Wiki for Dr. McClurkens Courses

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You should do a total of 2-3 comments/questions/observations this week.  You do not need to post to all areas. Please do include links to sources, clips, images that are relevant to your point. -- Dr. McClurken

====== I.	How does this movie work as a secondary source? What does the movie get right about history?  ======
I wanted to discuss the scene where the 54th Massachusetts Regiment is assigned to go to Darien, Georgia and are instructed by General Charles Harker, along with the black soldiers from Montgomery, to pillage the town, fire at the civilians, and then burn the buildings. This was very reminiscent of the scenes of the Green Dragons in The Patriot and how they treated civilians during the American Revolution. At first, I could not tell if that scene was based on historical events, or if it was creating a narrative of the “good” and “bad” black soldiers for the Union army. Based on this article (https://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/tih-georgia-day/burning-of-darien/#:~:text=June%2011%2C%201863%20%2D%20Darien,cotton%2C%20rice%2C%20and%20lumber), the burning of Darien did really happen and the 54th and 2nd Regiments were involved, and the 54th was “reluctant” to participate in Harker’s orders. And Shaw wrote in letters that he had reluctantly carried out the orders as well, calling it a “satanic action.” --Olivia Foster

I feel like the movie is an accurate portrayal of how people viewed black soldiers at that time. We have talked about in class how different groups viewed them and treated them. The union army was not happy about the black soldiers joining. They were not fighting to free the enslaved people and they were not nice to the African American soldiers. There was also tension between the black soldiers and how they viewed each other. Soldiers who were enslaved looked down on free blacks and vice versa. -Sophie Weber

The film did an excellent job, I think, of presenting the discrimination faced by the black soldiers in the 54th regiment. It shows the hostility that many in the Union army had towards the concept of black soldiers. The film does not portray the cause of the Union fighting in the war as fighting to end slavery. I think the film pretty accurately portrays the history of the 54th regiment, exposing general audiences to history they may not have known about before. - Maris Tiller

I think this movie does a good job at portraying the racism and hardships that the 54th faced. At first they were not used for combat but for labor, and they were not welcomed by other soldiers or even northern civilians. Even though abolitionists may have been fighting for emancipation did not mean they weren’t racist. Furthermore, a lot of the union soldiers entered the war under the impression that it was to reunite the union, and not for emancipation. Therefore, the extreme racism and the rather liberal use of the n-word were pretty historically accurate. -Teresa Felipe

One thing this movie portrayed well was the relationship between Black and White soldiers at the time, especially the fact that most White soldiers did not take the Black soldiers seriously and used them for labor instead of combat. This is especially poignant in the scene where the Black soldiers are doing manual labor as the White soldiers walk by and tensions are strong. It is also shown through how long it took for the Black soldiers to receive shoes, uniforms, and supplies, as well as the inclusion of their pay being $10 instead of $13. I looked it up, and Shaw did in fact lead a boycott on all pay until the situation was changed, something I thought was fictitious when watching the movie. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/robert-gould-shaw#:~:text=When%20he%20learned%20that%20black,for%20service%20in%20South%20Carolina. The movie also kept to the fact that most of the White characters were still very racist, even if they were working with Black characters. Previous movies we have watched have avoided using language accurate to the time to portray the White characters in a better light, so it was nice to see there was less sanitization of racism. — Sasha Poletes

The films depiction was better then expected specifically to how black soldiers were treated in the war. The thing we went over in class like how most soldiers didn’t get official uniforms until later. I was also surprised that Shaw refused his own pay in the film. I didn’t know if that was true or not so I looked it up and it was from the quick sources I looked at. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gould_Shaw) (https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/the-54th-massachusetts-infantry) I don’t know why I expected it to be untrue but maybe it was because its one of those moments that you want to believe happened, like if there was some good with the actions during the war and everything that happened after with the treatment of people of color. It was interesting. - Paula Perez

I thought that the film was fairly historically accurate. It depicted the experience of black soldiers fairly well, displaying both the racism that they faced as well as the overall experience quite well. As although they were eventually able to fight, they still had to endure insults, bigotry, and hatred from those that they were fighting alongside. The experience that the 54th Massachusetts regiment had was a very different than what is typically shown when talking about the civil war. In this sense, I think it was really good to see this side of the Union fight. -Margaret Jones

I think that this film did an exceptional job with the story, and would be a solid secondary source. Although this isn’t saying much, I found Glory to be by far the most historically accurate of the films we have seen so far, even if it did have a few shortcomings. The film was the first to treat the black characters as real people and not the stock characters that we discussed in class. The film also showed the relationship between the white soldiers and black soldiers accurately, as many of the white soldiers still discriminated. I also found the portrayal of the black soldiers to be well-done, as each of them had vastly different backgrounds. However, it was implied that most of them were former slaves, which was not true. I did find the celebrity actors somewhat distracting, but at the same time, those actors helped create a believable portrayal of the story. Overall, I genuinely enjoyed Glory and thought that it did a great job, especially considering the time it was made. -Burke Steifman

