Questions about Lincoln
1. Lincoln was uncompromisable in his strong beliefs on why he thought slavery was wrong. During the film, Lincoln stood strongly to his belief of ending slavery, even when important members of the republican party, such as William, told him that there was no point in trying to end slavery before the war was over. Thus leading to Lincoln attempting to create the 13th Amendment despite a large quantity of disapproval. Thaddeus Stevens was uncompromising when talking about human imperfections, and how he did not believe in human perfection, calling it equality before law. Both Lincoln, and Thaddeus compromised in their believes of wanting to end slavery, but could not compromise on their methods in doing so.
2. Originally in Lincoln's letters, of course he did not want slavery to take place, but he still made other things such as the constitution a priority over slavery. As the war went on, you could see throughout the rest of the two letters how slowly, slavery become Lincoln's main issue that he desired to solve. Similar to the movie, you could tell how passionate Lincoln became over the course of the film, and how determined he was to end slavery before the end of the war to ensure his dreams of abolishing slavery came true. This helped me as a student read and see connections from this lifetime.
3. Lincoln believed the 13th Amendment was essential in order to end slavery. If Lincoln were to go ahead and end the war before slavery had been abolished, there would not have been a way to completely end slavery. This is because a certain amount of slaves would allow the south to gain another representative that would therefore vote towards keeping slavery, making Lincoln's dream of abolishing slavery not come true. But by making this amendment official before the war ended, there would be no way for the south representatives to vote to continue slavery.
4. The film complicated the narrative that the North was against slavery or racial equality, while the south was against slavery but for equality because rather than focusing on these main differences, the movie turned the situation into something more political. For example, in the movie, these two different opinions were exemplified by calling yourself either a democrat or a republican, and Thaddeus called someone a "dirty democrat" when their opinions were different from his on why the war should be ended.
5. Property rights were a concern and reason a large number of people were hesitant to end slavery. It was believed that once the slaves were let free, the population would grow at large, and other sensitive topics such as racial equality, and women's rights could possibly have to be considered by this large change taking place. As demonstrated in the movie, as one party was arguing equal rights, the court room started getting very aggressive when the idea of women and people of color would be able to vote. Despite these differences, I do believe that the people did understand that slavery was morally wrong, and did in some ways, want to put an end to slavery.
4. The film complicated the narrative that the North was against slavery or racial equality, while the south was against slavery but for equality because rather than focusing on these main differences, the movie turned the situation into something more political. For example, in the movie, these two different opinions were exemplified by calling yourself either a democrat or a republican, and Thaddeus called someone a "dirty democrat" when their opinions were different from his on why the war should be ended.
5. Property rights were a concern and reason a large number of people were hesitant to end slavery. It was believed that once the slaves were let free, the population would grow at large, and other sensitive topics such as racial equality, and women's rights could possibly have to be considered by this large change taking place. As demonstrated in the movie, as one party was arguing equal rights, the court room started getting very aggressive when the idea of women and people of color would be able to vote. Despite these differences, I do believe that the people did understand that slavery was morally wrong, and did in some ways, want to put an end to slavery.
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