I recently saw a movie called Lincoln, I know it has been in theaters for awhile, but I didn’t think it would be worth my money or my time to go see it. I was wrong on both accounts. I’m not here to share with you a movie review, although, it was a very good movie that I think people should go see; I want to share with you the history lesson that I learned from the movie that I never learned taking history classes in high school or college. 
Lincoln, being the progressive thinker he was, wanted to end the civil war as quickly as possible and also bring an end to slavery, recalling that the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid once theorized that, “two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other”. He wanted to kill two birds with one stone so to speak, but realized that if the war ended and the union won, it was going to be impossible for him to pass the 13th amendment freeing the slaves because most of the country didn’t want the slaves freed they just wanted the war to end. People felt that if the president was able to free the slaves, then the confederacy would surrender because the main point of the war was keeping slaves and treating them like property. Lincoln knew he would not get the necessary votes he needed to pass the 13th amendment if congress knew they could win the war without abolishing slavery. He had to hire people to “persuade” some democrats to vote yes on the amendment, today those people are called lobbyist. He even had to make a deal with the radical faction of his own party to try and negotiate the terms of a confederate surrender before they would agree to vote yes on the amendment. In fact, the president of the confederate states Jefferson Davis along with his entourage were on their way to meet with Lincoln until he sent word for them to turn around and go back home. I grew up believing that winning the civil war was the pathway for the abolishment of slavery, when the truth of the matter is, that if the war was won before the vote on the 13th amendment, who knows when slavery would have ended.
I also grew up believing that the only person who was a staunch believer in the abolishment of slavery was Lincoln himself, but that belief was misguided and wrong. 
Tommy Lee Jones played the part of Thaddeus Stevens, a republican ,
who not only believed that slavery should have been abolished, but believed that black people should be treated equal not only in the eyes of the law but in all things. Again, Lincoln in his wisdom knew that freeing the slaves was one thing, viewing them as equals in all things was something entirely different, and not something anybody in congress was ready for. Although Lincoln and Thaddeus Stevens did not care for each other, Lincoln was able to convince Stevens that the only way the amendment would pass is if he were to publicly say that Negros were equal in the eyes of the law only. Despite the backlash he got from Stevens, Lincoln was able to make him realize that either he compromise and get some of what he wants, or continue to shout his beliefs from the rooftop, and get none of what he wants. After swallowing his pride and realizing Lincoln had a point, the president was able to get the votes he needed to pass the 13th amendment and thus abolish slavery.
Lincoln, a great man, great manipulator and a great movie; helping me to realize that if I want to know what truly went down in history, I have to do the research myself because what I learned in high school, and college is only what they wanted me to know and not the full story.
“Like” us on Facebook——-> MindBender Entertainment
Follow us on Twitter——–> @MindBenderEnt