Lincoln, Spielberg: Movie Analysis

After the civil war, the question of “what’s next” was the main focus throughout politics, the government and the country. Abraham Lincoln was president during that time and he had a plan for reconstruction he hoped would bring the nation back together quickly and easily without too many harsh punishments or difficulties. Unfortunately, after Lincoln was murdered, his Vice President, Andrew Johnson had a plan for reconstruction that was different than Lincoln’s and many disagreed with Johnson’s views and ideas. Radical Republicans, were a large majority of the people who did not like Johnson the most, and so they came up with a reconstruction plan of their own as well, however only one was put into place and it changed the future of the United States forever.

And when Southern leaders were reelected to their old positions at the federal level, the Radical Republicans in Congress refused to seat them. The midterm elections gave the Radicals enough votes in Congress to override Johnson's presidential veto, ending the short-lived era of Presidential Reconstruction. But despite his political weakness on the home front, Johnson's administration did have some successes in foreign policy by defending the Monroe Doctrine in Mexico and purchasing Alaska from Russia. He failed to acquire several island territories.

One of reasons the confederacy failed was because the U.S. Congress, with Lincoln’s support, proposed the 13th amendment which would abolish slavery in America. Although the confederate peace delegation was unwilling to accept a future without slavery, the radical and moderate Republicans designed a way to takeover the reconstruction program. The Radical Republicans wanted full citizenship rights for African Americans and wanted to implement harsh reconstruction policies toward the south. The radical republican views made up the majority of the Congress and helped to pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens, and protected freedmen from presidential vetoes, southern state legislatures, and federal court decisions. In 1869, Congress passed the fifteenth amendment stating that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

In the last chapter, Butler provides various ideals in effort to rid the Chokehold in its entirety. In chapter 8, “Woke: Unlocking the Chokehold” Butler opens the chapter by informing the reader that racial inequality is something that has been around for some time. As far back as I can remember African-Americans, specifically mean have never been treated the same as any other race. There have been attempts to end discrimination, however, none of these attempts warranted any long-term solutions.

Lincoln 's Emancipation Proclamation did not include border States such as Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and others. Although beloved by many, Lincoln caused the war between the states, a conflict which more than 600,000 Americans were killed, made many unconstitutional decisions, and behaved as a dictator, rather than a president. On January 21st, 1861, Jefferson Davis gave his farewell address to the United States Senate following South Carolina’s and Mississippi’s secession from the United States. Throughout his speech, Davis continually reiterated the fact that all states had the right to seceed.

As the America government getting stronger and stronger, the society was slowly being torn up with racial inequalities: after the civil war, the nation was reunited, but the African American races were not happy with their situation, because they felt they were never respected by other American citizens. So the civil war became a war that African Americans fought for their freedom. One of the leaders of this movement was Martin Luther King jr. Because his theology education in Boston University, Martin Luther King has developed his own theory of Nonviolent Resistance, which states that ‘‘the Christian doctrine of love operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence was one of the most potent weapons available

Since Abraham’s knowledge on slavery was very strong, he joined the Republican Party two years later. A year later, the Supreme Court supplied decisions made from Scott v. Sanford, announcing African Americans were not real citizens and hadn’t any rights given to them. Abraham had the strong feeling that African Americans weren’t as equal to whites, he also had the feeling that the founders stated that all men were put on this earth with specific rights. Lincoln being as confident as he is, took on U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas to take his spot in office. Six years passed and Illinois had organized a campaign to help Abraham Lincoln win the presidency.

Therefore this makes people see racism in a whole new light; racism has not been justified because the United States have failed to uphold their promises. Kings goes on to say how racial equality can not be achieved until “...justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King). He deliberately tries to make the audience feel as if racial segregation is both wrong and against basic morals. Martin Luther King’s most famous speech, “I Have a Dream” was the changing point for racism in America. It managed to inspire a generation of blacks to never give up and made thousands of white Americans feel ashamed of their actions.

Johnson states in his address that when we deny equality and freedom to an American citizen, we are completely disregarding the equality and freedom that so many Americans had died for in the past. The United States Constitution is built on the principle that this country was born for the equal opportunity and advantages of all people. When I was reading President Johnson’s speech, a topic that came of interest to me was the Voting Rights Act that he was presenting in his speech. Johnson presented this bill to Congress in 1965, as a result of the Salma uproar, and on August 6, 1965, the bill was approved by Congress. This bill gave southern blacks the right to vote in poll taxes, literacy tests, and various other practices that were once denied to them.

President Jackson’s decision to create a new compromised tariff was beneficial to not only South Carolina, but the whole country because they could focus on more important issues, like slavery. President Lincoln’s decision to institute a draft so that he could get more power on the side of the Union, as well as the Emancipation Proclamation, which ensured that other nations like Britain and France didn’t help on the Confederate side to win the Civil War. These issues still stick with us today, for example the idea of states ’ rights, which applied to the Nullification Crisis when South Carolina nullified the tariffs, can still be found in controversial decisions about different drugs, as well as firearms. Racism and discrimination still occasionally happen to African-Americans, which carries along the idea of how the United States has always had conflicting views about slavery and African-American rights. Presidents of the United States of America will continue to make decisions to ease the tensions in the country on controversial issues, and previous decisions will come up again, like history always

Did Johnson refuse King’s idea or is that just how DuVernay wanted to portray him? Steven Spielberg, the director of Lincoln is about the passing of the 13th Amendment. Throughout most of the movie the representatives from each country meet in a courtroom to argue about weather or not to pass the 13th Amendment should. Spielberg forgot to include Fredrick Douglass in the movie. Douglass was an important part of Lincoln’s presidency.

The only reason why I could see LBJ hold off on the civil rights bill. Is the stress and time and effort he had put into the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King had said “If we can’t take action for the problems in our country why should we be worried about other countries. "- The Movie Selma

Abraham Lincoln was significant because of his role as the leader who protected the Union throughout the Civil War. He remained president throughout what was a difficult time period for our nation, his plans for the Reconstruction period were brought to a halt when he was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre 1865. His Emancipation Proclamation altered the atmosphere towards the war and the lives of African Americans, the purpose of the war was changed. Lincoln had other speeches that still remain important today such as the Gettysburg, he intended to join the North and South once again after the war but he never finished his work.

According to the Declaration of Independence we are all created equal and this is partially true and partially not, throughout the years equality has either existed or it was nonexistent. During the Civil War many people fought because they wanted to not only put an end to slavery but just division all together. The Civil War was mostly whites vs. blacks. The north fought to end slavery and division and the south was

While the debates did not address the rights of Black Americans, it did allow the public to see both Lincoln and Douglas in a brighter light. Douglas publically stated that Lincoln had favored race equality, calling him a Radical Republican and therefore hurting his chances at ever getting a position in politics. Lincoln then challenged Douglas to a series of debates between late August and mid October in Illinois. Douglas accused Lincoln and Trumbull of conspiring to bring down Whig party in order to get their dream of abolishing slavery and getting into office. One person commented that these debates showed how much American politics have changed over the last two years, and will continue to change in the years coming.