Glory Movie Analysis

With this knowledge Congress passed Major General Benjamin F. Butler quick thinking into a policy, the First Confiscation Act, in August of 1861 which stated that the federal government had authority to seize any property owned by the Confederates which included slaves. By March the following year, an Article of War was produced which prohibited any military or naval services from returning run-away or fugitive slaves to their respective masters, nullifying the Fugitive Acts all together. When the Second Confiscation Act was announced in July of 1862 it “declared ‘forever free’ Confederate-owned slaves who made their way to federal lines or who resided in rebellious territory that fell to federal forces” (Luke and Smith 2014, 14). Also in the bill, was the legitimisation of the “president to utilise ‘persons of African descent’ in any way that he considered ‘necessary and proper for the suppression of the rebellion’” (Luke and Smith 2014, 14). Thus the Militia Act of July 1862, which “gave Lincoln carte blanche” (Luke and Smith 2014, 14) to make use of black resources. Although these acts were issued with the intention of blacks serving as military labour it gave way to many possibilities.

Glory expressed the challenging journey of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-black infantry, headed by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. The movie displayed the prejudice and trials the regiment faced as they prepared to fight in the Civil War. At first they were only used for menial labor, but they later were remembered as brave and courageous for their valiant

Why is the movie called Glory? Is it really glory? I strongly believe not only is the movie glory itself, but the characters represent the idea of glory throughout the movie as well. Glory is a high rank of honor, which involves tireless amounts of work to get to. Not only did the characters in the movie represent the movie well, but portrayed the Civil War in a proud manner as well. There are many characters that represent glory, but there are three that stand out among the rest. Those characters are Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, Corporal Thomas Searles, and Sergeant Major John Rawlins.

The movie called “Glory” is a historical military based story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. In the movie “Glory” we see the struggle of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who is the main character of this movie, and the supporting cast, being his regiment of African Americans recruited to become soldiers during the Civil War. “Glory”, however, Is not just a movie. It is based off of real life events in history during our Civil War, where the African Americans took their first step towards gaining respect, and freedom from oppression.

Eventually, the treatment of African Americans that Harper so vehemently is against in her poem and Whitehead writes about in his novel sends the United States into a Civil War. Eleven southern states formed the Confederate States of America in which they fought a devastating four year war against the United States. The Civil War drastically changed the treatment of African Americans. The movie Glory is evidence of this. Glory is a civil war movie about the first African American regiment in the United States military. Their commander-Colonel Robert Gould Shaw- is white. The movie details the triumphs and hardships of the regiment, who at first seem to have trouble with one another and their commander, but grow to form a bond of camaraderie. The movie shows just how much hope the African American men have for their country because while they were in the army they were given no good reasons to feel as if they were Americans. They were mistreated by the white regiments and subject to worse conditions. The white men don't’ believe their capabilities, so they do not fight. Eventually their commander tells army officials , “ There's character. There's strength of heart. You should have seen us in action two days ago. We were a sight to see!” (Zwick). This leads the military to ask the regiment to lead a charge on Fort Wagner, a charge they know to be a death sentence. The most touching part of this scene is that these men are not one bit afraid to die for their country. Their

When the 54th is marching south, they run into a regiment of white soldiers, and a quarrel breaks out between Private Trip and some of the white men. Rawlins steps in to stop the fight and one of the white men is about to be disciplined, but Rawlins says that there is no need. This scene is displays the harsh criticism the 5th received, even from their own side, but it also gives a halo effect to Rawlins, who could have easily said nothing, and watched the soldier get punished. Later on down the road the 54th meets up with Colonel James Montgomery, the colonel of another all black regiment. In the movie Montgomery was a racist and didn’t discipline his men at all. While the real Montgomery was noted to have discipline issues, the movie probably took it way out of hand, Montgomery even shoots one of his men for misbehaving. Montgomery later takes the 54th “to see some action”, which actually meant looting and setting fire to a town of innocents. In the movie, Montgomery threatens Shaw to set fire to the town by saying he’ll take command of the 54th if he doesn’t follow orders, so Shaw reluctantly orders the town to be burned. Shaw writes of this event in his letters, stating “the civilian population of women and children were fired upon, forced from their homes, their possessions looted, and the town burned.” Shaw also noted, "On the way up, Montgomery threw several shells

In the beginning, many refugee slaves found by Union Military were returned to their lives in the south, but through policy changes and leadership decisions they were put to work in many ways including serving in the Union Army. Lincoln quickly recognized the power the newly recruited slaves provided to the Army. At the same time, this also pressured the President to hold true to his promise of emancipation. “If they stake their lives for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive…the promise of freedom. And the promise being made must be kept” (McPherson pg.8)

As Confederates used slave labor for military purposes and blacks began to escape to Union lines, this initial policy of ignoring slavery became untenable. By the end of 1861, Union commanders had begun treating escaped slaves as “contraband” of war—property of military value subject to confiscation. Southern blacks themselves took actions that propelled the Union toward ending slavery. Well before Lincoln’s Emancipation Act, slaves saw the war as an opportunity to gain their freedom. Thousands escaped to the safety of Union lines, crippling many plantations. In areas occupied by northern soldiers, slaves refused to work unless paid.

