13th Amendment Lincoln

Lincoln

In the movie Lincoln, the plot and purpose was to show the process of Lincoln trying to pass the 13th amendment. There were many setbacks throughout but the main one was racism.  Lincoln's cabinet was very racist which didn't make it easy to pass the amendment.  In this time period people couldn't picture blacks having rights such as to vote.  In the movie, when they were holding a meeting on whether the amendment should be passed or not, the room was sharply divided into two.  If one side disagreed then there would be a brief riot but shortly after the voting continued. This shows that so many people were strict to their opinions and most not willing to budge.

  In order for Lincoln to get this passed he had to do things most people don't agree with. He lied about a lot of this and made sure the things he wanted got done.  He also bribed people into agree with him. The constitution was another big issue because Lincoln wanted to get it ratified as soon as possible in order to pass the emancipation proclamation.  He knew that this decision was extremely risky and could have resulted in impeachment but he followed through anyways. He knew that the outcome of this amendment would be better for America as a while.

A main reason Lincoln wanted to get the 13th amendment passed was so he could get more votes for his upcoming election for a second term.  Another reason was so he could keep his promise to the colored people and set them free.

In the end Lincoln's goal was achieved and the 13th amendment was passed.