"Paraphrase Practice"

It is up to the troops themselves to convince him they can fight - and along the way they also gently provide him with some insights into race and into human nature, a century before the flowering of the civil rights movement. Among the men who turn into the natural leaders of the 54th are Trip (Denzel Washington), an escaped slave, and John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), first seen in the film as a gravedigger who encounters the wounded Shaw on the field of battle. (Roger Ebert)

Shaw was put in charge of a black regiment, the 54th regiment must try and convince Shaw that they can fight. On the journey to convince him we take a closer look into race and human nature. Some of these men from the regiment turn into natural leaders, such as Trip (Denzel Washington), and an escaped slave named John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) who first encountered an injured Shaw when he was doing his job as a grave digger.