Lincoln Movie Essay

The movie Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg, takes the story about the process leading up to the passage of the thirteenth amendment and turns it into a historically correct and emotionally rich film. Almost every aspect of this film makes it more appealing as a historical film, especially the cast and the score. Spielberg highlighted Abraham Lincoln’s fight to abolish slavery and end the civil war while also presenting the opinions of those against the thirteenth amendment and abolition of slavery. Through strong ambitions and immense courage, the goals laid out within the thirteenth amendment were passed. A theme that stood out throughout the entirety of the film was ambition. Everything that Abraham Lincoln did was supported by his

During a time of extreme hostility within a divided Union and bloody battles fought over equality and reputation, words and actions had to be carried out carefully. Without courage and without someone like Abraham Lincoln, the outcome of the struggle to uphold the Union may have been a failure. To go against everything that the Southern economy was running on for the sake of the Union took a lot of bravery. Lincoln was conflicted on whether or not to pass the thirteenth amendment before or after the war ends. He worried that he passed it after the war, the Emancipation Proclamation would be overturned and slavery would continue. A specific example of the courage within this film was when Robert Lincoln finally admitted to his father that he had returned in hopes of joining the forces. He said to his father that “[he has] to do this! And [he] will do it, and [he doesn’t] need [his father’s] permission to enlist!” (Robert Lincoln). This courage brought Robert what he wanted, and that is what courage did in this movie. In one of the final scenes, while the meeting in the House was happening and each name was called courage was shown within the men who agreed to pass the amendment. Thanks to those such as Coffroth, Yeaman, Hawkins, and the even Schuyler Colfax the amendment was passed. The fact that even the speaker himself voted for the abolition of slavery shows extreme courage against an evil