The movie Glory is the story of the first African American military unit which fought during the Civil War. This powerful story is told through the eyes of the unit’s leader, Colonel Robert Shaw. The director, Edward Zwick, uses a number of important scenes expressing growth, patriotism and leadership. Whenever there was an obstacle that the 54th regiment needed to overcome faith seemed to be the answer. Faith in their fellow man, faith in their country and faith in God. During the course of the movie, Colonel Shaw is constantly trying to confirm his loyalty and faith he has in his men. He is white and this automatically separates him from his men however, he works at filling the gap between them. The soldiers were not receiving critical supplies from the government. Colonel Shaw went to great measures to get what his men needed. Since Shaw’s father was a wealthy and well-connected man, he asked his father to act as an intermediary with the Governor and President Lincoln and intercede on his unit’s behalf. Ultimately, Colonel Shaw goes to the Quartermaster demanding his supplies and threatens to report him to the War Department. When a cart of shoes is brought back to the camp, the men flood into the scene. The pride they have with every step they take is evident. They felt they were finally being respected and had a sense of unity. The brand new army issued boots were the first shoes some of them had ever owned and gave them a sense of dignity. When the Confederates removed the fallen soldiers’ shoes before burying the men in a mass grave in the final scene, the director illustrated the symbolism of the shoes. In another telling scene, the movie depicts an example of the unity Shaw craves for his unit by telling the... ... middle of paper ... ...bed the flag and shortly after he is killed. One solider after another picked up the flag after the flag bearer falls. It demonstrated the love and dedication they had for their country even when their country at this time wasn’t showing appropriate gratitude toward the 54th regiment and all the other black men and woman. In the heat of the fight, men were color blind. Faith is found to be a very powerful and uniting theme in the movie Glory. Edward Zwick, the director, carefully layered the scenes with turmoil and calmness gradually growing the characters toward unity and faith in each other. In the last few moments of the movie we are left with the apparent impression that the 54th Regiment not only “changed the tides of the war” but also gave faith to Congress that the black man was capable of fighting the Union battle by allowing more of them to enlist.
Glathaar, Joseph T. Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers. New York: The Free Press Inc., 1990.
The book “For cause and comrades” written by James M McPherson is not one of your typical civil war books. This book is completely different than what everyone would expect, McPherson tries to explain the why of the war behind the scenes of it. He goes into great detail onto how dissects the initial reason of both sides North and South by concentrating not on battlefield tactics and leaders but what emotional and great experiences the men had to face in the battle field.
Finding a way in life can be difficult. Following that way can be even more difficult, especially when it goes against someone's origin. In Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel tells his story of what it was like to struggle through finding himself. Patel asks the question of "How can I create a society of religious pluralism?" throughout the book, and raises implications about what our children are being taught in different societies throughout the world.
Jeff Shaara’s novel, The Glorious Cause, takes the reader through the American Revolution, starting with the signing of “The Declaration of Independence” and going to Charles Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown. It also goes beyond telling a record of a historical event by putting the reader into the minds and situations of many historical figures at the time including: George Washington, Charles Cornwallis, William Howe, Nathan Hale, Nathaniel Green, Marquis de Lafayette, Benjamin Franklin, and several others. By doing this, Shaara can show perspectives from both sides of the war, and this allows the reader to fully understand the motives and decision behind the battles. This switch between characters and perspective makes The Glorious Cause
The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...
Black soldiers were among the bravest of those fighting in the Civil War. Both free Blacks in the Union army and escaped slaves from the South rushed to fight for their freedom and they fought with distinction in many major Civil War battles. Many whites thought Blacks could not be soldiers. They were slaves. They were inferior. Many thought that if Blacks could fight in the war it would make them equal to whites and prove the theory of slavery was wrong. Even though Black soldiers had to face much discrimination during the Civil War, they were willing to fight to the death for their freedom. In the movie “Glory“ the director focused on the African Americans in the north that fought in the 54th regiment led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. During the time of the Civil War, the African Americans that fought in the 54th regiment were often treated unfairly but there were always nice people that backed them up.
The ending of this battle is tragic and enlightening as well, the great idea of sneak attacks at dawn by the Confederates and the righteous timings of reinforcement by the Union, brought this story to my attention. Gathering this information brought me believe that this is a movie, a novel, but this was actual real life. Losing lives in a battle like this one bring only one thing to mind, that each side was fierce on fighting for what they believe in. No other battles before this have had this much bloodshed in less than a day, the planning done by Grant and Johnston was phenomenal. The steady mind of Johnston and the brave hearts that were under Grant is what brought this battle to what is today’s history. Working on this essay has been excellent in my learning process and I hope to be doing another one soon.
