Black Regiment example essay topic

Glory is, without question, one of the best movies ever made about the American Civil War (a. k. a. "The War Between the States"). it is the way in which the filmmakers weave an impressively large historical tapestry without ever losing sight of the characters that make up the individual threads. Glory has important things to say, yet it does so without becoming pedantic. For the most part, the official history texts written about the Civil War ignore the participants of African Americans in the war effort. In fact, nearly 200,000 fought for the North, and, at one point, the South issued a declaration that any black man taken prisoner in a Union uniform would be summarily executed. Glory tells the story of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the "trial balloon" for black soldiers.

Commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), the regiment was comprised entirely of African Americans - some of whom were ex-slaves - willing to fight for the North. The U.S. government was undecided about how to use black soldiers. At first, the army intended to use them only for manual labor, but, later in the war, some saw combat. The Massachusetts 54th began a long and proud tradition in the United States army of black units acquitting themselves admirably on the battlefield, despite rarely being given their due by their fellow white soldiers. What began with the 54th regiment continued throughout the Civil War and through two world wars. The greatest achievement of the 54th was to prove to the army that black soldiers could be relied upon to fight with the same tenacity and patriotism as white soldiers.

Glory is the story of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment of black soldiers in the Civil War. Kevin Jarre's screenplay is based on two historical novels and the letters of the regiment's commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Shaw, played by Matthew Broderick, is the only non-fictional character in the film. It is Broderick's most mature and challenging role to date, and is the first opportunity he has had to play a character his own age. Shaw has been raised to have a progressive attitude towards blacks. However, his position of authority as regimental commander forces him to behave in a manner which could be mistaken for coldness and contempt towards the blacks under his command.

For example, a second-generation free black who is a life-long friend of Shaw enlists in the 54th. Shaw is forced to treat him as he would any other enlisted man, which means that his friend needs to request permission in advance to speak to Shaw. Broderick plays this dual nature of the role very well, and the audience never loses sight of the true self beneath the commander's exterior. Denzel Washington plays Trip, a runaway slave who joins the 54th. His performance is a masterpiece of barely controlled energy and emotional intensity. Trip undergoes the most dramatic growth in the film, from a bitter, resentful troublemaker to the standard bearer of the regiment.

Denzel Washington's turn as Trip is very, very good and certainly deserving of an award - but more impressive still is Andre Braugher, in what was his first film role. As Thomas Searles, a Black man every bit as educated and even more unprepared for harsh realities than the white Shaw, his emotional range as he undergoes the pain and indignities of learning to becoming a soldier are heart-wrenching. The always-underrated Cary Elves plays Shaw's friend and second-in-command Major Forbes, who starts out as a rich party boy but shows true compassion and strength in his dealings with his regiment. Shaw, the son of an influential abolitionist. Despite the fact that the Civil War is ostensibly being fought on their behalf, the black soldiers are denied virtually every privilege and amenity that is matter of course for their white counterparts; as in armies past and future, they are given the most menial and demeaning of tasks. Still, none of the soldiers quit the regiment when given the chance.

Slaves / Blacks during that period were consider by many whites as inferior. As it turns out, due to the 54th Regiment bravery on the battlefield, this notion of inferiority diminish. In the movie Col. Robert Shaw, a union army officer, volunteer to lead the Civil War first all-black regiment. However, his task was not easy. He experienced prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates. Even with little support from his fellow peers, Shaw was able to train a regiment into a well discipline and cohesive team.

Later on in the film, Shaw discovered that his regiment was not allowed to fight for their liberties, but later on in the movie, they were allowed to fight. In my opinion, the director is telling the story from both sides, meaning from the blacks and whites perception. Certain parts of the movie, I can see that the director is focusing on the living and training conditions of the black soldiers. This shows what the blacks were seeing. They are seeing the discrimination and the unfair treatment of their people in the union army. The part when union officers were leading a group of all black regiments to a raid at some house shows that the director is focusing on what the white soldiers think of blacks as soldiers.

In that particular part of the movie, it shows blacks soldiers acting like little kids in a candy store. After watching the movie I think the director did a fined job, it was persuasive because from my reading and listening to people about how it was like for blacks during that period and how the director projects those images in your mind out and make it a movie is unbelievable. The historical event and the movie are chronologically similar that I do not know what to compare and contrast about. As for what I have learned, I have learned that stereotypes of blacks are due to people closed-minded and unwillingness to see the good and open their minds. Many movies that mention things that are history related tend to exaggerate the truth, just to attract people to watch their movie, but Glory shows a lot of historical accuracy in its movie.

The only thing I saw that was lacking was that it did not show black confederate soldiers fighting.