Robert Gould Shaw was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 10, 1837. His mother was twenty-two years old and his father was twenty-eight years old. Shaw was the second and only son of Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw and Francis George Shaw, both strong abolitionists. Shaw had a very prominent upbringing. He grew familiar with nannies, housekeepers, and servants to children of his social standing. Shaw played with his older sister Anna, and his younger sisters, Susanna, Josephine, and Ellen, in the homes of his many uncles and aunts. Although the Shaws were socially conscious, they were also deeply devoted to the pursuit of intellect and spirit. Friends in their circle included thinkers, writers, and reformers, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Shaw began to develop an understanding of abolitionism; however, at this young age he did not yet fully embrace his parents' philosophies on life.
             Education held a high place in his parents' understanding of "individual perfection and in the attainments necessary to mail heirs"(Duncan 3). The Shaws lived at residences on the East Coast and overseas in Europe. Robert Briefly attended a preparatory school in New York, with Lessons in languages and Violin. At boarding school in Switzerland, he studied math, various languages, piano, and violin. His life was miserable at these institutions, because he missed his family and disliked authority and discipline. In 1856, Shaw enrolled into Harvard University but did not excel in academics, preferring to spend more time on extracurricular activities. He was initially very insecure about his height at five-feet, five-inches. He enjoyed playing football but was beaten up regularly by bigger players. He gained more confidence when he was elected president for many clubs in which he participated. Unsure about his career goals, Shaw withdrew in March of 1859 from Harva...