54th Massachusetts Regiment

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment was more important than just being the first all black regiment. They changed the mentality of the entire nation about blacks. Many believe that Southerners were the only people who were prejudiced against black people, but that is not the truth. While it is true that slavery continued in the South after the Emancipation Proclamation, Northerners still viewed blacks as inferior even after they were freed. Many felt that blacks did not possess the ability to fight in what some called a "white man's war". The Governor of Massachusetts felt differently about this. He believed they could fight and possessed the ability to lead themselves. Due to criticism he decided to appoint white officers to lead them. At least half of the 600 man regiment were killed or wounded on their attack on Fort Wagner. During this attack they stood their ground and never retreated. This proved to many that blacks did possess the ability to fight and lead and gained the respect of many. This lead the way to numerous other black regiments to be formed throughout the Union army. Undoubtedly this had many more long term effects for the nations mentality and blacks equality. There were many that believe that the intelligence level and abilities of blacks were inferior to whites. This was a big step in changing that. Today we see the effects of this. Everyone today has the same opportunities despite skin color. This is true for the armed forces as well. General Colin Powell  is a great example of this. During the 1990's he was a four star general in charge of the entire army. Presently we have our first black president.  This just solidifies the great strides our country has made to give everyone equal opportunities despite their ethnicity. This doesn't mean that some people do not still hold prejudices, but as a whole I believe most Americans no longer hold these prejudices. The 54th regiment deserves a lot of respect for taking the step they did and giving their lives to fight for a country they believed in, even though most believed they were incapable of fighting. This is a great video explaining the more about the 54th regiment: http://www.history.com/videos/gilder-lehrman-massachussetts-54th

General Colin Powell

Citations: www.masshist.org, www.historynet.com, www.history.com