About 180,000 African American people comprised 163 units that served in the Union Army, during the time of the Civil War, and many more African American people had served in the Union Navy. Both the free African-Americans and the runaway slaves had joined the fight. On the date of July 17, in the year of 1862, the U. S. Congress had passed two very important acts that would allow the enlistment of many African Americans, but the official enrollment had occurred only after the September, 1862, issuance of the, Emancipation Proclamation. In general, most white soldiers and officers, had believed that most of the black men, who had served in the Civil War, lacked the courage, and the will to fight

Glory is the story of Civil War Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who leads the war's first all-black volunteer regiment the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry into battles and discovers along the way he has to confront the moral question of racial prejudice inside and outside of his regimen. Colonel Shaw was the commander of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, also known as the Massachusetts “Fighting” Fifty-fourth, which was a position he has been thrown into and felt that he may not be fit for the job. At first Shaw was a little cowardly, during the battle, bomb fragments almost hit him and he passed out. He later seems guilty and not very motivated, but with the help of his friend Forbes and some time, Shaw turns himself into the leader that his men need. At the end Colonel Shaw’s courage shows when he volunteers to be the leading regiment in the assault on Fort Wagner and then during battle he forges on when the battle seems to a lost cause.

The Civil War, a period of four years in the United States filled with bloody combat, thousands of casualties, and the destruction of much of Southern infrastructure. Although the Civil War had various causes (economy, politics, etc.), it mainly originated from the pressing issue of slavery at the time, mainly its expansion into the Western territories. As we all know, slavery was one of the most horrific times in our nation’s history, yet it was a typical and normal thing for the people of the 19th century. The film, Glory (1989), directed by Edward Zwick, doesn’t necessarily depict the horrors of slavery, however it does show 19th century America’s attitude toward African Americans, as well as the average African American’s hunger for

The film Glory by Edward Zwick is one of the most well-known films of all time. The film itself is solely based upon the first formal unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War which consist of all African American men. They were essentially the very first unit of United States Colored Troops. They were formally known for their courageous attempts to and actions at Fort Wagner in 1863. The film is set in many different locations such as New York, Maryland, South Carolina and Massachusetts. In each of these different locations events took place that shaped our history. For example on November twenty seventh of 1862 Robert Shaw started to train soldiers. July eighteenth 1863 the Colonel Shaw and his troops attempted to take Fort Wagner, which didn’t succeed.

Today’s society mainly focuses on the macro level of social structure, for functionalism. Macro means looks at large-scale social processes, such as social stability and change. Macrosociology also has to do with face to face interactions. In glory road, the basketball team goes through a big change, when the first black team to ever play college basketball. In the movie glory Road, the basketball team is mixed between white and blacks. The rest of the league really do not like the change, and they go through a series of events where the team and the coach have to stick together, and keep finding a way to win and not fall apart. When the coach decided to put the black people on the team, some of the white players did not like it at all, but other white players did like having more talent on the team. The white kids that did not like the black players on the team, was because they were worried of the black people taking their spot on the team. Some of the white people did have a good face to face interaction, but a good amount felt threatened. When watching this movie you could have watched the functions of society (white and Black people) change when you mix the two together. (Durkheim 2013).

Slavery in America was the biggest issue that face the country that some people had a different opinions. People from the South agreed on having slavery because they will benefit from letting someone freely to make money from their in their fields. Lincoln, most of the northern population and also abolitionist opposed slavery. They were horrified about the south treatments of the slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation allowed to enslaved slaves in the confederate territory to be free and was ordered to be in the army while being treated free. The slaves saw their potential freedom when the Emancipation Proclamation was approved the slaves saw it as a potential war of abolition. The African American Troops from the movie

In the class, History through film and Cinema, we watched three films. Of these three films, I have chosen two of them to debate about. The films I chose were Glory and Twelve Years a Slave. These particular movies really spoke to me, and showed me what it really was like back then. They showed me what the people had to fight for and go through to gain their freedom. History in general, is a huge part of who we all are today. Without our own people serving in this war, our lives would be completely different. Come and see how alike and different these films really are, and how they portray our own country’s history.