Joseph Miller, a former slave, enlisted in the Union army under the promise from the federal government that his family would be given food, shelter, and clothing, in exchange for his service as an enlisted soldier.21 However, when Union soldiers ordered his family to leave the tent they occupied, Miller wrote he “told him [a soldier] that I was a soldier of the United States. He told that it did not make any difference.”22 These types of empty promises made by the Union government were only slightly referenced in the film, such as the pay of African American men, $10, versus white soldiers, $13.23 Downs writes about these empty promises in his essay, stating, “the military often fail[ed] to pay black soldiers, or paid them less than promised.”24 This is seen slightly in the film, however, the film portrayed it as a one-time occurrence, rather than a continuous pattern of failing to pay
Joseph Miller, a former slave, enlisted in the Union army under the promise from the federal government that his family would be given food, shelter, and clothing, in exchange for his service as an enlisted soldier.21 However, when Union soldiers ordered his family to leave the tent they occupied, Miller wrote he “told him [a soldier] that I was a soldier of the United States. He told that it did not make any difference.”22 These types of empty promises made by the Union government were only slightly referenced in the film, such as the pay of African American men, $10, versus white soldiers, $13.23 Downs writes about these empty promises in his essay, stating, “the military often fail[ed] to pay black soldiers, or paid them less than promised.”24 This is seen slightly in the film, however, the film portrayed it as a one-time occurrence, rather than a continuous pattern of failing to pay