Changes

The vote for the passage of the 13th amendment was very close. In Spielberg’s film, Lincoln is shown as a shrewd political operator and capable of resorting to some low tactics to secure the passage of the Amendment. While the film shows Lincoln to be an idealist and a humanitarian it does not shy away from the fact that Lincoln could be as devious as his political opponents and enemies. This period in American politics was one that was characterised by outright bribery and shady deals. Lincoln had no choice but to operate in this environment and deal with unprincipled people. The movie shows Lincoln using the party machine to secure the votes that he needed for the passage of the 13th amendment. ‘Honest Abe’ is shown to be in league with his Secretary of State William Seward to secure the necessary votes in any way they can. Seward employs three lobbyists who use underhand tactics to get the votes that are needed for Lincoln to win. The movie shows Lincoln actively cooperating with Seward and the lobbyists. Lincoln probably kept his distance and merely secretly condoned the activities of the lobbyists. This is all very accurate. In one scene, the great liberal politician Thaddeus Stephens is shown discussing the amendment with his African-American housekeeper and commenting that the freedom of the slaves had been secured by low-means. This piece of dialogue did not happen but it captures the reality of the vote and how Lincoln despite being a very principled man was prepared to engage in ‘dirty politics to secure the freedom of countless slaves<ref> Goodwin, p. 312</ref>.

[[File: Abraham Lincoln O-77 matte collodion print.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Lincoln in 1863]]

==Slavery and the Civil War==

However, the movie seems to show that Lincoln was always committed to the abolition of slavery. This was not always the case. By the time of the movie Lincoln was certainly committed to the prohibition of slavery. It also gives the false impression that the civil war was fought on the issue of slavery. In this way, the movie and Spielberg missed a golden opportunity to promote a greater understanding of the origins and the course of the Civil War. Lincoln started the war to stop the break-up of the Union, slavery was only one of many issues that divided the north and the south. The war was not a result of the President’s efforts to end the institution of slavery and indeed in the early 1860s he was prepared to accept that it was up to the individual states to decide on the matter<ref> Manning, Chandra, "The Shifting Terrain of Attitudes toward Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation", Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, 34 (Winter 2013), 18–39</ref>. However, during dark periods of the civil war when it seemed that the Confederates might prevail he came to a belief that the Union could not survive without a genuine commitment to freedom and liberty. It was only in 1864 that Lincoln was fully committed to the abolition of slavery and he made it one of his key slogans during his re-election campaign in that year. The abolition of slavery became the ‘second purpose’ of the Civil War<ref> Goodwin, p 234</ref>. This is not really shown in the movie. Moreover, the movie gives the false impression of the situation on the ground. In fact, the institution of slavery was already collapsing in the south as many African-Americans were simply leaving their plantations and moving north <ref> Zilversmit, Arthur "Lincoln and the Problem of Race: A Decade of Interpretations". Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. 2 (11) (1980) 22</ref>. This is not shown in the movie.