I was very surprised when Shaw announced to the regiment what the Confederate Congress had proclaimed, and yet the African soldiers still stayed in the regiment. Although they could have gone back to slavery, or have died, they stayed in order to help the slaves in the South experience freedom. What made me think was when Trip said that the regiment was his only family that he ever had, while they were singing the spiritual. Trip had gone through a lot of hardships in his life, and he had grown from a heartless man to a more compassionate person. I learned that the African soldiers had to go through a lot during their time in the war. They wanted to fight and help free the slaves in the South, but instead they were used for manual labor. They were also deprived of basic necessities like shoes and socks. The most hardest part for the Africans was the prejudice they faced, and all the name calling that they were called. This movie was realistic because they portrayed the harsh life for the African soldiers in the 54th Regiment. It doesn't seem as if any scenes were overly exaggerated, but had actually happened.