Movie Review Of Lincoln

It’s quite paradoxical that none of the American movies has ever done a god job at representing the American democracy. However Lincoln the movie is one among the movies that tried to demonstrate a great democratic art form. Lincoln (2012) is an American drama that was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie is centered on the United States sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln which covers the four final months of Lincoln’s life focus being on the efforts made by the president in January 1865 of having the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States House of representative that would see the abolishment of slavery in the country. He tried to scare up votes to ensure that he could get enough votes to pass the bill in congress. This movie is therefore concentrates on tumultuous period between January 1865, the end of the civil war on April 9th and finally the assassination of Lincoln five days later.

This movie is therefore depicts a very important historical event in the United States which is of great significance on the history of America. This was a landmark constitutional amendment; With the expectation of the civil war to end in a month but an issue of concern being Lincolns 1863 emancipation proclamation would have been disregarded by the courts upon conclusion of the war and the 13th amendment defeated by the return of slave states. Lincoln then saw it necessary to pass the amendment at the end of January. That dispelled any possibility of already released slaves being re-enslaved. Radical republican and feared that the amendment would be defeated by people who wish the amendment to delay however whether the republicans in the border states support the amendment was not clear since their priority was ending the civil war. All of them on board were still not enough due to the fact that it was a requirement that several democrats support congressmen so that bit can be passed (Scott, 2012)

This is therefore a very important historical event in America, it was a task of a race against time, for the coming of peace any time and if it occurs that it comes before the passing of the amendment then the returning states in the south would ensure that the amendment process is stopped before it even becomes law. The movie depicts that a newly elected president Lincoln in January 1865 noting the imminence of the end of civil war, as he was wondering out loud what the fact of the former slaves would be. He finds hypocrisy in his emancipation proclamation in 1863 that saw the freeing of most slaves as a measure of war but had not declared slavery illegal. It was just a constitutional amendment that would end slavery permantly in America. Therefore it was an issue of great importance that Lincoln obtains enough votes from a recalcitrant congress before the arrival of peace and before it got too late. It was Lincoln’s belief that with the passing of the thirteenth amendment to the constitution that would abolish slavery would be a great step in achieving his core and at the same time end the war on slavery. In the movie the issue of the amendment is seen to be very important therefore as part of the subplots shows details of efforts made by three republican roustabouts in using any necessary means to ensure that the minds of the democrats will be changed while Lincoln delays a high level confederate delegation that is on its way to make peace talks in Washington. In the movie there are also glimpses of Gen Ulysses S.Grant making attempts of discerning whether or not the south is ready to quit (Scott, 2012).

In the movie, there are debates that range in the House of Representatives on whether the amendment is adversable or not some see peace being a necessity over passing the amendment while others view the passing of the amendment as a step in ending the civil war. This process was marred with challenges .days after the vote took place, Lincoln and Seward held a meeting with confederate delegation, the confederate made negotiation only on the condition that Lincoln would not allow ratification on it.

The movie places slavery as the centre of the story, and it shows how difficult and costly it was for the US to fully recognize a full and equal humanity of black people.

Reference

Scott, A.O. (2012). A President Engaged in a Great Civil War. Retrieved February 23, 2013 from http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/movies/lincoln-by-steven-spielberg-stars-daniel-day-lewis.html?pagewanted=all