Paradoxical That None of the American Movies

¶ … paradoxical that none of the American movies has ever done a good job at representing the American democracy. However Lincoln the movie is one among the many movies that have tried to demonstrate a great democratic art form. Lincoln (2012) is an American drama that was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie is centered on the United States sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln and covers the four final months of Lincoln's life, focus being on the efforts made by the president in January 1865 of having the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States House of representative that would see the abolishment of slavery in the country. He tried to scare up votes to ensure that he could get enough votes to pass the bill in congress. This movie concentrates on tumultuous period between January 1865 and the end of the civil war on April 9th and finally the assassination of Lincoln five days later.

This movie depicts a very important historical event in the United States. This was a landmark constitutional amendment; With the expectation of the civil war to end in a month but an issue of concern being Lincolns 1863 emancipation proclamation would have been disregarded by the courts upon conclusion of the war and the 13th amendment defeated by the return of slave states. Lincoln then saw it necessary to pass the amendment at the end of January. That passing of the amendment dispelled any possibility of already released slaves being re-enslaved. Radical republicans feared that the amendment would be defeated by people who wished the amendment would be delayed, however whether the republicans in the Border States supported the amendment was not clear since their priority was ending the civil war. All of them on board were still not enough due to the fact that it was a requirement that several democrats support congressmen so that the amendment bit can be passed (Scott, 2012).

This is therefore a very important historical event in America, it was a task of a race against time, for the coming of peace any time and if it occurs that it comes before the passing of the amendment then the returning states in the south would ensure that the amendment process was stopped before it even becomes law. The movie depicts that a newly elected president Lincoln in January 1865 noting the imminence of the end of civil war, as he was wondering out loud what the fact of the former slaves would be. He finds hypocrisy in his emancipation proclamation in 1863 that saw the freeing of most slaves as a measure of war but had not declared slavery illegal. It was just a constitutional amendment that would end slavery permanently in America. Therefore it was an issue of great importance that Lincoln obtains enough votes from a recalcitrant congress before the arrival of peace and before it got too late. It was Lincoln's belief that with the passing of the thirteenth amendment to the constitution that would abolish slavery would be a great step in achieving his core and at the same time end the war on slavery.

In the movie the issue of the amendment is seen to be very significant therefore as part of the subplots shows details of efforts made by three republican roustabouts in using any necessary means to ensure that the minds of the democrats will be changed while Lincoln delays a high level confederate delegation that is on its way to make peace talks in Washington. In the movie there are also glimpses of Gen Ulysses S.Grant making attempts of discerning whether or not the south is ready to quit (Scott, 2012).