Civil War over 175,000 African Americans had volunteered to serve the Union, accounting for 10% of the North's army and navy.