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Fighting For The Freedom Of Others Essay

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Fighting for the Freedom of Others: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment

Were the soldiers in the 54th Massachusetts regiment treated with the respect they deserved while fighting for the freedom of America? Or were they still treated poorly by the white men, even though they were fighting for their sake? Though the reason for the war was freedom for America, the outcome would have little effect on how the black men would be treated. They would still be slaves to the other men, and they would not have all of the rights any white man would have. There is little room to argue with the fact that they were not treated as they should have been during their service after reading the journal of their leader, Colonel Robert Shaw. Yet, through the hardships …show more content…

They were lead by a man named Robert Shaw, a 25 year old who had previously fought in other Revolutionary War battles. He was the son of wealthy abolitionist activists. When the regiment went to training camp there were more than 1,000 black men ready to serve the country as soldiers. Many of them were from other states, such as Ohio, New York, and Indiana. They joined the Massachusetts regiment because their states didn’t have black regiments of their own at the time. Two of the most famous men that enlisted in the regiment were Charles and Lewis Douglass, who were two of Frederick Douglass’ sons. The men were enthusiastic about fighting for their country, and worked just as hard if not harder than the other American soldiers, but still were not treated fairly. Though they were fighting for America, they were not treated as true Americans in the way they were respected, paid, and taken care …show more content…

The first “battle” they took part in was not a battle at all. They took part in the destruction of the town of Darien, Georgia. It was a town that had no military guarding it, and was simple to destroy, but there was no good reason for the men to waste their time destroying such an unimportant town. This frustrated Shaw immensely, because he wanted his soldiers to fight for freedom and justice, not to destroy towns that had no significance in the outcome of the war. He felt that once again his troops were being treated unfairly because of their color. They were willing to fight, but the officers in command wouldn’t let them take part in the “real” battles. After this incident Shaw requested that his men lead the next Union

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Glory, a movie directed by Edward Zwickis, is the story of the formation and growing of the Massachusetts 54th, a union volunteer infantry composed only of black persons and commanded by the officer Robert t. Shawn, who after having fought and being hurt at the battle of Antietam is chosen by Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew to do the job. This movie based of some of the real Robert Shawn's writings, gives a realistic view of what Shawn and the members infantry went through as they became members of the army and until the battle of fort Wagner. Through the movie for example were are able to see Shawn's struggle to learn to deal with his infantry, to start empathizing with them and overcoming the gap that existed between them to be able to help them to

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In the beginning of the occurrence Shaw Initially only took the the command of the 54th regiment to satisfy his mother and father. Shaw

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Its countless moving and unforgettable scenes that capture the Civil war spirt makes Glory one of the most loved war movies. Glory tells the story of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Civil War. This was the first military unit made up of black troops organized in the North by the Union government (“54th Regiment”). Commanded by Colonel Shaw, they led the assault against Fort Wagner on Morris Island (“The 54th”). They suffered heavy losses; almost half of their members were killed, wounded, or captured (“The 54th”).

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The British controlled the center of the town, which was called the Charleston, and the patriots controlled the surrounding area. This chapter also talks about the troops that were set up in Boston. The American soldiers didn’t have a really neat or set up camp which caused them to have allotted of diseases. General Israel Putman was one of the bravest hero’s of the Bunker Hill battle. McCullough mentions that there are African American on both sides of the war with patriots and some with the British with the promise for freedom Washington had to deal with many problems with the army such as the enlistments, pay and more which resulted in fewer soldiers coming for war.

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Glory The movie Glory is a story about white and black soldiers who are in the North fighting for slavery against slavery in the South and them learning how to love one another. It tells about the different privileges that the white soldiers had as opposed to the black soldiers and what they all had to go through during the war times. There were many racial conflicts that these soldiers had to go through and many people were prejudiced against the 54th regiment because they all had different colored skin. Back then many white people were used to people with different colored skin working as slaves.

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After that he realized to get there respect he needed to show it to them. Slowly he gains respect of the soldiers and the officers by getting them new supplies like shoes, uniforms and refused to take the payment they offered him because the soldiers were going to get paid lower than the white men. Shaw’s leadership skills have changed from the beginning, to a strong and brave leader as he lead his regiment to the final battle to the front line. The regiment view of Shaw has changed to him receiving full respect from his soldiers, and a strong leader you lead the first Colored regiment in the civil

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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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In the battle scene, the 54th is pinned down and taking massive amounts of enemy fire, and yet none of the soldiers are making any sort of move to fight back. Their comrades are dying all around them, but the men simply lie there in the sand covering their heads. Thus it falls to Colonel Robert Shaw to be the beacon of courage for his men in order to lead them to glory. While the movie is undoubtedly about the struggles of the African American men of the 54th, it cannot be overlooked that at every turn they require guidance and mercy from their benevolent white colonel. It would be unrealistic for a company of African American men to accomplish what they did in the Civil War without Shaw’s help, but it is still worth noting that in some ways this feels largely like movies where the white man comes to save the savages (e.g. Dances With Wolves, Avatar, The Last Samurai).

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