The movies Glory and 12 Years a Slave are both feature length films that tell a story about slavery and racism in the United States during the 1850-1860’s. While both movies tell very different stories in very different ways they both have received a combination of praise and scorn for their historical accuracy or lack thereof. However, these movies are modern day primary source for History class. These movies present information, previously only shown through book, in a new, interesting, and useful way which should be both appropriate but encouraged to be used as a classroom tool for furthering a student’s education on the era in American History.

12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen, has won 30 awards from various sources, for cinematography, acting, and writing. It is an adapted screenplay of a book written by Solomon Northup, the protagonist of both the book and film, who was a free man living in New York when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Some critics have argued that there are discrepancies between the film and the book, such minor things like the fact that Solomon had three children in the book and in real life, however only two children were present in the film, or major things like that the film was harsher on slave life than in reality and ignored slaves smaller acts of liberty like families or religion, which were present in the book, which detract from the films historical accuracy. Other critics disagree, saying that the film merely chose to focus on the more vicious aspects of slavery, and in a unique way. Robert Toplin of the American Historical Association said “Northup’s book presents a more complex picture of slave life than does the movie, which concentrates sharply on themes of oppression and victimization.” While the Film is not a flawless historical documentary, it is a piece of work which demonstrates the darker side of slavery in a way that books cannot always accomplish. By choosing to focus on harsher elements of slavery the film is able to generate empathetic and sympathetic connections of this part of history, and is a conversation starter for a part of history which is often overlooked or not studied to the depth it deservers because making those connections is often either too difficult or too uncomfortable for people to fully understand.

Glory is very common in high schools around the country. Despite winning only 6 awards from various sources when it was released in 1989, its legacy continues to this day because of its prevalence in American history classrooms. However, there is no question that the film often takes historical events and tweaks them to fit into a more coherent and entertaining script. Some critics will argue that any manipulation of historical events is wrong and is in fact damaging to the films overall quality. Kevin Levin wrote an essay in which he said ”Consider the pay crisis scene which is quite powerful and even historically accurate. But it did not take place until September 1863 – roughly two months after the failed assault on Battery Wagner and after Shaw’s death. With its inaccurate chronology, the movie loses an opportunity to emphasize how even the sacrifice of so many black soldiers in the battle proved insufficient to overcome the most blatant forms of institutional racism by the very government for whom they fought and died.” While this type of criticism is true, and should be mention when watching the film as to not present false information, this is simply not enough to warrant the movie not being shown in the classroom. The other, largest criticism with the film is that none of the black soldiers have any grounds in historical accuracy; all of the black soldiers are fictionalized while all the white soldiers have primary sources supporting them. This is an inaccuracy in the film but still does not degrade the films quality to an extent that it should not be shown in the classroom. The Black characters are written in a way as to represent the different types of people who would have been present in the 54^th. Richard Bernstein of the NY Times argues that by fictionalizing certain aspects of the historical events the film creates “a truth truer than the literal truth.” The fictionalization makes it easier for modern students to make empathetic and sympathetic connections with this aspect of America’s past. While it is not perfect, the movie presents a perspective on these events which are often forgotten in American history class. Richard Bernstein continues in his article “While the movie is entirely clear about its focus, it is not the vehicle for a full account of the obstacle placed in their path, which, if anything, were more difficult even than Glory shows.”

Both of these films are historical representations of the American views of race and slavery in the 1850’s and 1860’s. Both of these films, in some instances, intentionally sacrifices small amounts of historical accuracy in order generate empathetic and sympathetic connections with the audience as well as entertain the viewer. So long as the student is made aware of these inaccuracies, there is no reason these films cannot be shown as a learning tool in an American History classroom.