Lincoln gives an account of the drastically divided nation existent during the American Civil War. Seen from the viewpoint of United States President Abraham Lincoln, it details his struggles with the continuing warfare between Americans, as well as the disagreements with lawmakers on the decision to permanently abolish slavery. Directed by Steven Spielberg, and released on November 9, 2012, Lincoln was nominated for, and received numerous awards. Met with worldwide critical acclaim, the film became a box office success, earning $275.3 million worldwide, over four times its budget. Lincoln is regarded by many as one of the greatest historical films released in recent years. In 1865, tensions were high as the Civil War raged on for its fourth
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At the 2012 Gettysburg Dedication Day, director Steven Spielberg spoke about the process of creating Lincoln and how important it was for him to make a historically accurate film. There are small details here and there that appear to be embellished, likely done to tell a more interesting story or make it more easily understandable. An embellishment which caused a decent amount of publicity was inferring the Connecticut representatives at the time voted against the Thirteenth amendment. This is false, as the Connecticut representatives voted in favor of the amendment. Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney called out the historical inaccuracy and requested it be fixed before Lincoln came out on DVD. This did not happen, but Lincoln screenwriter Tony Kushner responded to Courtney’s request by explaining, “We changed two of the delegation 's votes, and we made up new names for the men casting those votes, so as not to ascribe any actions to actual persons who didn 't perform them.” He goes on to clarify this was done to emphasize the fact the Thirteenth Amendment passed by a very slim margin. Courtney views this as an act of defamation on his state. There are other small inaccuracies throughout the film, such as a reference to Lincoln’s image already being on currency, which was false at the time. Lincoln’s first appearance on currency was not until several years after his death. These small inaccuracies do not distract from the message and overall plot of the film, and for most, they are not even noticeable unless one is seeking them
At the 2012 Gettysburg Dedication Day, director Steven Spielberg spoke about the process of creating Lincoln and how important it was for him to make a historically accurate film. There are small details here and there that appear to be embellished, likely done to tell a more interesting story or make it more easily understandable. An embellishment which caused a decent amount of publicity was inferring the Connecticut representatives at the time voted against the Thirteenth amendment. This is false, as the Connecticut representatives voted in favor of the amendment. Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney called out the historical inaccuracy and requested it be fixed before Lincoln came out on DVD. This did not happen, but Lincoln screenwriter Tony Kushner responded to Courtney’s request by explaining, “We changed two of the delegation 's votes, and we made up new names for the men casting those votes, so as not to ascribe any actions to actual persons who didn 't perform them.” He goes on to clarify this was done to emphasize the fact the Thirteenth Amendment passed by a very slim margin. Courtney views this as an act of defamation on his state. There are other small inaccuracies throughout the film, such as a reference to Lincoln’s image already being on currency, which was false at the time. Lincoln’s first appearance on currency was not until several years after his death. These small inaccuracies do not distract from the message and overall plot of the film, and for most, they are not even noticeable unless one is seeking them