Lincoln (Study Guide)

Steven Spielberg directs two-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, a revealing drama that focuses on the sixteenth president's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, to unite the country and to abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.

The movie addresses the following objectives:

• Introduces students to the biography of Abraham Lincoln;
• Introduces students to two of Lincoln's most enduring speeches: the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address;
• Explores Lincoln's leadership style;
• Provides an overview of the process by which a constitutional amendment becomes law;
• Explains the limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation, and shows why a constitutional amendment was needed to permanently end slavery everywhere in the country.