Glory: historical and cultural significance

Music Concert

The Movie "Glory"

The movie "Glory" is my favorite war film for many reasons. In this paper I will point out the qualities in this film, what it portrays, its accuracy and its political and social message.

"Glory" -- How Accurate Was the Film?

The thing that stands out for me in this film is the irony that while the Civil War was fought over state's rights -- the right of a Southern state to have slavery -- and of course slavery, the Union Army featured a regiment made up of African-Americans, former slaves. They were fighting against the army that wanted to keep them slaves.

Was there really a regiment of black soldiers fighting for the North? The fact is that there was indeed a 54th Massachusetts Regiment and they did fight for the North, as is presented by the Massachusetts Historical Society. Prior to 1863, there had not been an effort to put together a unit of black soldiers, but when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln (in December, 1862) it gave Massachusetts the "…impetus for the use of free black men as soldiers" (www.masshist.org).

There was controversy within the state of Massachusetts because some questioned the ability of freed slaves to fight in a "white man's war"; but the state put ads in newspapers and recruiting posters and got a total of 72 recruits at the end of one week. Still, more men were needed so the recruitment expanded to other states and to Canada and by may 14, 1863, one thousand freed slaves were trained (with white officers) (www.masshist.org).

"Glory" -- What Message does it try to convey?

The overall message of this film is that for the Union Army and the North, the end of slavery was near and in order to beat the Confederate Army, to end slavery in the South, and to keep the nation intact, all the resources available must be put to use. In this case the resource was an army regiment of black men. Denzel Washington won a Supporting Actor Oscar for his wonderful depiction of a runaway slave named Trip, and Morgan Freeman was brilliant in his portrayal of a sergeant. And while those parts in the movie were partially fictional, it made honest, historically valid points. In fact Matthew Broderick played the role of Col. Robert Gould Shaw, and this was a true representation of an actual Union Army officer who led the 54th.

Another message this movie conveyed was that racism was almost always present in society in the 19th century; that is, white soldiers in many cases were racist against the black troops even though they were fighting on the same side. The black and white soldiers were both fighting to rid the nation of slavery and yet there was reluctance on the part of some white soldiers to accept black men as equals in battle. Seeing the film this week after having seen "42," the story of Jackie Robinson getting into Major League Baseball, I see strong parallels. Even though Jackie was a great player, some white ballplayers on his team resented him and didn't want him in their locker room. Similar attitudes of racism were seen in "Glory" as some white troops resented the black soldiers.