Learning History Through Film

Film is one of the best ways to show a viewer an important part of history. Using different visuals and sound effects can help portray a part of history, while playing on the viewer’s emotions in ways that a textbook can not. People find things naturally easier to understand, if they see them with their own two eyes rather than looking at printed words on a page. When a viewer critically views a movie, they can pick up on subtle themes and symbols that they could not find otherwise and it helps create more empathy, which is always important in trying to understand history. Movies may change specific facts in history, but the message stays the same and the visual and audible effects give the audience insight that is far greater than that of a book. These techniques were used best in the movie Glory, and the movie Twelve Years a Slave, to portray important pre-Civil War history.

The movie Glory focuses through the eyes of Robert Gould Shaw, the commanding officer of the 54th regiment, one of the first ever black regiments in the Union. The idea of this was very debated at the time, because it begged the question of whether or not black troops could fight as hard and learn as quick as white soldiers.(Roger Ebert Review) The movie has a few very important key moments that show the black soldiers are tougher than white ones, and learn quicker as well. The scene where the soldiers are angered about receiving lower wages than white soldiers, so the entire regiment tore up their paychecks, shows the pride that the soldiers have in their hearts and that they are sick and tired of being treated second best after the previous years.(Roger Ebert Review) Then there was a scene where the soldiers are told that they would be captured and returned to slavery, if caught in battle by confederates, and that full discharges would be offered in the morning. The next morning, all of the soldiers are still there. This shows their courage that they need to be great soldiers.(New York Times Review) Finally the scene where the soldiers charge fort wagner, portrays both their pride in their country, but their courage as men. (New York Times) The difficulty that this filmmaker faced, was the ability to portray these facts, while adding the right amount of fiction and effects, to grasp emotion from the viewer in order to make a more understandable case for the situation. The filmmaker did a fantastic job of this. There was a real 54th regiment, and the soldiers that were main characters in the movie were real as well. An 1800’s newspaper, written by abolitionist, William Lloyd, provides a ballistics report on the 54th regiment’s march on Fort Wagner. This was similar to the battle scene in the movie. (54th Newspaper William Lloyd) The movie Glory had the perfect mix of facts and emotion to create a truly spectacular film.

The movie Twelve Years a Slave had a similar effect on viewers. The movie came after the book, yet the movie was so much more popular and won the award for best film. This movie described the factual experience of Solomon Northup, a free man who lived in New York with his family, and was kidnapped and sold into slavery where he spent the next twelve years of his life. This movie used much more emotion and effects than facts, because it was necessary to understand the horrors that Solomon went through in an empathetic way. “The functional marriage of form and content was everything for this film.” (The Guardian Review) The movie used a combination of sound effects and punishment, Playing the racist songs that the slaves were forced to sing, while showing the visual of slaves being beaten half to death. For example, The “Run N***er Run” song being played, and the slave owner forcing Solomon to beat daisy almost to death. (The Guardian Review) The filmmaker had to use brutal violent imagery and powerful sound effects, to make the viewer feel almost as if they were there. (Rotten Tomatoes) said the same thing “The movie gave us empathy and insight, lending just enough historical precedent to grasp the viewer’s attention by giving them something real and powerful.” Twelve Years a Slave, like Glory, gave that perfect mix of facts and power, to explain the story. Pictures taken on (History.com) provided facts about the lives of slaves as well. There were pictures of slave quarters, torture equipment, and plantation houses, all too similar to the ones in the movie. This was truly a spectacular film as well.

So I would say the main point to take away from this is that movies do provide a better atmosphere for learning about history. They provide the facts that books do, with the added visual and audible effects, to pull empathy and emotion out of the viewer. Both movies did a fantastic job of that.

Solomon Northup, the main character from 12 years a slave.

The second battle at Fort Wagner.

Small quarters, used to house slaves.

