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==The Setting==
The movie focuses on the key period when Lincoln was trying to pass the 13th Amendment, in the dying days of early 1865. In 1863, he had issued the proclamation that gave freedom to many African-American slaves. This at the time had been a strategic move designed to undermine the Confederates ability to fight the war at a time when General Robert E Lee was inflicting defeats on the Union army<ref> Goodwin, Doris Kearns Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (London, Simon & Schuster, 2013), p. 113 </ref>. Since then the tide had turned in favour of the Union and by 1865, the Union army under Ulysses S. Grant had Lee practically cornered in Virginia. The victory of the Union was inevitable and Lincoln had saved the Union. However, Lincoln was also deeply alarmed now and it is shown in the movie. He believed that there were many in the Senate and the House of Representatives who wanted to back-track on the Emancipation Act of 1863. There were many senators and congressmen who had sympathies with the white slaving owning class and who were racists and regarded slavery as the natural state of African-Americans. It seemed that with the Union victory that many in the American political establishment could accept the continuation of some form of slavery in the United States <ref> Goodwin, p. 116</ref>. The movie accurately captures Lincoln’s concerns that the Civil War would fail to secure the emancipation of the slaves. This was all correct and it was by no means certain that Lincoln and his followers could secure the necessary votes that would have allowed them to pass into law the prohibition of slavery. This is all very accurate. The motion picture shows Lincoln fighting to secure the passage of the 13th amendment and shows that he faced significant opposition. Traditionally, it was widely believed that the abolition of slavery was inevitable after the Union victory. This was not the case. It was a great struggle to pass the Amendment and only a figure with the prestige of Lincoln could have achieved it. Spielberg captures the scale of the Lincoln’s achievement.
[[File: 809px-AdoptionOf13thAmendment.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Celebrating the passage of the 13th Amendment in Congress]]
==The Vote==
The movie shows the vote on whether to pass the 13th Amendment as passing in a key moment in the American Civil War is correct. The day of the vote was scheduled to occur just as the Union and the Confederated were about to enter peace negotiations. The south was on the verge of defeat and many Confederate units had collapsed or were on the point of collapse. Lincoln was committed to ending the war as quickly as possible to preserve both Union and Confederate lives. Indeed, as the Confederate officials travelled north the debate on the motion to pass the Amendment had begun<ref> Goodwin, p. 234</ref>. Many in the southern states hated the idea that slavery would be abolished and indeed it had persuaded many to fight on. There was a great fear among many in the Union army that even after the defeat of the Confederates that many would continue the struggle. It did seem as one stage that the Confederate representatives would abandon the talks and end any hopes of a ceasefire or peace agreement. Furthermore, many in the Houses of Congress wanted to use the negotiations to delay the vote. Lincoln did manage to save both the peace negotiations and the vote by a clever piece of word play. This is very accurately captured in the movie. The President stated that the southern peace negotiators were not in Washington and therefore the debate on passing the 13th amendment could continue. This was not strictly true and they were on their way to Washington. This allowed Lincoln to secure his twin goals of getting the Amendment debated and starting the peace negotiations with the north. This was a piece of brilliant political scheming. The movie shows us very accurately that ‘Honest Abe’ was a shrewd political operator and that he was not above using cunning to get his way. The actual vote in the house is mainly realistic. Spielberg shows the house as being very raucous and noisy. Very unlike the modern Senate. This was the case at the time. In the nineteenth century, political debates were often full-bloodied affairs and much more passionate than present day politics. The motion picture does a great job of capturing the febrile environment in Houses of Congress. There is one error in the movie and that is the presence of Lincoln’s wife during the debate. Mary Todd Lincoln played by Sally Fields is shown by Spielberg as being present during the historic debate. This was not the case as it would have been considered ‘un-ladylike’ for her to be present during a raucous political debate<ref>McGovern, George S. Abraham Lincoln. London, Macmillan, 2008), p. 345</ref>.
