What was slavery like during the Civil war?

Many slaves tried escaping from their owners, usually towards the north because that was the union while the south was the confederacy. though, slaves were used on both sides. in the south, slaves had, well, slave labor. in the north, slaves could volunteer in the military and have wage labor. they worked for the emancipation proclamation, which set 3 million black slaves free. the life of a slave was hard during the civil war, but it was alot of change as well. lots of things changed positively for them.

Slave life was very difficult with abundant hardships in the Civil War. First of all, later on in the war, there were segregated combat units. Many slaves were used for labor, or as spies against enemy targets. No one would suspect slaves would be spies because they were seen as inferior. Captured enemy slaves would be captured, or killed due to overcrowding in jails.