Lincoln Questions

Chris Laney

Block D

Daniel Day Lewis' portayal of Abraham Lincoln

1. To what extent was Lincoln "uncompromising"?  To what extent was Thaddeus Stevens (leader of the Radical Republicans) "uncompromising"?  What were they willing to compromise on?  What were they not willing to compromise on?

Lincoln was uncompromising in getting the 13th amendment passed, whereas Thaddeus was uncompromising in the way that he didn't want to fully say that he was for racial equality. The two of them were willing to compromise on Thaddeus voting for the 13th amendment, whereas Thaddeus was adamant about not fully saying he believed in racial equality.

2. To what extent did the movie provide evidence of Lincoln's perspective as depicted in the Lincoln letters?

The film shows the perspective of him doing whatever he can to save the union. Although he is trying to force the 13th amendment through, its to save the union from another civil war.

3. Why did Lincoln believe the 13th Amendment was essential?  

He believed the amendment was essential because if the amendment wasn't passed they could set the union up for another civil war.

4. How did the film complicate the narrative that the North was against slavery and/or for racial equality, while the South was for slavery and against racial equality?

The film complicated the north and south against and for racial equality by showing some of the northerners not wanting to pass the 13th amendment because they had heard of rumors that the two sides of the civil war were negotiating peace.

5. For what reasons did people seem to resist the ending of slavery?  Did the film depict this as a matter of concern for property rights, or something else?  

They seemed to resist ending slavery because people had heard rumors that The North was already negotiating peace terms with The South. The film depicted it as a concern of ending the war faster rather than going through the struggle of voting on the amendment.