Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg, was made not too long ago in 2012. Because this film was produced relatively recently, the production quality was obviously more advanced than other movies about the civil war. Using more developed technology, props, costumes, etc. the portrayal of the time period of the 1860s was very accurate. The sets did very much look like they were shot in the 1860s, especially with the old decor in the white house and all the horse carriages in the outdoor scenes. Whereas in contrast, movies produced in the ’30s or ’40s were very simple in terms of production. If a movie was made in the ’40s, it would look like it because they were so limited in these factors.
The film highlights Lincoln’s struggles with continuing massacres on the battlefield as the Civil War kept on raging as well as Lincoln’s disputes with his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves and pass the 13th Amendment. His task was a race against time because the war could end at any moment, and if peace came before the amendment was passed, southern slaves who had been freed as a war measure would be re-enslaved and the southern states would be readmitted. Although he is assured the Republicans would vote yes, the amendment also requires support from a Democratic congressman, and so Lincoln and his team work to make sure he had all the needed votes, he was determined to pass this amendment as soon as he could. Lincoln’s struggle to pass the amendment before the war came to an end was portrayed very clearly in numerous scenes based on his body language and facial expressions, as he was always seen to be in a state of distress. His endeavors were also portrayed very clearly based on his conversations with his cabinet, his wife, etc. as he was always persistently pushing for the amendment to go through. The film made it very clear his intentions and point of view.
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Visualizing the Scene Scenes involving war were always darker than other scenes; they had tones of grey, blue, and black, very gloomy colors. Scenes were also always depicted as rainy, cloudy, and foggy, it gave it a very eerie feel, as though death was in the air. In terms of sound, there was a lot of yelling coming from the soldiers. Being that the setting was on a battlefield, there was lots of damage, violence, blood, and of course, dead bodies practically everywhere; there were so many shots of dead bodies just sprawled across the battlefield. There was a specific scene towards the end of the film of Lincoln and his team going through the battlefield on horseback after the war ended, and Lincoln said he had never seen anything like it, as he was in disbelief as he traveled around. Visualizing the Society There was one scene in the courtroom of one of the congressmen saying something along the lines of “We might as well give voting rights to women” in response to giving black men the right to vote and the others reacted by laughing and booing. This is a clear indication of women’s positions in society and how they were seen as inferior to men. There were also no women in the courthouse, on the battlefield, or even outside, which revealed the gender roles at the time; women held no real positions in society.
Even the first lady just sat in the courtroom and watched as the voting occurred, and at home, she was always seen in corsets and dresses, with no indication of any real power. Being that this was the time of the Civil War, the major class issue was clearly the divide between blacks and whites. Black people were considered nothing more than property, a source of labor, and ultimately, money. The South’s economy was built solely upon slaves and their hard work, which was completely dismissed because the upper class wasn’t concerned with the immorality of the subject, just what they could get out of it, which is why it was a hard fight to win. Historical Analysis The historical background to the struggle over the 13th Amendment essentially, was that President Lincoln was determined to abolish slavery before the Civil War ended. He realized that his Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 was very limited in its extent and was very legally fragile. The end of the war meant that the legal status of slavery in slave states would remain unchanged. However, a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery would prevent this possibility. In 1864, a bill proposing a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery was introduced by Missouri Senator John Henderson. This passed the Senate but was rejected by the House of Representatives.
After Lincoln’s re-election in November, Lincoln set about trying to create alliances with Representatives in order to pass the amendment. President Lincoln had to deal with political rivalries, abolitionist demands for stronger legislation, and demand that he finish the war before making such a controversial move. Even members of his own cabinet were not completely on board with his plan. I think Steven Spielberg did an incredible job in terms of historical accuracy because this is exactly what was depicted in the film, the historical background and synopsis of the movie are practically identical. Even Spielberg’s portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln’s wife, and Lincoln’s oldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln was spot on. Mary was a very emotionally unstable and troubled woman, this affected Lincoln during his presidency. The dynamic that the couple shared was shown exceptionally well, as there were many scenes of the two arguing, and Mary often bursting into tears or breaking down. Robert ignored his parent's objections to enlisting and dropped out of study at Harvard to join the ranks of Union soldiers and fight in the civil war.
This is shown previous times in the film as there were scenes of Robert and his father arguing about this very matter, as well as Mary being very much opposed to the idea, as she feared she would lose him. The only difference is how the movie portrayed Lincoln’s assassination, as it does not occur at Ford’s theatre. Lincoln was not at the theatre when he got assassinated in the movie, but in reality, he was shot during the show. However there was a scene of vice president Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s cabinet, and some of his closest friends standing by the president’s bedside, and in the film, it was announced that he was pronounced dead at 7:22 AM, so this part was completely historically accurate. I believe the value this film has in learning about the Civil War is getting to know Lincoln’s character and how many difficult obstacles he faced during his presidency, it reminds us how important Lincoln was to the history of the United States.
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