This film is about the 54th Massachusetts, set during the Civil War. Edward Zwick was the Director of this film. This instant classic was produced in 1989 and a crew of well-known actors as it stars Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman. Glory follows the personal letters of the events that Robert Shaw went through during his time in the Civil War. This film follows the life of five men during this time, Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick) who commands the 54th Mass, Private Trip (Denzel Washington), Private Jupiter Sharts, Corporal Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher), and Sergeant Major John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). Glory follows the personal letters of Robert Shaw and in his letters they begin to tell the story of how African Americans in his unit are undisciplined and are eventually turned into a fighting force. Sergeant Major Mulcahy is brought into the unit to teach the men discipline and makes them train for hours on end. COL. Shaw sees the amount of work that these men have done and convinces his commanders with blackmail that his men should be transferred to a combat unit to be given the chance to prove themselves. When their transfer was finally approved, they are tested with their first major battle to go through, at James Island in Charleston, South Carolina. Since Shaw was in command of mostly African American’s, his soldiers were heavily mocked and tormented by the white Union Soldiers; however after the battle of James Island, the white Union soldiers gave them the respect that any other soldier would receive. As the 54th Mass marched to Fort Wagner Shaw and most of his men were killed during the battle. The film Glory followed the life of Robert Shaw and Fredrick Douglass as they were the only two characters, based on real people. Though Fredrick Douglass has a minor role in this film, this is because we only see him through the eyes of Shaw after he introduces Douglass to command the regiment. Fredrick Douglass was treated with historical accuracy since he is introduced as an escaped slave who was an abolitionist, which is true. The other character based on a real person is Robert Shaw, who is the main character. In the movie, Shaw is introduced as a young man born in Boston to an abolitionist family hurt in the Battle of Antietam. Throughout the movie, we see how he commands the regiment and how his views and beliefs about the African American men change. He initially thought that the men would not succeed but as he realizes that they are capable of winning, he marches his men even closer to the fort. During the attack of Fort Wagner, Shaw is shot and killed while trying to lead his men forward; these scenes in the movie were all historically accurate since they were based on the letters Shaw wrote himself. The Battle of Antietam, the battle of James Island and the attack of Fort Wagner are the three battles that are in the movie. The Battle of Antietam in history is known as the most brutal and bloody battle in the Civil War. This is clearly shown in the movie, through hundreds of cannons, men shooting, and gory scenes with arms and heads falling off. In the end of the battle, the ground was filled with dead and wounded soldiers. The battle of James Island was small a scene in the movie where the men drive back Confederates, but are then overwhelmed and defeated by the second wave of confederates. The Battle of Fort Wagner was the final test of the African American soldiers and was shown accurately, in great detail. The battle was brutal, which showed the fort to be invincible. The bravery on both sides, the determination of the men, the death of Shaw and the failed attack, which resulted in great causalities, was also accurate in the movie. The battle, still had minor inaccuracies thought, like the battle began at daylight, while in history it began at dusk. The movie also, only shows confederates firing from Fort Wagner, but in reality, Confederates were also shooting from Fort Sumter and Moultrie too.

The movie was set during the Civil war (1861 to 1865) and mostly took place in the training camps low in supplies and shelter. This was accurate because most camps during the Civil war had little or no supplies until the government created the United States Sanitary Commission. The time span in the movies covers about two years from when Shaw is invited to command the regiment (1862) to when Shaw and his men die in the Battle of Fort Wagner (1864). I think that most of the props in the movie were historically accurate. The guns and canons were similar to those used in the Civil War and the houses were also spread apart with acres of land behind them, this makes sense because most southern farmers had a great amount of land back then. I think that the clothes the African American men wore were very accurate. This is because, most of those men have been beaten and have escapes, so they have tattered clothes, which partially shows what they have been through. The movie was an interesting film that was developed through five different perspectives. Even though this film lacked some realism with some of the scenes or the characters, this film still had a lot of historically accurate battle scenes. The segregation and conflicts between African Americans and whites Union soldiers was clear in the movies because most of the African American men were all segregated and beaten. Weaknesses include that the movie lacked a proper introduction to the characters and what was going on in the Civil War, but it slightly jumped in to the Battle of Antietam. This added an intense and interesting beginning, but people may have been unsure about the situation and could have been confused. The actors all portrayed their characters very well, especially Matthew Broderick who seemed bold and caring in the movie like Shaw. Morgan Freeman played the wise man, Denzel Washington (the troubled escaped slave) and Andrea Bragher(cowering man). Even though they were not based on real characters, they portrayed their characters very well. The introduction was a bit vague, because the movie starts with the Battle of Antietam and does not say anything about the Civil War. I think that the battles went by too quickly and didn’t give the viewer ample time to understand what was going on. Most of the other generals were stereotyped roles because during the Civil War or at least during the film, most of the men were thought to be racist, so they did not give Shaw or his men the time of day. The rounded characters were the main characters. Shaw and the four African American men had their own opinions and beliefs, which characterized them every well. The story builds up to a logical climax with the Battle of Fort Wagner through a series of smaller battles and a lot of time used preparing for the final battle. This film held my interest uniformly because there were constant problems arousing. I was also interested in how the characters reacted and how Shaw controlled or solved the problem, like the lack of shoes of the mocking white soldiers. I do not think the movie would have been done any differently, because the movie was based on Shaw’s letter, which would still be the same and it would still have the same impact. The only thing that would have been different in the battle, which could have been more realistic if they had the same technology that we have now, but other than that I think that everything else would be the same. The film made me more aware of our history, because it showed me how brutal the Civil War was. It also made me realize that the African American men were very determined to serve their country, because the conditions they had to serve under were not easy. I think an introduction to the Civil War would have made it better. People watching this film would have a greater sense about what was going on in the film. Also, some scene about the Emancipation Proclamation would have explained the viewed where all these African American men came from and why they wanted to fight all of a sudden. I would recommend this movie to another student. This is because the movie gives us a visual about the Civil War and the conditions and casualties that the northerners and African American men had to go through to ultimately win the Civil War.

Reference and Citation

The Battle of Antietam. (). Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/upload/Battle%20history.pdf http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/pdfs_and_docs/documents/WillIorWontIColonelRobertGouldShaw54thMassachusettsRegiment.html Emilio, C. L. (1995). A Brave Black Regiment. : Da Capo Press.