Glory (1989) directed by Edward Zwick depicts the struggle of the first Black regiment and how white men such as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw stood with them in their struggle for equity. Colonel Shaw acted by Matthew Broderick takes the audience with him on journey of transform from a naïve boy to a pre-adult and finally manhood and through his eyes the audience understands the internal and external struggles of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. The movie opens with a naive Shaw who believes in the equality of all men as promised in the Declaration of Independence. The first scene opens with Shaw and his company marching to Antietam. He is very enthusiastic about being in the military and his strong belief about why their fighting.
Robert Gould Shaw was a son of wealthy Boston abolitionists. At 23 he enlisted to fight in the war between the states. The movie opens by Robert reading one of many letters he writes home. He is captain of 100 Union soldiers most of whom are older than himself. He speaks of the spirit of his men and how they are enthusiastic about fighting for their country just like the men in The Revolutionary war only this time they were fighting to give blacks freedom and to live in a United country where all can speak and live freely.
"; (Quarles 7) African Americans were active on and off the battlefield, they personified the goal freedom, the reason for the war being fought by the Colonies and British. The African Americans were stuck in the middle of a war between white people. Their loyalty was not to one side or another, but to a principle, the principle of liberty. Benjamin Quarles' book, The Negro in the American Revolution, is very detailed in explaining the importance of the African American in the pre America days, he shows the steps African Americans took in order to insure better lives for generations to come. ;America's first war, its war for independence from Great Britain was a great accomplishment.
In another telling scene, the movie depicts an example of the unity Shaw craves for his unit by telling the... ... middle of paper ... ...bed the flag and shortly after he is killed. One solider after another picked up the flag after the flag bearer falls. It demonstrated the love and dedication they had for their country even when their country at this time wasn’t showing appropriate gratitude toward the 54th regiment and all the other black men and woman. In the heat of the fight, men were color blind. Faith is found to be a very powerful and uniting theme in the movie Glory.
Anthony J. Mitchell Summer 2002 U.S. Since 1865 History 2063 AFRICAIN AMERICAINS IN WORLD WAR I Before WORLD WAR I, military service represented a source of black pride. Black educators, clergymen, and the press frequently referred to Negro heroes of America’s past wars. After the Civil War, the U.S, Army maintained four regular Negro regiments –the 9th and 10th Calvary and the 24th and 25th Infantry. These units included veterans of the civil war and the frontier Indian fighting regiments.
Despite the few inadequacies in the film, Glory is a wonderful film depicting the personal experiences of the colored troops and the fight to abolish slavery between the North and the South. This film tells us the story about the regiment from the beginning of their training until their actual participation in the battle.
Courage: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery (Dictionary). Throughout the Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming, a young farm boy who fought for the Union, went out on the battlefield and battled his way to victory with his fellow soldiers. Henry held a prodigious amount of courage throughout the Civil War. Fleming's courageous tasks eventually paid off, by being promoted to lead one of the last battles. The courageous defeats against the Confederate soldiers resulted to the end of the Civil War and the victorious Union soldiers who can now go home to their families.
In 1864, the President of the United States, Mr. Abraham Lincoln wrote a statement concerning the black troops enlisted in the U.S army. With the sympathy of the president, this is what was written: The black soldiers in the Civil war had so heroically vindicated their manhood on the battlefield where, in assisting to save the life of the republic, they have demonstrated in blood their right to the ballot…." (Cashin and others 1969 p.i) This message was the forthcoming of a new perception of the black man. With the help of President Lincoln, the black man felt that they were on their way to freedom and equality. However, after the assassination of the "Great Emancipator" the black man’s hopes and dreams seemed to fade faster than they were built up.
Glory is mainly about men with struggles that have to overcome their torments in order to end the Civil War. It took time and strength but the colored regiment became just as good as any white one. Corporal Thomas Searles, Major Cabot Forbes, and Private Trip all fought for what they believed in even at the time of their last breathes something they would have never done at the beginning of the movie. Private Trip undergoes a change from being rude to everyone in the regiment to a man that learns to love his regiment and is willing to endure anything to fight. In the scene where the men are praising ... ... middle of paper ... ...han others and when the man holding the flag fell he ran to the rescue and was brave enough to keep moving forward.
A very important aspect of Blacks proving themselves was that of the Black Man acting as a soldier in the Civil War. During the Civil War the official decision to use Blacks as soldiers in the Union Army was a slow gradual process and a series of strategic political decisions. The actual use of Blacks as soldiers in the Union Army was completed by a series of actions the Black Man performed that won him the respect of becoming a soldier. The two differ in that it was to President Lincoln's benefit to enlist Blacks as soldiers when he did. Whereas the later was the Black Man's will to fight for his freedom and prove himself as an equal human being.