Thoughts on the movie Licoln. These are just my thoughts and opinions based on my readings. I am not a Civil War scholar.
America, by 1860, had emerged as two distinct Americas with two distinct economies. Fraternal twins in an increasingly dysfunctional family. The north was The New World: industrial age in urban areas, new ways of thought, looking forward, growth of technology and a better distribution of education.
The South was the Traditional World: agrarian, traditional thought, looking inward and poor distribution of education.
Abraham Lincoln was born a mere twenty years after the Constitution was ratified. He was an American when that was still something new and palpable. We don’t understand that now. America was young and wild and fresh. Looking west from Illinois he could imagine that wild frontier teeming with wolves and bison; Indians, bears and mountain lions. Looking back east, bustling cities and commerce; to the south he saw the old way where time stood still. He loved THAT country. He also loved his fellow man including those of African descent. But he understood slavery, its place in history and in the Constitution, and though he didn’t harbor love for the institution, he was not antithetical to the slave holder. In fact he was sympathetic. He felt that in their position he would act the same and make the same choices. That they were the products of their culture just as the northerner was of his.
Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist. Abolitionism, though it did have southern adherents, was mostly a product of the north, and its popularity had gained tremendous impetus by the middle 19th century.
And then the new Republican Party was born which had anti-slavery built into its DNA.
The south believed in states’ rights, felt threatened by the federal government and sought to protect the only way of life it had known.
And then Lincoln left the crumbling Whig party and joined the Republicans.
America, by 1860, had emerged as two distinct Americas with two distinct economies. Fraternal twins in an increasingly dysfunctional family. The north was The New World: industrial age in urban areas, new ways of thought, looking forward, growth of technology and a better distribution of education.
The South was the Traditional World: agrarian, traditional thought, looking inward and poor distribution of education.
Abraham Lincoln was born a mere twenty years after the Constitution was ratified. He was an American when that was still something new and palpable. We don’t understand that now. America was young and wild and fresh. Looking west from Illinois he could imagine that wild frontier teeming with wolves and bison; Indians, bears and mountain lions. Looking back east, bustling cities and commerce; to the south he saw the old way where time stood still. He loved THAT country. He also loved his fellow man including those of African descent. But he understood slavery, its place in history and in the Constitution, and though he didn’t harbor love for the institution, he was not antithetical to the slave holder. In fact he was sympathetic. He felt that in their position he would act the same and make the same choices. That they were the products of their culture just as the northerner was of his.
Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist. Abolitionism, though it did have southern adherents, was mostly a product of the north, and its popularity had gained tremendous impetus by the middle 19th century.
And then the new Republican Party was born which had anti-slavery built into its DNA.
The south believed in states’ rights, felt threatened by the federal government and sought to protect the only way of life it had known.
And then Lincoln left the crumbling Whig party and joined the Republicans.
And then Lincoln was elected president with only support from the north.
And then the south seceded.
And then the south fired the first shot.
The war dragged on. The specter of mountains of dead sons, grieving mothers and a divided America weighed heavily. He probably didn’t sleep much during these years.
This emotional exhaustion pushed him in the direction of the abolitionist. Slowly, at first. For to strip the south of its laborer would collapse its economy and hasten its capitulation. (If he were truly an abolitionist, wouldn’t he have pushed for abolition on the day he took office?) Toward that end, he first issued his Emancipation Proclamation. It was an act of war, plain and simple, but it did not have the force of law. It was only a declaration. Not driven by altruism, its real motive was to rob the farmer of his ability to earn. It only affected certain states. Real abolitionists were outraged. In response to one editorial in the respected New York Tribune, Lincoln replied the following, which is ultimately telling of both this man’s intellect and true feelings on slavery/abolition/
“If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. . . . I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.”
The Proclamation had limited effect and bodies continued to mount. Only the liberation, by law, of slaves would bring the south to its knees. Abraham came to it slowly, but when he finally did, he became the 13 amendment’s most forceful proponent and threw the entire weight of his power and intellect into its passage. The amendment passed in January, the south surrendered in April.
The movie cuts in at the point where Abraham is the 13th amendment’s strong advocate. By doing that, the uneducated viewer is led to believe that Abraham Lincoln was born to free the slaves.
He was not. He was a man of and for his times. Maturing just as the fraternal twin Americas came to blows.
And then the south seceded.
And then the south fired the first shot.
The war dragged on. The specter of mountains of dead sons, grieving mothers and a divided America weighed heavily. He probably didn’t sleep much during these years.
This emotional exhaustion pushed him in the direction of the abolitionist. Slowly, at first. For to strip the south of its laborer would collapse its economy and hasten its capitulation. (If he were truly an abolitionist, wouldn’t he have pushed for abolition on the day he took office?) Toward that end, he first issued his Emancipation Proclamation. It was an act of war, plain and simple, but it did not have the force of law. It was only a declaration. Not driven by altruism, its real motive was to rob the farmer of his ability to earn. It only affected certain states. Real abolitionists were outraged. In response to one editorial in the respected New York Tribune, Lincoln replied the following, which is ultimately telling of both this man’s intellect and true feelings on slavery/abolition/
“If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. . . . I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.”
The Proclamation had limited effect and bodies continued to mount. Only the liberation, by law, of slaves would bring the south to its knees. Abraham came to it slowly, but when he finally did, he became the 13 amendment’s most forceful proponent and threw the entire weight of his power and intellect into its passage. The amendment passed in January, the south surrendered in April.
The movie cuts in at the point where Abraham is the 13th amendment’s strong advocate. By doing that, the uneducated viewer is led to believe that Abraham Lincoln was born to free the slaves.
He was not. He was a man of and for his times. Maturing just as the fraternal twin Americas came to blows.
He was not born to write the cynical Emancipation Proclamation.
He was born to write the Gettysburg Address.
He was born to reunify his nation. The slavery issue was a means to that end.
The movie was good, if a bit self-important. While Day-Lewis did a magnificent job at becoming--chanelling, Lincoln, every act, every line by every actor was performed as though it would be etched in stone for the ages. The movie was imbued with grandiosity. I found that tedious. Also, Lincoln's trampling of the Constitution, use of the executive order and abrogation of American's freedoms under the auspices of war receives tacit approval from writer and director of this movie. One can't help notice a whiff of corollary with current events.
The movie deified Lincoln. Lincoln was not a god then, nor is he one now.
He was born to write the Gettysburg Address.
He was born to reunify his nation. The slavery issue was a means to that end.
The movie was good, if a bit self-important. While Day-Lewis did a magnificent job at becoming--chanelling, Lincoln, every act, every line by every actor was performed as though it would be etched in stone for the ages. The movie was imbued with grandiosity. I found that tedious. Also, Lincoln's trampling of the Constitution, use of the executive order and abrogation of American's freedoms under the auspices of war receives tacit approval from writer and director of this movie. One can't help notice a whiff of corollary with current events.
