Amedeo Rosenfield

Part A:

In the movie “Lincoln,” by Steven Spielberg, one powerful leader can influence a large

amount of people’s decision to doing what we people feel is best. This takes place in 1865

mostly in Washington D.C while the war is still happening and racism is affecting Americans all

around the United States.

The movie begins with president Lincoln attempting to figure out if he should accept

peace from the confederacy or abolish slavery first and pass the 13th amendment. Lincoln after

consulting with his cabinet figures out he needs all republicans to vote yes and half the

democrats to also vote yes. This meeting with his cabinet got very heated as they were

attempting to find a way to gain the votes from ⅔ of the house of representatives. Lincoln and

his colleagues begin convincing handfuls of democrats to vote yes but when doing the math,

around 7 people they badly needed were undecided on their vote. Mr. Stevens very helpfully

moves and gains the votes of 2-3 of these democrats to saying “aye” or yes. The house of

representatives have to vote and it begins with democrats wanting to postpone it. Once they

stop and decide the vote needed to happen after seeing Mr. Lincoln’s short letter he wrote, the

vote begins. Alexander Coffroth, Clay Hawkins, and George Yeaman are democrats who make

crucial decisions to vote yes for the amendment with the addition of speaker, Mr. Schuyler

Colfax who also votes yes. The 13th amendment gets past by a vote count of 119 to 56 which is

more than ⅔ of the house of representatives saying yes. Sadly, Abraham Lincoln gets shot and

dies on Saturday, the 15th of April at a young age.

Overall, thousands of people’s lives changed for the better because of Mr. Lincoln

stepping up and being a leader during this time of war and desperation. Our democracy would

not be as sufficient as it is today without these crucial decisions at the end of the war.
Part B:
“Lincoln” is a modern movie that successfully symbolizes life around 1865. In the

beginning of the film, Abraham Lincoln picks up two papers that his son was holding before he

fell asleep. They both were two slave pictures, with prices on them because the posters were

trying to sell slaves that Ted Lincoln (A. Lincolns son) was sympathizing for. These images very

closely match a poster that can be viewed at “understandingslavery.com, ” which was a sign for

a slave that was for sale in the year 1829. The sign in the film and the sign from 1829 both

advertised slaves being sold at large prices as if they were objects with price tags. These truly

will make anyone sad seeing kids get individually sold at very young ages who are already

super skinny.

Another scene which signified life in 1865 was everytime Abraham Lincoln and other

leaders talked strongly about how they had to get ⅔ of the house to vote yes and how difficult it

would be. “​On December 2, 1865, ​Alabama​ became the 27th state to ratify the 13th

Amendment, thus giving it the requisite three-fourths majority of states’ approval necessary to

make it the law of the land.”( ​History.com​ ) This basically is recapping what I’ve learned in the

film about how they need all the Republicans votes and at least half the democrats votes.

Influencing the ¾’s rule which if not met in 1865, the 13th amendment would have never been

past as an amendment and there might still be slavery today if nobody fought against it.

Other small details resembled life in 1865 like buildings, clothing, objects, and the way

actors were talking. All the buildings were either big buildings like the white house or small

cramped rooms that poorer people might have lived in. Mary Lincoln (Wife of A. Lincoln)

throughout the whole movie was always wearing giant dresses like people used to wear in the

1800’s. Objects like candles, beds, writing utensils, and decoration all resemble images viewed
around the time of the civil war. Lastly, they talked throughout the movie without using any

modern day slang and it almost felt like they were saying something very important everytime

they began talking.

Part C:
Steven Spielberg incorporates many different cinematography techniques throughout the

film “Lincoln.” Cinematography helps movies or films be less boring. The more unique and

interesting angles to a scene, the more someone watching gets into what's happening.

One technique that was the most noticeable was how Abraham Lincoln was always taller

or more relaxed then who was talking to him. This helped make him seem like a man of high

power and very respectable when watching scenes that involved him.

A great technique is when the house of representatives need to vote, and they zoom in

on one specific character and everything else around them blurs out a bit so you only have your

eyes on the guy in the spotlight. This helps some of the scenes feel like not too much is

happening at once; if to much is happening, you will be confused and get lost on what is

happening.

Spielberg also uses lighting to his advantage, everytime something sad or loud

happened, the room was dark with small glimpses of light. Every time it was light; however, the

room felt happy and someone found out good news or was happy. This technique really helps

viewers get a sense of the emotion that is going to be presented in the upcoming scene.

Another technique used was at the very end when Abraham Lincoln sadly just died.

They put an effect that made it seem like his memories were in a candle but the candle slowly

burned out until it ran out and the fire disappeared and dead like Mr. Lincoln. This truly helped

convey a sad tone to this scene and a truly sad ending to the movie.
 Overall, Steven Spielberg does a great job using cinematographic techniques to make a

very harsh and devastating time interesting and filled with new excitement, while also sending

you into a emotional trip.

Citations:

#1- “Slave Sale Poster, 1829.” ​USI Home Page,​

www.understandingslavery.com/index.php-option=com_content&view=article&id=615_slave-sa
le-poster&catid=145&Itemid=255.html​.

#2-“Slavery Abolished in America.” ​History.com​, A&E Television Networks,

www.history.com/this-day-in-history/slavery-abolished-in-america​.