This production is a skillful blend of period group and individual photographs, historic archival documents that feature letters and diaries of the men of the 54th, and personal recollections and memorabilia of their families who are still living today. The program features a veritable who's who of famous 19th-century blacks, including Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, Robert Smalls, Robert Gould Shaw, and Charlotte Forten, among many others. Black historians on screen note the gradual two-year transition from a war of economics to one of human rights, as slavery was refuted and black men once prohibited from serving in the military were encouraged to do so, with approximately 180,000 responding. To quote host David McCullough, they fought for the right to fight, which evolved into a fight for freedom - a fight that continues today, to keep that freedom real. This is history at its best.
Technical qualities are quite good.
Suggested for high school and older audiences to supplement their formal or informal study of black history, the Civil War, and its era. Recommended for public, school, and academic libraries. All rights reserved.