The whipping scene is one of those situations. Whipping was banned in the Army, and Shaw does not seem like the kind of person that would use that punishment, anyway. However, it showed how blacks were treated by their owners at the time, and it helped add drama to the film. It may not have been historically accurate, but it did have a purpose. The film did portray the training and organization of troops fairly accurately, too, and it portrayed the Battle at Fort Wagner accurately for the most part, too. Shaw did die at the battle, but there are accounts that he died on the top of the Fort, and his body actually fell inside. Many of the 54th were killed that day. Most of the soldiers in the film were runaway slaves, and many slaves did run away to fight in the war, but in reality, most of the soldiers in the 54th were northern black men, some slaves, but most free, and they joined because they believed in the Union cause.

Some of the time periods and people may not have been entirely accurate in this film, but that does not take away from its' importance. It introduced a topic to Americans that most of them did not know or understand, and it portrayed an important time in American history. The film is an important piece of black history, and it is a good portrayal of how blacks were viewed at the time, even if they were free men. It is important to look at the impact of the film as a whole, and not just at the inaccuracies of the film.

In freedom for all blacks in the country.
References

Glory. Dir. Edward Zwick. Perf. Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington. Tri-Star Pictures, 1989.

Gooding, James Henry. "Massachusetts Black Corporal to the President." University of Maryland. 2009. 16 March 2009. http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/gooding.htm.

Johnson, Hannah. "Mother of a Northern Black Soldier to the President." University of Maryland. 2009. 16 March 2009. http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/hjohnsn.htm.

Russell, Brian. "The 1989 Film 'Glory' and How it Helps Expose an Epic Post-Civil War Myth. Helium.com. 2009. 16 March 2009. http://www.helium.com/items/104438-the-1989-film-glory-and-how-it-helps-expose-an-epic-post-civil-war-myth.

Sterns, George L. "Testimony by the Commissioner for the Organization of Black Troops in Middle and East Tennessee before the American Freedmen's Inquiry Commission." University of Maryland. 2009. 16 March 2009.