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Colonel Shaw And African American Civil War

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Glory The 54th Massachusetts was the first regiment that allowed northern African Americans to fight the war to end slavery. This was lead by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw that came from a wealthy abolitionist family from Boston. He had dropped out of Harvard and joined the Union Army but was injured in battle at Antietam. Even though President Lincoln didn’t want them to be fighting to end slavery but wanted them to fight to prevent the disintegration of the United States, also that African Americans could not fight in the U.S. Army. On the other hand, for the abolitionist, ending the slavery was what they were fighting for and allowing the African American men was the only way it made sense to them, they believe they should help fight for their …show more content…

He did so to prove a point. The African American soldiers were getting a different pay form the rest of the Caucasian soldiers, and they wanted equality. The African American men had refused to take the check because they believe until they get the same wages as the rest of the men; they didn’t want to get paid. Colonel Shaw followed them through and refused his pay also. Colonel Shaw was a bit hesitant about being the leader of a colored men army. Not cause he was against them fight, but because a lot of the men didn’t know how to read or write, also not many knew the difference between right and left due to the lack of schooling they received. He grows to know that they are strong, and very brave men. He from there gained a lot of respect for them, and while watching the movie I felt he grow to know them as his …show more content…

I thought that the Colonel would stay alive. I also thought that the two leaders of the African American soldiers where not going to go up the hill with them. I felt very emotional when Colonel Shaw had gotten shoot and the flag holder, then the men picked the flag up right away and took it upon themselves to continue moving and fight, not only for themselves now, but also for Colonel Shaw, who had died fighting for the freedom of them. The part the affected me the most was when they throwing Colonel Shaw’s body in to the dug up ditch with the African American soldiers. This affected me because that is how he would of wanted to be buried, among his men. Also it shows a sign of equality, he was born to believe in equality and was buried with that also. Any other Caucasian man wouldn’t be buried with the other men, but Shaw was a special kind of man that stood through it all for what he believed

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