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History of the United States II / Unit 8   USH2 1086 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds

The 369th

Captions available

The idea

The Yawp says the War Department barred Black troops from combat and relegated Black soldiers to segregated service units, where they worked as general labourers. The anchor gives a different part of the record: the three hundred sixty-ninth infantry regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters, spent six months on the French front line, a longer stretch than any other American unit. Both statements come from the course's sources, and both are stated here.

In practice

Labour battalions unloading ships, and a Black regiment holding a stretch of the French line.

Where people slip

The two accounts describe different parts of the same army. Most Black soldiers were kept from combat; one regiment fought longer than any American unit. Neither source explains how both could be true, and the course does not invent the explanation. The anchor names a decoration for the regiment that no witness confirms, so none is named here.

Your place on the trail

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