While washing off one day, Mike and Leo spotted a tattered grey cloth on the ground and snuck it back into their cell. Using soap, Mike cleaned it off to the best of his ability and went to work crushing up red roof tile and blue pills to smear on. He was even able to stitch on little stars using bamboo and thread. When the flag finished and he showed the men, they all saluted it and many began to cry. When the guards came across Mike’s treasure, he was beaten bloody. But remarkably, “He recovered in a couple of weeks and immediately started looking for another piece of cloth,” (Thorsness 109). This event is a clear demonstration of the pride each and every soldier felt for America. It demonstrated their ever growing desire for freedom. This event was significant because it reminded the men of what they were fighting for, personally and as a whole. It would be all too easy to give in, but reminders such as these kept the men
The American Civil War is perhaps the most important event in U.S. history since the American Revolution. Over half a million men would perish between the Union and Confederate Armies. It is important to know that Ulysses S. Grant was an important figure (perhaps the most important behind Abraham Lincoln) in the war. Many will see him as the hero of the American Civil War. Nevertheless there were others who would play an important role to help the Union win the Civil War. The implementation of black soldiers was crucial to the Union in order to achieve victory against the Confederate Army. Yet, the contributions and accomplishments of black soldiers during the Civil War were overlooked for nearly a century following the Civil War. However, within the last 30 years, many scholars and historians have begun to publish books on the history of black soldiers and their contributions to the Civil War. During the Civil War, free blacks were permitted to serve in the Union Army. But it was not until 1863, that black soldiers would see combat and charge against the confederate armies. It is estimated that around 186,000 African American served the Union Army throughout the war, with the creation of 163 colored regiments. My research paper will focus on the Black regiments of the American Civil War and their importance to U.S. history. Some of the important issues that will be discussed in this paper will include the struggles of black soldiers during the Civil War, from their wage earnings (where most made less money than white soldiers); the clothes they wore (most had no uniforms at all). Also, many of these soldiers had trouble getting the basic necessities like shoes, socks and soap. Other areas I will discuss will be the discriminatio...
Col. Robert Gould Shaw “It is a great pleasure to see you all here today. It is my hope that the same courage, spirit, and honor, which has brought us together, will one day restore this Union. May God bless us all.” Col. Shaw had hope that he would lead his regiment to victory. The movie Glory is a dramatic representation of the Civil Wa. Col. Shaw is tasked with the job of training the first African-American regiment for war. The men went through intense training fortunately when the men went to battle they proved themselves victorious. Thomas faces many challenges with other, society, and themselves.
The military since the Colonial Era has been an impetus for social reform in the United States. The Revolutionary War afforded Black Americans an opportunity to escape from the toils of slavery and fight for freedom. Some Black Americans even earned their freedom by fighting for the Colonists, but still the freedom they fought for wasn’t their own. However, the military was responsible for the freedom of many slaves and some of these freed slaves became legendary soldiers like Salem Poor. His performance in battle gave credibility for future arguments about blacks being allowed to serve.
General Lee knows that we have inexperienced men and aims at improving the quality of the troops. He upgrades the quality by tightening command and discipline, improving morale, and convincing the soldiers that the confederacy was in full command of the situation. Lee knew that we are lacking, and devised initiatives to nullify the Union’s superiority in manpower, armaments, and supply by destroying their prearranged plans.
The movie “Glory” tells the history and the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. It became the first black regiment to fight for the North in the Civil War. The Regiment was made up of black soldiers – some were Northern freemen, some were escaped slaves. The leader was General Robert Gould Shaw, the son of Boston abolitionists. The men of the 54th Regiment proved themselves worthy of the freedom for which they fighting, and the respect of their fellow white soldiers.
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
Director Peter Berg based this movie off of Marcus luttrell the survivor of Operation Red Wings. This powerful war film features actor Mark Walberg who portrays the real life situation of Marcus Lutrell. The movie is centered on patriotism and the struggles that the soldiers faced. Peter Berg displays the mental and physical suffering that soldiers go through during battle. The film begins with troops training preforming exercises, drills, and tests that regular individuals could not imagine. The beginning of the film is an important part in setting the tone that is seen throughout the movie. The producer sets the film up in a realistic manner that showcases morality, brotherhood, and honor.