Kent Allen

9/7/2014
American Civilizations-079
Lincoln
The film Lincoln is a theatrical look at the end of the Civil War and the struggle surrounding the
introduction and inclusion of the 13
th
amendment to the Constitution. This film begins in January of
1865, two months after Lincolns re-election, by displaying the pressure that was on Lincoln to end the
Civil War. Lincoln had already introduced his idea of the 13
th
amendment by this point but it was shot
down when congress voted on it 10 months earlier. Lincoln is told by his cabinet not to try to pass the
amendment again before his inauguration but he insists that he can get the votes necessary to pass it.
Lincoln then hires a group of lobbyists to persuade members of the House of Representatives (HoR) to
vote for the amendment by offering well-paying jobs. The film then shows multiple debates conducted
in the HoR about the amendment and the struggles that arise between the Democratic and Republican
parties. Lincoln believes that he can get the votes needed because he hopes that by abolishing slavery
the Confederates will surrender the war. The film reaches a climax when the amendment is put up for
vote again on January 31, 1865. After much suspense the amendment ends up passing however, the
Confederates still choose not to stop the war. Three months later on April 9, 1865 the Confederate
States surrender the war. The film ends with the tragic scene of Lincolns lifeless body lying on a bed
after his assassination.
At the beginning of the film it is said that the 13
th
amendment was defeated ten months before
January of 1865 but in reality the amendment was defeated on June 15, 1864 which is only seven and a
half months prior. It is also true that the 13
th
amendment was passed on January 31, 1865 by a vote of
119 to 56. [1] However, the amendment wasnt made a part of the Constitution until that December
when enough states had ratified it. In the film Lincoln is so set on passing the 13
th
amendment because
he doesnt believe that the Emancipation Proclamation was enough. This is true because its legal status
which unclear stated that those who did not abide would only be considered rebels against the country.
Republicans insisted that in order to secure emancipation they needed a constitutional amendment.
After reelection Lincoln put all of his influence behind the drive to round up necessary votes to pass the
measure. [2] Throughout all of his political debates Lincoln, being Commander in Chief, had to make
difficult decisions. One of these that are mentioned in the film is the attack on Fort Fisher and Fort
Wilmington which were part of the Confederates lifelines due to the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad.
[3] In the film there is a scene where Lincoln is about to send a telegram deciding whether or not to
have the Confederates come to Washington to negotiate and he mentions his self-learned knowledge of
Euclidian Geometry. Later in his life Lincoln indeed mastered Euclidean Geometry as his own form of
mental exercise. He was said to not be a quick study but a thorough one and is quoted saying I am
never easy when I am handling a thought, till I have bounded it North, and bounded it South, and
bounded it East, and bounded it West. [4] It is also true that Lincolns son Bob graduated Harvard and
entered Harvard Law School but eventually joined the army as well, in spite of his mothers objections.
Lincolns other son Willie is mentioned a few times throughout the movie in somber tones. Willie caught
a severe case of typhoid fever and he died on February 20, 1862. After Willie died Mary was taken to
bed and remained there for weeks, unable to do anything. Mary was unable to attend Willies White
House Funeral and she continued to have violent outbursts of sobbing that continued for weeks. It got
to a point with no end in sight that Lincoln directed Mary to look out the window to an insane asylum in
the distance and told her, see that large white building on the hillcontrol your grief or it will drive
you mad, and we may have to send you there. [5]
In a speech to the New Jersey legislature in Trenton, Lincoln recalled the story of George
Washington and his tiny army, which crossed the ice-choked Delaware River in a driving sleet storm on
Christmas night in 1776 to attack the Hessian garrison in Trenton. There must have been something
more than common that those men struggled for, said the president-elect. Something even more than
National Independence something that held out a great promise to all of the people of the world for all
time to come. I think that the something more that Lincoln speaks about is an inner desire for growth
and betterment. Christopher Columbus had that something more when he came to the new world.
Columbus wanted to be recognized for doing something great but I think that he followed through
because he wanted to be a pioneer like the Great men before him. Just as Anthony Johnson fought all
odds in America and ended up buying him and his wifes freedom. He went on to become successful
enough to buy his own land because he had the desire for something more. In 1773, Bostonian
Colonialists dumped 90,000 of tea into the Boston Harbor to show their upset with the current tax
laws. Even though this act was followed by the Coercive Acts in 1774 it seems as though the Colonialists
didnt regret their actions because they were fighting for something more than freedom from
oppression from the British. As Lincoln says I think this spirit of something more is personified best in
George Washington. Washington had many failures in his career like his surrender of Fort Necessity but
he never gave up and ended up being made a commander in 1775. Washington shows us how much
striving for something more can pay off and this is the reason why he is held in such high regard in
American history.




Bibliography
[1] http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/13thamendment.html, Accessed: 9/7/2014
[2] Experience History: Interpreting Americas Past McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. 2011 pg. 436,
[3] http://www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher/politics.htm, Accessed: 9/7/2014
[4] James M. McPherson Tried By War Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief the Penguin
Press 2008
[5] Harold Holzer Father Abraham Lincoln and His Sons Calkins Creek 2011