As my other classmates said, the movie depicted the racial struggles quite well. But I wanted to comment on the accuracy of the soldiers morale. As we talked about in class, black soldiers wanted to fight, and were denied that opportunity because of their race. The movie portrayed the reality of the soldiers feelings when being obviously denied the right to fight for their cause and showed their enthusiasm when they were finally granted the opportunity. - Neonya Garner

This movie works really well as a secondary source. Two scenes that stand as examples that work well as secondary sources are the Darien raid and the pay strike. Both of these could have been fabricated to make Shaw seem like a righteous character, however knowing those things actually happened and are portrayed accurately, makes the movie good as a source. In the Darien raid in the movie, Shaw does not agree with Montgomery’s actions. This scene is backed up by James Henry Gooding’s //On the Altar of Freedom// which states that Shaw felt as though the raid was vandalism based on personal gains and not military necessity. Shaw’s distaste for the action in the film is clearly seen, so filmmakers did right in that. Regarding the pay strike, the soldiers immediately protested the $7 pay. The film portrays this well, with soldiers refusing to go to the pay tables and with the White commissioned officers also refusing pay. I think these scenes are especially important to depict (especially the pay strike) because it is something that impacted the soldiers and was an example of their unfair treatment while fighting in the war. - Taylor Coleman

I believe that this film worked very well as a secondary source from my understandings from our class lecture on Tuesday. Specially,  I think the film accurately expressed the bravery of the African American soldiers and the passion they had to fight their battles because of how much they hoped the war would benefit them if the North won.  I also feel that it is very accurate in showing the racism from a few of the Union soldiers but also Union soldiers who did care for them very much like Shaw is portrayed. - Erika Lambert
====== II.	Problems with historical accuracy? Errors in fact? ======

After doing more research and taking what we learned about in class, Shaw was more hesitant to take over the 54th regiment then was played out in the movie. He didn't want to as he didn’t think it would further his military career. Another inaccuracy to note was that the soldiers in the his army were pretty much all free black men whereas the film depicts most of them as enslaved. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-glory-still-resonates-more-three-decades-later-180975794/ -Sophie Weber

All the black characters in this film were fictional, as were most of the characters in general, save Shaw and a few of the higher-ranking officers. As Sophie mentioned, most of the soldiers of the 54th were well-educated, free Black men who were almost primarily recruited from Northern states without slavery. Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington's characters would probably not have been accepted into the 54th and were most likely added for a contrasting, dramatic effect in comparison to characters like Thomas Searles. A review I read also hypothesized that Thomas was loosely based on one of Frederick Douglass's sons, and as Douglass was portrayed in the movie, I wondered if that opportunity was missed just to give Shaw a more sympathetic view with the character of Thomas. Lewis Douglass was also awarded an unofficial command, which was shown, but to Morgan Freeman's character, which makes it doubly seem like a missed opportunity. (Coincidentally the same review as Sophie's link above) -- Jane Michael

One major thing this movie got wrong was the whipping scene when Trip went to go find shoes. During this time no Federal soldier would have been whipped. That was outlawed by the Union Army in 1861 and was outlawed by the Confederates in 1862. Furthermore, even if an officer decided to go against the law and whip someone for desertion, it would have never happened in a Black regiment such as the 54th due to the significance it would carry and the similarities to slavery and slave holers that the event would bring up. https://acws.co.uk/archives-military-discipline#:~:text=At%20the%20beginning%20of%20the,officer%20facing%20a%20court%2Dmartial. -Teresa Felipe

A scene I was confused about was the Battle of Fort Wagner. The movie implies that everyone was killed at the end, as those who did not die getting to the fort were all killed by the confederates within the fort itself. Though the text at the end clears it up, I think the movie overly dramaticizes the last scene, especially since we talked about in class how a 50% casualty rate was not unusual. I think in general the ending seemed rushed and simplified, though I can understand why for purposes of running time they decided to end the movie with Fort Wagner. I think it would have been useful to explicitly show the effects of the battle on northern views about Black soldiers, even if was just a short clip of the journalist writing an article or something like that. Maybe this is an unfair criticism, but the ending seemed misrepresented to me — Sasha Poletes
====== III.	How does the film’s overall interpretation(s) deviate from scholarly historical sources? ======

====== IV.	How does this movie work as a primary source about the time period in which it was made or the filmmakers? ======

This film actually seemed pretty historically accurate, although it definitely suffers from the casting of so many rising stars. The time period is reflected in the narrative, as it does often tell the story of the 54th from the perspective of Shaw. Obviously he was a large figure in the story, but the "white savior" narrative did seem a bit like it bled through in some places, especially in the scene where he demands shoes from the quartermaster - an event that most likely did not occur. It very much reflects the filmmakers feeling that Matthew Broderick's screen time would make the most profit, and that the white savior route, no matter how subtle, was a safer option to appeal to audiences of the time. -- Jane Michael

Even though the film shows some awareness about the racism the 54th regiment of Massachusetts faced, it seemed very willing to favor the story of the white man, Shaw, who led the regiment rather than the story of the soldiers themselves. His death was very important to the regiment and the war after the attack on Fort Wagner, but I feel the film sidelines the black characters in favor of the white ones. This shows the bias of the time. Centering white characters in black stories was extremely common, and I do think this film does a better job with exploring the lives of the black characters than other films at the time. I think it was probably just a decision to appeal to wider audiences - Maris Tiller

