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African American Military Units Of The Union Army In The Film Glory

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“Glory” is a war drama about one of the first African American military units of the Union Army, during the Civil War. More specifically, this film is about the 54th regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, told in the perspective of Col. Robert Shaw, the white commanding officer. Col. Shaw is an abolitionist who, along with Cabot Forbes, leads a group of ex slaves, servants and other black volunteers in the Union Army including runaway slave Trip, Shaw’s [educated] childhood friend Thomas, and a former grave digger Rawlins. Throughout the movie, these men face hardships from the racist Union Army and struggle to prove themselves worthy. After months of difficult training, issues with inadequate supplies and lower pay, the 54th regiment …show more content…

In the online text it states, “The commitment to the Civil War as a white man’s war was entrenched, and many white northerners opposed the initial attempts to enlist black troops,” (Hine, 11.4). This was shown in movie by numerous white people who made racist comments and opposed the 54th regiment because it was an African American regiment. The online text and the class lectures both described black men volunteering for the war, some even escaped slavery to volunteer. Though in the point of view of Shaw, this story is basically centered around these group of men who volunteered to enlist in the war. The online text actually mentions the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, which is what this film is based on. “…. free black men in the North enlisted in what would become the most famous black unit, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment,” (Hine, 11.4.4). Another parallel between the movie and the online text, is in the next section (Hine, 11.4.5), it talks about how black soldier had to confront discrimination. The white northerners did not accept the presence of black troops, and many only tolerated the troops because they preferred black men dying than white men. This section also mentions that black soldiers ended up receiving a lower pay, so the 54th Massachusetts Regiment refused to accept pay until it was equal, which was shown in the

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The opportunity was given to Shaw to lead the first ever all negro repentant the 54th Massachusetts. COl. War changes people, as exemplified by the characters in the movie Glory. The trials and tribulations of fighting the enemy can change even the hardest of hearts. Colonel Shaw in the movie Glory perspective changed tremendously throughout the movie.

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He moved and encouraged his men to begin a boycott of the wages on paydays until black and white soldiers earned equal pay (Hickman). Therefore it was historically inaccurate for Glory to show the soldiers as the ones who began the

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What does the Union assault scene at the beginning of the movie tell you about the ferocity of modern combat during the Civil War? War during the time period of the American Civil War was particularly brutal. When the union soldiers attempt to attack the entrenched confederate soldiers they try tunneling beneath them to detonate several kegs of gunpowder. When the actual assault begins, Inman is witness to one of his fellow soldiers being stabbed fatally with a bayonet.

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Leaders of the Lost Cause New Perspectives on the Confederate High Command is a two hundred and ninety four page book edited by Gary W. Gallagher and Joseph T. Glatthaar. In 2004 it was published by STACKPOLEBOOKS. This book is a collection of essays that describes eight Confederate generals. In this collection of essays the reader is presented with a new perspective concerning the decisions and lives of these eight Confederate generals. In this book the reader learns that without each general making the careful decisions they did the life many Americans know today many not exist.

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Private Trip, who is played by Denzel Washington, was a runaway slave from Tennessee. He was a very arrogant and complex man who was constantly searching to fights. He tried to get into fights with Thomas due to his hatred to him and due to his education and privileges he had. From the start of the movie, his anger and his resentment of the white men was usually taken out on his fellow soldiers. There were even cases that he would start fights with the white soldiers because they would say the 54th would have no chance to fight in the field and he knew he was tougher than other men he served with.

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The 54th Massachusetts Infantry(Colored), commanded by COL Robert G. Shaw, was chosen to lead the attack on Fort Wagner. While not the first major engagement by a colored regiment, the decision to push the 54th as the lead advance unit was a first time this happened since the formation of all-colored units. The heart and effort showed by the 54th proved inspirational to friendly units and positively affected the efforts of Union forces. The Union forces suffered substantial casualties during the initial charge on the fort, but did not let that deter them and they eventually scaling the slopes and breaching the fort walls. As forces continued to move into the fort, and many hand-to-hand battles ensued, the numbers pointed towards a sure victory for the Union forces.

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This style of working from the lowest position to a more respectable one was the exact reason why this was was seen as an opportunity by black Americans. The war was a sudden chance to improve their standing in the society they lived

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Glory The movie “Glory” tells the story of the transformation of an oppressed people to proud people. The movie glory tells the history of the 54th Massachusetts infantry. It became the first black regiment to fight in the north in the civil war. Black soldiers, northern freeman, and some escaped slaves made up the Regiment. The leader was General Robert Gould Shaw, the son of Boston abolitionists.

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The character core such as Trip, Thomas and John Rawlins showed why black soldiers were proud to be apart of the union army and were ready and willing to stand for what they believed. The racism of both Union and Confederate troops which was displayed throughout the movie with examples such as the letter sent from the Confederate President Davies stating that all black troops that were captured would be put in slavery or killed likewise there commanding officers would be hanged, or when the Union army did not pay them the military standard 13.00 dollars and stated that the money was being deducted for their uniforms the men refused to take inadequate pay and in a show of unity Shaw and his officers refused their pay to show their solidarity which was one of the powerful

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We are fully armed, and equipped, have done all the various duties pertaining to a Soldier’s life…” (Gooding, 221). The blood of his fellow man has stained the ground that protected Union, so they deserve to be paid as equals to those of a lighter skin. Time after time, before and during the war, black men were refused the privilege to fight for their nation. Now that their country needs them most, the question remains as to why they are not equally treated and rewarded as others who fight for the same thing.

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In this document, African Americans impacted the war due to the amount of deaths and casualties which was about 30,000. " Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States." (Frederick Douglass) This quote states that once an African American begins to fight he is a citizen. It tells us once a black man is a soldier there is no doubt he has earned his citizenship.

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The whites would call out African Americans by saying racist things and not accept them more than slaves. Also, they were beaten by the British soldiers. Along with that, the British soldiers “burned and looted, and pulled down the houses of free blacks who underbid their labor in the area.” (Nash

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Suppressed. Marginalized. Segregated. While the valiant military unit receives most of their laudatory reputation from the color of their dark skin in the contrasting pale field of soldiers, their story of overcoming the suppression, marginalization, and segregation should hold center stage. Before 1940, African Americans had a very low attendance in any branch of the military because of the ubiquitous segregation and an influence of pessimistic stories such as the 67-page report title The Use of Negro Manpower in the War which depicted the men with harsh stereotypes implying their ineptness and lack of ability.

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A young soldier wrote a letter to the NAACP “ If I fight, suffer, or die it will be for the freedom of every black man to live equally with other races. If the life of the Negro in the United States is right as it is lived today, then I would rather be dead” (Takaki 23). Camp conditions for black soldiers were degrading, they could not go to church services, and other training programs were segregated. Despite these conditions, African Americans contributed significantly to the war effort with support work and had some of the toughest battalions, including the well-respected 99th Pursuit Squadron and 332nd Fighter Group.

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