Glory is a movie about the 54th battalion and their fight against not only the confederate army, but the racism that surrounded them at the time. While the notion of an African American troop fighting for the union had seemed silly to some, Robert Gould Shaw had taken it upon himself to train and command them. Facing scrutiny and oppression through lower paychecks, a holdup of basic military necessities, and difficulty getting the men onto the battlefield, the 54th battalion came through in the end when Shaw volunteered their service to lead the union to Fort Wagner. One of the ways that the issue of race had played a role in Glory is the substantially lower pay that the 54th battalion had received as opposed to any other white battalion. Making 3 dollars less than that of a white soldier, the 54th battalion protested by tearing up their paychecks under the premise that all men should be equal. Aside from the fact that along with the lower pay, they had to pay for supplies with their own money, racism holds strong influence …show more content…
It was not until the soldiers were far into their training, and Colonel Gould Shaw started throwing fits until they had received essentials such as uniforms and shoes. Shoes were possibly the most important item because the men had to go through extensive training, which would often leave their feet battered, cut, and damaged when they had no shoes to protect them. Even though Shaw had put in multiple requests for them, it was not shipped in a reasonable amount of time. This was most definitely linked with race due to the Quartermaster’s views about how the 54th battalion was a joke, implying that this was a similar case among other higher ranking officials in the military during that time. Illustrated through Shaw’s struggle to obtain basic military supplies for his men, the issue of discrimination by race is seen in most of the