Many African American soldiers enlisted in the Union Army because they saw it as an equalizer. The idea that they could fire guns against the rebels along with their white counterparts was a moment many of them had waited for. Furthermore, some black soldiers had been born into slavery, so they saw enlisting as a further leap forward.
After watching Glory (or most of it), how much of the soldiers' hopes were realized?
After watching most of Glory the soldiers' hopes were definitely realized later in the movie when Robert E. Lee made a compromise that instead of reporting some of the Colonel's to the war department, they would let Robert's men fight. Although early in the movie they were very hopeful and sometimes disappointed that they had not faught and proven themselves yet. As time went on the men would get more and more frustrated because it was not their time yet. Some men even became hostile towards eachother for example one African American accuses another of wanting to be a "white man" because he wants to fight. Each day would become more and more difficult because they would be used for manual labor. Many African Americans did not want this because it was just putting them back to where they were before, doing manual labor. They wanted to fight in war to serve a purpose for their country, and show that they should not just be used for cotton fields. To some extent the soldiers' hopes were realized.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, for the African American soldiers, their hopes to fight took a long time to be realized. Most of them did not get to fight. Instead, all they did was prepare to fight, i.e. learn how to march, shoot and defend themselves; but these teachings would not be implemented. African Americans thought they could revolutionize the Union army, fight for the freedom they deserved but in reality, all they got was food and a roof over their heads. African American soldiers did not even get shoes, the war attire went to the men actually fighting, white men. The African American men dreamed of the day when they were allowed to fight and be equal to the white men. They thought being soldiers would do that but in reality, they were of the same social status as before.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the film it was evident that these soldiers hopes were not fulfilled. When the 54th arrived in the South after training the commander there was pretty much using them as slaves still. Also the post master who controlled all the the supply shipments wouldn't even give the black regiment basic necessities because they were black. This lead Ferris Bueller to go directly to him and force him to get his soldiers supplies.
ReplyDeleteI think those soldiers' hopes were not realized enough in the real war, they were more like numbers of people who could be filled into a war and fought. They did want to improve their position and be equal by fighting, but how many commanders were actually thinking about them? And why they could only achieve and get what they expected only by giving their lives into a war that they might not even have to fight? In the movie, Robert E. Lee was really a commander who understood what they were fighting for and he did actually care about these men. The black soldiers' hopes were not realized until Robert won the rights of new shoes and socks for them, and by standing with these soldiers and facing unfairness together, those soldiers' hopes were realized and they were equal to other white soldiers because they had got respects from their commander and other people. As you can see, when they all marched to the South, the happiness and cheering that people had, especially for them, were the best spiritual support for them, this is GLORY.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching glory, not a lot of the soldier’s hopes were realized. They thought that the idea that they could fire guns against the rebels along with their white counterparts would be easy seemed to dawn on them. The enlisted slaves thought that they would be equal with their fellow white soldiers but at the end they were still suffering from racial discrimination and because of this they worked harder to prove themselves.
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