Glory

Glory is the 1989 drama war film based on the personal letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. The story is based on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first formal unit of the US Army to be made up entirely of African American men, as told from the point of view of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, its commanding officer during the American Civil War.

Great war movie with a unique viewpoint, detailing the battles and setbacks suffered by the men of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment which lead to their ultimate test: a frontal assault over open terrain against a fortified enemy.

The Attack on Fort Wagner is doomed from the start. Colonel Shaw and his men know they have little chance of succeeding or even surviving. When Shaw volunteers his men for this suicide charge, there is not one negative voice among them. Armed with their rifles and bibles, the men know their sacrifice will prove their critics wrong: black men can fight like real men.

The 54th Massachusetts lost over half its number in the assault on Fort Wagner. The supporting white brigades also suffered before withdrawing. The Fort was never taken.

As word of the bravery spread, Congress at last authorized the raising of black troops throughout the Union. Over 180,000 volunteered. President Lincoln credited these men of color with helping turn the tide of the war.

Lizzy  =)

Matewan

In American History class, we watched the 1987 drama "Matewan".

Independent filmmaker John Sayles creates one of his more artistic works with this period feature about a volatile 1920s labor dispute in the town of Matewan, West Virginia. Matewan is a coal town where the local miners' lives are controlled by the powerful Stone Mountain Coal Company. The company practically owns the town, reducing workers' wages while raising prices at the company-owned supply and grocery. The citizens' land and homes are not their own, and the future seems dim. When the coal company brings immigrants and minorities to Matewan as cheaper labor, union organizer Joe Kenehan scours the town to unite all miners in a strike. As the crisis grows, strikers and their families are removed from their homes by two coal company mercenaries, and the situation heads toward a final shootout on Matewan's main street, also known as the "Matewan Massacre".

Sayles' simple but telling screenplay brings to light the treatment of immigrants and minorities in the early 20th century South, and it draws sharp parallels between the Matewan labor battle and the Civil War some 50 years earlier.

Lizzy  =)