Spielberg's Lincolnfulfills the President's Emancipation Legacy
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Social Education 77(1), pp 44–48 ©2013 National Council for the Social Studies Review Spielberg’s Lincoln Fulfills the President’s Emancipation Legacy photo by David DreamWorks James ©2012 II Distribution Col, LLC and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. President Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis, center) confers with Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn, right) and Representative James Ashley (David Costabile, far left) in this scene from Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. David Wolfford teven Spielberg’s latest movie include Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field), image, provide some historical context, Lincoln updates our national Secretary of State William Seward (David and look at its characterization of con- Sunderstanding of our sixteenth Strathairn), Republican power player gressional emancipation. president and provides a partial, artful Francis Preston Blair (Hal Holbrook), lesson on the passage of the Thirteenth and abolitionist Congressman Thaddeus Shaping Lincoln’s Image Amendment that abolished slav- Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones). Abraham Lincoln lives in the American ery. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, this Once released on DVD, teachers consciousness and ranks top on historians’ movie will become a defining work on could use this work to teach about lists because this non-privileged, ruffled President Abraham Lincoln’s character Lincoln’s personal and administrative lawyer rose to political prominence, pre- and leadership in his final days, and will challenges, Civil War-era political served the Union, and freed slaves. The raise questions about how politicians divisions, the patronage system, or the movie industry did much to shape the elevated emancipation into the nation’s operation of the lower house. The movie's man’s image with such movies as Young highest law. online “Learning Hub” offers a 28-page Mr. Lincoln (1939) and Abe Lincoln in Most of the film coincides with a Educator’s Guide with background con- Illinois (1940). In Young Mr. Lincoln, a three-week legislative battle in the tent and primary sources, and Lincoln film that only hints at Lincoln’s future House of Representatives, while offer- scholar Harold Holzer has authored political career, Henry Fonda portrays ing a close-up look of Lincoln’s family the companion book for young readers, Lincoln successfully defending two inno- life, the Republicans’ lobbying efforts, Lincoln: How Abraham Lincoln Ended cent men in an Illinois courtroom. Abe and the floor debate over the amend- Slavery in America. This review will Lincoln in Illinois casts Raymond Massie ment. Additional historical characters examine the film’s impact on Lincoln’s as a rising politician, but ends with a Social Education 44 clinically depressed candidate winning in 1861, Congress had actually passed an amendment will go to the States for their the presidency at the worst possible time. amendment to protect slavery; but once action,” he declared, “may we not agree These were the last motion pictures to the South seceded, and after the firing that the sooner the better?”4 fully feature Abraham Lincoln on the on Ft. Sumter, neither Confederate states Lincoln picks up the story in early big screen, though he appears in cameo nor Northern states saw a need to ratify it. January 1865 when Mary Todd Lincoln in westerns, assassination conspiracies, As states seceded, seats in Congress emp- learns incredulously of her husband’s and Civil War films, because, as Tony tied. In 1864, Republicans introduced ambitious and politically dangerous Piplio argues, “A shorthand Lincoln was the emancipation amendment, but had goal. Lincoln and Secretary Seward more convenient as a ready-made sym- to overcome constitutional constraints. meet with Ohio Representative James bol of conscience and courage,” while First, Democrats challenged the scope Ashley (David Costabile), the House’s a full biopic required a complicated of Article V’s authority to amend the chief advocate for the bill, and order him examination of race, emancipation, or Constitution, especially a proposal to to hold the vote at the end of the month. Reconstruction.1 abolish an institution accepted at the Some scenes, such as this, may mislead Spielberg’s team has broken new framing. Also, could the House, with viewers or misappropriate credit. Surely, ground by further shaping the presi- no Southern representation, pass any Mrs. Lincoln would have already known dent’s screen persona and by filling the amendment? And, what constituted of her husband’s insistence on putting Hollywood void of his legacy as the three-fourths of state legislatures in this the amendment into the party’s platform Great Emancipator. Spielberg purchased time of rebellion and partially reinstated and his public endorsement in early the rights to Doris Kearns Goodwin’s state governments? The Senate easily December. Also, Congressman Ashley, Team