In order to maximize the educational benefits of the film, TWM has created a lesson plan that uses the movie for what it actually is, the story of an important but relatively short segment in the long and difficult struggle to emancipate the slaves. In fact, the historical record shows that before January 1865, so many blows had been struck against slavery that it would have been almost impossible for the nation’s “peculiar institution” to recover. There is scant mention of the change of position, due to conviction or political calculation, by a number of War Democrats who came to favor abolition. The film also fails to mention the growing support for abolition among many in the American public that had, a few short years before, been overwhelmingly opposed to emancipation. Thus, the tremendous contributions to the anti-slavery cause made before 1865 by abolitionists, African-Americans (particularly black soldiers and the contrabands), the Congress, the Union Army, the Republican Party, and Abraham Lincoln himself are virtually ignored by the movie. Slavery died on the ground, not just in the White House and the House of Representatives.” Professor Kate Masur. The film ignores the fact that “Emancipation - like all far-reaching political change - resulted from events at all levels of society, including the efforts of social movements to change public sentiment and of slaves themselves to acquire freedom. The use of Lincoln as an aid to education is complicated by its narrow focus on the legislative process during January of 1865. The Lincolns’ grief at the death of their middle son, Willie, and the Lincolns’ sometimes difficult marriage are also shown. The complications posed by the Confederate Peace Commission are well-represented, as are Mary Lincoln’s desperate efforts to prevent the Lincolns’ oldest son from enlisting in the army. The movie contains one of the best historical extrapolations, whether on film or in print, of Lincoln’s reasons for demanding that the 1865 lame-duck session of the House of Representatives join the Senate in proposing the 13th Amendment to the States. Stevens’ view of race relations was a hundred years ahead of its time. The acting and writing for the character of Thaddeus Stevens should lead to a new appreciation for this almost forgotten leader of the Radical Republicans. Daniel Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Abraham Lincoln is by far the best characterization of the man recorded on film. Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is a well-researched work of historical fiction that conveys a reasonably accurate impression of the events of January 1865. The materials below present the movie as an integral part of a unit on the end of America’s nightmare dance with slavery. This Lesson Plan provides the information, discussions, and assignments to allow teachers to use the film without students retaining that misimpression. Watching this film is such a strong experience that showing the movie without proper scaffolding risks leaving students with the misimpression that Emancipation consisted of a month of rancorous debate and political logrolling in the House of Representatives. FICTION (SOAPS, DRAMAS, AND REALITY/SURVIVAL SHOW).FILM ADAPTATIONS OF NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, OR PLAYS.TALKING AND PLAYING WITH MOVIES: AGES 3-8.
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