Lincoln' Movie Review Essay

There have been many different articles, biographies, and much more that have been published about the life of Abraham Lincoln to educate people on his life as a president, a father, and an all-American hero. This film was entirely based on the last four months of Lincoln's efforts in fighting for the 13 Amendment to be passed as a law. I think for the most part the film was mostly a correct depiction of what those four months had been like for Lincoln, the use of many facts that are not very well known to most people in today’s society. President Abraham Lincoln was one of the most influential men of his time and arguable even today. He was sworn to lead the newly independent country as the President of the United States on March 4, 1861, and this was prior to the succession of the southern states insisting on states' rights and the beginning of the Civil War. This was a dark and difficult time for people in the young nation that recently gained independence from Great Britain, and Abraham Lincoln was the right guy to guide the nation through this hard time. Southern states felt like the union was not in their favor, especially when it came to the issue of slavery and their rights as states.

One of the major subject matters of the film was how Lincoln fought and dealt with all the challenges of trying to get the 13th Amendment passed. What I recall in previous courses that I took in high school and college about the succession of the southern states, and Lincoln were stories that I believe were very much polished and not very accurate about the main reason why the Civil War happened, or what the circumstances were surrounding Lincoln’s reasons or intentions for pushing for the 13th amendment. I and many others were taught that the Civil War was about slavery and that’s about all that was ever truly taught on the matter, especially in public schools. Like most of the topics in history books, they are just little pieces to a bigger pie, and if you want to learn more, you’ll have to do it on your own time. It seems the road to getting the amendment passed was a lot more difficult than most professors, or teachers would like to go into details about, or that I had been taught. For an amendment to the constitution to be passed, it has to be passed with a 2/3 majority in Congress, and the Republicans did not have a 2/3 majority in the House of Representatives. This made passing the amendment extraordinarily tough since Democrats were in control.

When the Civil War began, President Abraham Lincoln made his intentions for the restoration of the Union known as loudly as possible. However early in the war, the Union started keeping escaped slaves as opposed to returning them to their owners as agreed previously, so runaway slaves gained their freedom once they escaped to the North. The movie shows Lincoln and his cabinet working to convince different democrats to vote for the change in the constitution which would abolish slavery. Lincoln is shown using the “spoils system” techniques, offering and sometimes bribing government positions to democrats who had recently been voted out of their seats in Congress and wouldn’t be returning to the House of Representatives. Secretary of State William H. Seward, Representative John B. Alley, and others were told by Lincoln to win Democrats' votes by any means necessary and promised government posts and campaign contributions to outgoing Democrats willing to switch sides. Seward had a large fund for direct bribes which was intended to help push their agenda in Congress. Ashley, who reintroduced the measure into the house, also lobbied numerous Democrats to vote in desire of the measure.

Lobbying is frequently misinterpreted, seen, or criticized as bribery, which it isn't. Lobbying is a practice accomplished through the manner of either individuals or corporations in which public campaigns are undertaken to stress governments into specific public policy actions. The legality of lobbying comes from the charter and from our participatory democracy. For our government to be triumphant and defend the rights of its citizens, the citizens ought to participate; lobbying is a way for our citizens to do this. Lobbyists constitute the interests of citizens who do not have the possibility or access to represent themselves in my opinion to the government. Lobbying is a critical lever for an efficient government, without it, governments might struggle to figure out the numerous complaints, and many competing interests of its citizens. Fortunately, lobbying offers access to government legislators, acts as a democratic tool, and permits personal and group interests to benefit strength in numbers.

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Lincoln introduced the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862; this new amendment was going to affect Southern states more because they relied highly on the work of slaves to run their economies. This measure opened the issue of what to do about slavery in border states that had not seceded or in areas that had been captured by the Union before the proclamation. In 1864, the amendment abolishing slavery passed the U.S. Senate however died in the House as Democrats rallied in the call for states’ rights. Lincoln insisted that the amendment acquire bipartisan help; some Democrats indicated support for the measure, however many still resisted. The amendment passed 119 to 56, seven votes above the vital two-thirds majority. Numerous Democrats abstained, but the thirteenth amendment was sent to all states for ratification, which then established the passage of the amendment in December 1865.

The movie is a reminder of how much the political parties have switched positions. In 'Lincoln,' Republicans are the more liberal party, promoting a more progressive agenda by seeking rights for African Americans while Democrats are the ones espousing state rights. There’s something about the South even today that I find amazing. The South has a very unique culture to the North. Most people whose families have been living down South for generations have a very strong loyalty to the region. Another issue I noticed in this movie is the fact that the storyline was trying to convince the audience that the Civil War was mainly about slavery when in part it was about state's rights. One issue that I have with how history is written; many writers are biased and are not willing to put out all the information surrounding slavery and the issue of race. It’s been over a hundred years, and race is still a major issue in the United States, despite Barack Obama being the president for eight years.

Last semester, I took a class on African American history and I learned about how once the 13th amendment was passed, most Southern states found a different name and way to keep Blacks into slavery, except this time it was called “convict leasing”.

After the Civil War, the Southern states' economy, society, and government were in shambles. Southern state governments struggled to raise money to repair broken infrastructure and to aid new expenses which included standard public education. The prison problem was mainly hard, as most prisons had been destroyed in the course of the war. Previously, African-American slaves had been subjected to punishments at the hands of their owners. Some prisoners were wrongly convicted. With government ineffectiveness and an increase in both white and black lawlessness, the problem of where and how to house convicts changed into a business. Initially, some states paid private contractors to house and feed the prisoners. within a few years, states realized they could hire out their convicts to local planters or industrialists who could pay minimal prices for the workers and be responsible for their housing and feeding -- thereby getting rid of charges and growing revenue. Soon, markets for convict workers advanced, with entrepreneurs buying and selling convict labor leases. unlike slavery, employers had only a small capital investment in convict people, and little incentive to treat them nicely. Convict workers were regularly dismally handled, but the convict lease system was fairly worthwhile for the states and the employers.

Finally, I personally wished the movie would have shown more of Lincoln's presidency so the audience could have a better understanding of what his motivation was in pushing for slaves' rights. It was a great movie, but like many of Hollywood’s dramas, it was super dramatic and not all that accurate. I enjoyed Lincoln's relationship with his son and his wife. It was a different view than what we are used to. It’s nice seeing how political heads are at home in their private spheres. I think there need to be more historical movies so that the younger generation like myself who are not that into reading books can get the opportunity of witnessing history even though it’s more dramatic. It will definitely make learning much easier and more fun. We are in a digital age, so adjusting will be a great idea.