Black Regiment The Union example essay topic

"We Went Down Standing Up" Glory is a movie about the fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment in the civil war. This was the first all black regiment the Union ever allowed to fight. Throughout the movie one quote kept proving itself true, "We went down standing up". The members of the fifty-fourth proved that they wanted to go down standing up just by joining the army.

However there were many situations that proved this further, as the film continued. During the regiment's training period a message arrived at the camp. This message was a warning that all blacks found by confederates would be put to death, as well as their commanding officers. As a result of this warning Colonel Shaw was accepting any soldier's resignations on the following morning. That morning Shaw was not expecting to see very many soldiers remaining, but to his surprise most all of the men were still there. With this act the men illustrated great bravery, and a willingness to take a stand for their beliefs.

Another example of the quote occurred in the black regiment's training camp. Soldiers were supposed to be paid thirteen dollars a month, but due to the fact that the regiment was black, they were to be paid only ten dollars. The soldiers refused to accept the pay cut and the prejudice that came along with it. They simply went without pay. They may have suffered an injustice by not getting any money for their services, but they would rather not have the money if it meant taking the racism that came along with it. The fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment volunteered to be the first to move into Fort Wagner.

The regiment would be vastly outnumbered in such a battle. Despite the unfortunate odds, the soldiers seemed honored to be the first into the fort. Death was extremely probable for these soldiers, but they wanted to be remembered as brave men that went down standing up. These men willingly walked into almost certain death. This proves how strongly they believed in their cause. One of the main characters was Colonel Shaw.

In the beginning of the film, Shaw played dead to escape death. In this part of the movie he was a coward. During the course of the movie Shaw grew a great deal. In the end he seemed to realize he was an equal with his men.

Colonel Shaw was killed and buried with his men, which seemed to be a symbol of equality. The Union soldiers were not the only ones to demonstrate a willingness to take a stand, the Southerners also demonstrated a great willingness to go down fighting. The Confederates had beliefs that were opposing to that of the north, but the beliefs were just as strong. The South was taking quite a chance by fighting the civil war, given the fact that they had far less men than the North.

The mere fact that the Southerners were willing to die for what they honestly believed were their rights, proves that they wanted to go down standing up. What the blacks did was a bit more remarkable than what the Southerners did, though. The people of the Union may not have respected the Southerners, but they were at least respected by other Southerners. The blacks on the other hand were not only disrespected by the Confederates, but by the Northerners as well. The blacks were willing to die for the cause of the North and the Northerners still thought them to be a lowly race. So if the blacks were still willing to fight for the cause, it shows some very strong emotions, perhaps stronger than those of the South.

The Willingness to go down standing up is really what war is all about. If there are enough people on both sides of an issue that are ready to die for their cause, there will most likely be a resulting war. Along with war comes strong emotions, and the readiness to die for one's cause is one of the strongest emotions there is.