Slave shackles similar to the ones used in 12 years a slave

Propaganda for the 54th regiment

Bibliography:

Roger Ebert- 2

New york times- 1

The Guardian-1

Rotten Tomatoes-1

History.com-2

Smithsonian-1

                                               Rare newspapers-1

Reflection on Paraphrase practice

In the past few class periods we practiced paraphrasing a statement from a source, in our own words, and incorporating a direct quotation from that source to make our point stronger. This was very helpful to me because in the past two years of high school, teachers have only expected us to know these skills, without going into depth on how to use them properly. This exercise answered all of the questions that I had about the skill, and gave me the confidence to use these skills when I write. I now understand that I should only use a direct quote when it adds power and style to my writing. I should always make it clear, from context, that I understand the full meaning of the quote that I am using. I understand that whether I am quoting, or paraphrasing, I must be transparent about the source that I am using, and how I am using it. I understand that if I use another authors exact words of phrases to any extent, I must use quotation marks and give that person credit. I know that if I use another author's presentation of facts or ideas, but put them in my own words, I must have a good reason, and give them credit. Finally, I understand Hyperlinking, and now there is no reason that I shouldn't be transparent about the source that I am using.

Practicing incorporating a quotation

I think that the movie Glory portrays a very important and interesting moment in history in an accurate and dramatic fashion. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, because it had me hooked and locked in to every twist and turn of the plot. This movie was so interesting, because the idea of letting African Americans fight for the Union in the Civil War was a highly debated topic at the time. There was so much skepticism, raising the question could African Americans learn to be soldiers as well as whites, and could they fight hard? The author of the Roger Ebert web-site stated that, "These men are proud to be soldiers, proud to wear the uniform and also too proud to accept the racism they see all around them, as when a decision is made to pay black troops less than white. Blacks march as far, bleed as much and die as soon, they argue". I agree with this accurate statement from the Roger Ebert review because in the movie, the 54th regiment not only learned as quick and fought as hard as white soldiers, but their racial hardships made them stronger fighters. They were extremely proud to be a part of something and represent their country, that they knew that they would die protecting it. The best example of this in the movie is when the soldiers of the 54th regiment refused to accept a paycheck, because the wage was smaller than the ones given to white soldiers, Followed by the heroic attempt to take Fort Wagner.

Paraphrasing practice

"It is up to the troops themselves to convince him they can fight - and along the way they also gently provide him with some insights into race and into human nature, a century before the flowering of the civil rights movement. Among the men who turn into the natural leaders of the 54th are Trip (Denzel Washington), an escaped slave, and John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), first seen in the film as a gravedigger who encounters the wounded." "Shaw on the field of battle. (RogerEbert)

(My Paraphrase)

It is a very debated topic, wether or not black soldiers could learn quickly and fight as well as the white soldiers could. The 54th regiment must prove to their leader, Robert Gould Shaw, that they have that ability. As much as Shaw taught the men how to be soldiers, he began to understand the racial issues and inhumane treatment that his group has gone through. Even with the difficulties that Trip (Denzel Washington) faced at first, he took on a leadership role in the end, along with fellow soldier Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). Rawlins was a gravedigger that first encountered Shaw when he was wounded in battle.

Acceleration of Cotton Production, Through Technology

Acceleration of Cotton Production, Through Technology

Through study of the Cotton Gin, the "Spinning Jenny", and the Power Loom, I learned about how these machines changed the production of cotton forever. While this new technology skyrocketed the demand of cotton, by doubling the productivity, I learned that it also did much more. What I didn't know, before our in class discussion was the true effects that this technology had on slaves and America as a whole. The question was eventually asked, "How was the amount of cotton picked, increased, without the mechanical cotton picker being invented until the 1930's?". Through this, I learned that the amount of cotton picked, was truly increased, because the brutality of slaves on plantations was increased. The slaves had to work harder, in fear of being beaten or killed. There is proof of this, because there are records of whips being manufactured that were specifically meant for slaves. This truly shocked me. It has now come into question in my mind that, if brutality of slaves was never increased, would have been abolished, and would there be a Civil War?