The movie had an incredible cast of all star actors such as Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick, and Denzel Washington, which definitely propelled this movie to more popularity than other historic films, and unfortunately I believe that without the star cast that many people would not have gone out of their way to see this pretty awesome film. Denzel Washington won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as Cinematography and Sound awards. While it does explore the stories of the characters, it does focus in on a white character which I do not believe would be the direction today. However, in an article with the director, it was revealed that the movie was able to be made because of Matthew Broderick's involvement "In the particular case, of Glory, the studio made the movie because Matthew Broderick, who was coming off of Ferris Bueller, was willing to do it, and basically they said, “'Well, you can cast the other parts if you want'" (https://deadline.com/2019/07/glory-at-30-director-edward-zwick-reflects-on-his-civil-war-epic-1202651440/). -- Logan Kurtz

I feel that this film is in alignment with it’s time period that it was created. I liked that the film gave a lot of credit to the African Americans and felt that it was not completely focused on a white person as in other films. Of course the film made moments with Shaw evident but I believe he deserved this for his bravery as well.  - Erika Lambert 
====== V. The "So, what?" question	======

Similar to when watching Amistad, I felt very distracted by this all-star cast. They may not have been as famous at the time when this movie was made, but as a modern audience, I found it extremely distracting to watch and see these actors as anything more than their real-life personas or their characters from their notable movies. I do think that the choice to make a film based on the 54th Massachusetts Regiment and the Battle of Fort Wagner was very interesting. Objectively speaking, this movie is about the losers in this specific battle, which on paper does not make for a compelling story. A movie where practically all of the main characters are brutally killed and the battle that the regiment fought is lost to the Confederacy does not sound like a very stereotypical American war film. They used this history to depict how black Union soldiers were treated after the 54th and Lincoln’s response. --Olivia Foster

Seeing this movie right after Gone With The Wind was really refreshing. Gone With The Wind depicted a Civil War reality full of honorable men fighting a powerful cause, but this showed the Civil War in a more honest depiction. It is obviously a better display of the racial hardships during this era instead of the naive, happy-go-lucky depiction in Gone With The Wind (of course the context of both are very different, but as they are depicting the same era I feel as though they are comparable). -- Logan Kurtz

I definitely agree with Olivia where she said that this movie wasn’t your typical American war film. Usually American War films take place as a winning film or battle etc. so even though I knew what happened in the end, I still expected them to take the Fort. Although it wasn’t a physical win, it was spiritually. (Inspirational) That being said I expected more dialogue at the end of the film. I think it was cut off at a bad moment. Although, the cut off also gives the viewer a questioning viewpoint of “what happens next?” In this case, the viewer can look up the information themselves over what was the next move historically. - Paula Perez

I think that this movie is a really important story to tell. As the black experience during the Civil War hadn’t really been shown before this, and I think a star-studded cast such as this brings a lot of attention to this lesser talked about aspect of history. This story of the 54th Mass. is a very interesting one, despite the loss that they face, but I think the fact that the lose also demonstrates the realities of war in a way that not a lot of war movies show. These reasons among others make Glory an important film for people to watch. -Margaret Jones

Although I thought this was a great film, the celebrity actors did make the story slightly less believable. From his opening narration, I could not get over the fact that Ferris Bueller was the colonel. In addition, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington just made me think of their other, more notable roles. However, I do think this movie was very important to be made, and impressive that it was done all the way back in 1989. The famous actors (although some weren’t as famous at the time) helped to draw interest to the movie and get this important story more publicity. The 54th regiment is an key part to American history, and I am glad that this movie exists and did the regiment justice. -Burke Steifman

Something I learned in high school about this movie was that Denzel Washington was actually whipped for the scene. I did my own research as well, it was with a whip that wouldn't leave cuts on his back but would sting. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097441/trivia/ I think knowing this made the movie more enjoyable. I could tell that at the very least put thought and effort into the authenticity of the movie. - Neonya Garner

This movie is something that I think serves well in depicting the lives and events of the 54th Regiment. It is a well-made movie that gets attitudes and events right. With that being said, there are some things this movie, and many others, suffer from when taking a historical event and making it for the box office. The soldiers were portrayed as dumb, when in actuality they were the best of the best. To make the soldiers dumb, undermines the real people’s intelligence but also furthers a popular attitude that all enslaved people were illiterate and need White people to make themselves better. I understand completely why the soldiers were portrayed in this way, because everyone loves an underdog story. This movie also suffers from just making up people when real people exist. I found this website, https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/faces-of-the-54th.htm , which lists all enlisted soldiers and officers who were a part of the regiment. Silas Trip and John Rawlins do not exist. Jupiter Sharts may have existed, as there are two soldiers that share the last name Sharts, but their first names are James and William. As mentioned in class two of Frederick Douglass’ sons were in the actual 54th. If they did not want to focus on two people with connections to focus on story, there are 1,430 names listed on the website. The creation of new people and placing them in important historical roles always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. - Taylor Coleman

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