This unit incorporates three documents tracing the advancement of men and women from the status of fugitive slaves to black soldiers fighting for the Union Army in the American Civil War. Examining an exerpt from the journal of William Still, students will read firsthand accounts of slaves who managed to successfully escape slavery via the Underground Railroad. Still's journal describes the appearance, manner, and circumstances of the runaway slaves who reached Philadelphia. President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation clarifies the geographical regions where slavery was to be abolished and to be permitted in 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation states that free black men are allowed to join the military and fight for the Union. Nathaniel Edgerton, a white officer in the US Army, writes of the hardship black soldiers endured throughout the war and their bravery. These documents combined give a vivid picture of the transition black Americans in the United States underwent during the American Civil War.