Difference between revisions of "329--Week 7 Questions/Comments"
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The reading “Retaliation in Camp” with Halton and Union troops stated that the colored troops would still fight for the government even though the government didn’t want them. I think the movie portrays this well when Colonel Shaw read the paper stating that if blacks are found on Union lines they could be killed or brought back to their masters and that if the Union leaders were commanding the black troops they also could be tried and killed. All the colored men stayed and were still risking their lives to fight; even the white majors and colonels stayed such as Shaw and Forbes. –Ashley Scutari | The reading “Retaliation in Camp” with Halton and Union troops stated that the colored troops would still fight for the government even though the government didn’t want them. I think the movie portrays this well when Colonel Shaw read the paper stating that if blacks are found on Union lines they could be killed or brought back to their masters and that if the Union leaders were commanding the black troops they also could be tried and killed. All the colored men stayed and were still risking their lives to fight; even the white majors and colonels stayed such as Shaw and Forbes. –Ashley Scutari | ||
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| + | The letter did seem a little extreme, but keep in mind it was from the Confederate Congress. How would Union officers be treated if captured while commanding white troops and how would this action play out in the prisoner of war exchange? Union officers risked their lives commanding black troops, but in the realm of war, were they not already risking their lives in general? Does it really matter what color troops they were commanding once they entered the battlefield? | ||
| + | Also, I think the Union government did want the slaves as black troops. The Union needed laborers, thus the contraband of runaway slaves was a good source put to use beginning with sticking them in the navy, putting them to work on the grounds, and eventually, once they were skilled, placing them into combat. Eventually viewed as good fighters, the Union began to recruit blacks from the north and south for the war effort, at the same time ultimately weakening the south by removing their labor. After all, what else would the Union do with about a quarter of the southern black population that carried a hint of hatred against confederates? - James Drury | ||
== 3 Movie as primary source about makers/time/setting/genre == | == 3 Movie as primary source about makers/time/setting/genre == | ||