of Rivals years before she com- passed the proposal on April 8 by a vote an abolitionist Republican, wouldn’t pleted it, and hired playwright Tony of 38 to 6. All Republicans cast votes have needed such pressure. The Toledo- Kushner to turn the book into a screen- in favor, as did six Unionists and four area representative dedicated much of his play. Daniel Day-Lewis’s Lincoln must Democrats. The same measure failed political life to abolition. He introduced balance his desire for emancipation with to reach the required two-thirds in the a similar emancipation resolution in 1861 his desire to preserve the Union amid House on June 15 by a partisan vote of and sponsored this amendment in the a divided Republican party, a staunch 93 to 65. All Republicans but one, and spring 1864. Ironically, Ashley was Democratic opposition, and an unsta- only four Democrats, voted for it.3 the sole Republican to vote “no” back ble First Lady. The actor’s subject was President Lincoln had given mini- in June for strategic reasons. An obscure a folksy, humorous, storytelling sort out mal attention to the bill, but began to House rule prevented sponsors of failed of the Western prairie, full of wit and dry embrace it by suggesting the Union party bills from reintroducing them into the jokes. In person, the otherwise reverent (the Republicans’ temporary banner) same Congress unless the sponsors voted Lincoln most envision was actually an include this cause in its platform. He against them. In between the time when awkward and unpolished man. Day- also viewed Republican victories that the bill was up for a vote, Ashley cam- Lewis captures the Lincoln we have all November, including his own, as a man- paigned vigorously for the issue.5 seen while adding an awkward dimen- date to expand his emancipation program. To fully succeed, Lincoln needed to sion and an unfamiliar voice. Historians “I gave ‘em a year and a half to think about overcome a strategic conundrum and have confirmed that his portrayal is an it,” Day-Lewis’s character declares to Ashley needed to stand down Democratic accurate one. Lincoln biographer Ronald skeptics about his Emancipation opponents in the House. Lincoln wanted White said, “He walks like Lincoln … he Proclamation, “and they re-elected both to end the war and end slavery, but talks like Lincoln … what comes out is me.” Lincoln won 55 percent of the one of these might have prevented the the very accurate depiction of the spirit popular vote and all the electoral votes other. Focusing attention on a ques- of the man.”2 except those from Kentucky, Delaware, tionable amendment in uncertain times and New Jersey (only the Union states could re-energize the Confederacy and The Thirteenth Amendment voted in the 1864 election). In the House, spoil potential peace. Conversely, if the In addition to revealing the man’s charac- Republicans gained additional seats and war ended and Southerners returned to ter, Lincoln also provides a lesson on the would have an even stronger advantage Congress, the measure might never pass. passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. over Democrats in the following term. Kushner and Spielberg examine these The script provides minimal background In his annual report to Congress on mitigating factors and the uncertainty to the event, but spotlights the sprint to December 8, 1864, Lincoln mentioned of the moment to dramatize this lesser- passage in the House of Representatives, the recent election and assured that the known story for an audience that already while creatively shedding light on its next Congress would pass the measure if knows the ending. In trying to negoti- back-story and “Honest Abe’s” role. this one did not. “Hence there is only a ate secretly, Lincoln dictates a message Just before Lincoln’s first inauguration question of time as to when the proposed to Confederate leaders to come and January/February 2 013 45 A number of teaching activities could accompany the film Lincoln (rated PG-13), which will certainly land in school libraries and teachers’ video collections. The 150-minute runtime might make it more practical to show only select scenes, particularly those that shed light on the president and his cabinet, his family, or the debate on the House floor. A host of primary sources— the 1864 Republican and Democrat platforms, Lincoln’s speeches, and the House debates on the amendment—are available online and worthy of analysis (see highlighted websites). An ambitious lesson might require students to compare the re-enacted House scenes with the entries from the Congressional Globe that contain the actual speeches and debates. Navigating the Globe’s index and pages may be challenging for students, so consider selecting a worthy passage to photocopy. Another option is to compare the Corwin Amendment that protected slavery in 1861 with the Thirteenth Amendment. Finally, students could research a particular congressman or a state’s delegation from the era using Congress’s online Biographical Directory database. Page 531 of the Globe (38th Congress, 2nd Session) provides the final roll call vote on the amendment.