Sergeant Rutledge

What does this story, about the court-martial of a black cavalryman accused of rape and murder of a white woman, tell us about justice, fairness, and bigotry in the post-bellum U.S. Army? What does it tell us about the tenuous and inconsistent nature of the American social contract at the time? What message does John Ford wish to send his audience of 1960 with this film? Does he presage elements of the looming civil rights battles of that decade? Does he intend to show us that the military led the way in regard to integrating black Americans?