Comments on: NYFF Impressions: Steven Spielberg Unveils His ‘Lincoln’ History Lesson In Surprise Screening

By: Historian

Historian — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

"Emphatically the Black Man's President"
In Chicago, in July 1858, Abraham Lincoln pleaded with his audience, "let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other man; this race and that race and the other race being inferior, and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position; discarding our standard that we have left us. Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal…I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal." Â Â
A study of Lincoln's life reveals him to have never easily fit the mores and customs of his times. Thus, the growth depicted between a pre-presidential and presidential Lincoln is unnecessary. Harry Jaffa's "Crisis of the House Divided", on the Lincoln-Douglas Debates; Richard Striner's "Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle Against Slavery"; Lawanda Cox's "Lincoln and Black Freedom: A Study in Presidential Leadership"; James Oakes' "The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics"; Allen Guelzo's "Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America"; and Michael Burlingame's "Abraham Lincoln: A Life"; all show Lincoln, at each stage of his life and career, to be a personally committed man with a progressive political career.
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure and applied it only to areas still in rebellion against the national authority, because such was the only way to present it as constitutional. The loyal slave-holding Border states also were crucial to the Union cause and couldn't be alienated. As Union forces advanced and conquered the rebellious areas more and more African-Americans became free. Nonetheless, Lincoln was so concerned that the Proclamation would be ruled unconstitutional that he insisted the 13th Amendment be a part of the 1864 Republican Platform; made sure an unprecedented enforcement clause was added; used all his powers of persuasion and patronage to get it through Congress; and signed the Amendment though his signature was not needed. Frederick Douglass was "impressed with his entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race" after meeting with Lincoln three times in the White House, and in 1865 called him "emphatically the black man's president."
Colonization was to be voluntary; Lincoln felt white prejudice so intractable that he urged black leaders to consider it. Colonization was abandoned as ventures failed, and African-Americans rejected it. Lincoln said blacks and whites had to "live out of the old relation and come out better prepared for the new." As president, Lincoln supported bills abolishing segregation on omnibuses in D.C.; for allowing black witnesses in federal courts; for equalizing penalties for the same crime; for equal pay for black soldiers. He welcomed, for the first time, an ambassador from Haiti; African-Americans picnicked on the White House grounds. He supported the activities of the Freedmen's Bureau. When he visited occupied Richmond, he took off his hat and returned the bow of an elderly black man–an act of equality noted by sullen white onlookers and the press alike. In what was his last public address, Lincoln called for public schooling for blacks, and for the vote for black soldiers and the well educated. John Wilkes Booth, in the crowd, seethed "that means n– citizenship", and vowed the speech was Lincoln's last.
Runaway slaves, black and white abolitionists, all played a crucial role in slavery's demise. However, President Lincoln was key to the abolition of slavery. A friend of black freedom, Lincoln worked assiduously for "a new birth of freedom" in the United States where all had the opportunity to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

Thank you for the review. I wanted to point out that your sentence "Beginning in the fall of 1864, in the midst of Lincolnâs second term as President…" is wrong. Fall of 1864 was still his first term. He was re-elected in Nov 1864, sworn in for his second term in March 1865, killed a month later.
Also, just throwing it out there, his Secretary of State, unnamed in your review, was William Seward, one of the most important Americans never elected president. Interesting to me is the notion that it is based on Doris Goodwin's book, as the book largely takes place before 1864 (but does go up through the assassination). I found the most interesting elements of the book to be the discussion of how Lincoln won his rivals over to see him as a president to follow, when they were largely competitors for the position. Anyway, looking forward to it, I think.

By: Grant

Grant — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

Do you suppose Spielberg will mention how Lincoln: suspended the writ of habeas corpus; imprisoned tens of thousands of northern political dissenters; censored all telegraph communications; confiscated firearms in the border states, violating the 2nd Amendment; deported Democratic Congressman Vallandigham for anti-administration speeches; issued an arrest warrant for the chief justice; illegally orchestrated the secession of West Virginia from Virginia; shut down hundreds of newspapers in the north, sometimes imprisoning the editors and owners?

By: Mike R.

Mike R. — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

This awesome review states the following:

"Beginning in the fall of 1864, in the midst of Lincolnâ€™s second term as President, while the bloody Civil War is still raging, it looks like the war has an end in sight."

Wrong. Lincoln's second inaugural address comes halfway through the movie, and occurred on March 4, 1865.

Did this reviewer even watch the film? The second inaugural is a huge plot point.

I\’m a moron.

By: StephenM

StephenM — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

Wow, so this is actually a movie that puts historical accuracy first? Sounds fantastic!

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

I could have written this review. Its that predictable.
The 'this is boorrring' comments make me want to see even more.
Imagine that? A film that revolves around characterization and dialogue and expects you to care about the historial context.
Have we become this lazy?

By: Oogle monster

Oogle monster — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

So, The Master for BP and Director it is? Greaaat!

By: Mr Anonymous

Mr Anonymous — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

Sounds slow and boring. Another Amistad. Pass.

By: Calvin

Calvin — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

I love the idea that Spielberg is giving audiences a "history lesson." A revisionist history lesson perhaps. Lincoln was a big fan of colonization and initially he wanted to ship all of the slaves back to Africa. It wasn't until his cabinet got ahold of him and convinced him to keep the slaves in the US so that they could free them, but exploit them financially, that Lincoln got on board. This idea that Lincoln was some "great emancipator" is a joke. But don't take my word for it, just read his own words: in his first debate with Stephen Douglas on August 21st, 1858, Lincoln said "I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races." "I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favour of the race to which I belong having the superior position.â âFree them [slaves] and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this. We cannot, then, make them equals." ….. yeah, real friend of the blacks…. On July 17th, 1858, he said "What I would most desire would be the separation of the white and black races." And in his fourth debate with Douglas he asserted that "I will to the very last stand by the law of this state, which forbids the marrying of white people with Negroes.â – Something tells me we won't be hearing any of this in Spielberg's film. History lesson my ass!

By: kitcon

kitcon — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

Totally agree. It could have been more accurately called "The 13th Amendment and 19th C political horse-trading and gamesmanship." While its somewhat interesting as a history lesson esp at this time to see how far the Democrats and Republicans have gone from their original positions, it far from a compelling watch for the public.

By: wholemkt153

wholemkt153 — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

Wonderful.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

Wow, you people really hate War Horse, don't you? I mean, you just really, really, really HATE it.

I think all future Playlist articles dealing with Spielberg in any way, shape or form could probably be given the accurate headline "Beating A Dead War Horse"….

By: Kevin Klawitter

Kevin Klawitter — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:43:54 +0000

A 19th Century political drama? Awesome. That's exactly what I wanted. We rarely get a sense of Lincoln as the politician, and yanking back the curtain to show that getting stuff done in Congress was just as difficult in Lincoln's time as it is now could be have great resonance for modern audiences interested in history and politics.