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The United States Diplomatic Mission in South Africa welcomes you to the South African premier of the movie LINCOLN. Steven Spielberg’s powerful new film stars Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day Lewis as the 16th President of the United States. The film is based in part on the book “Team of Rivals” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, with a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the drama tells the story of the last months of the President’s life, focusing on the abolition of slavery with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We have prepared this short booklet to help explain this critical period in U.S. history and give some context to the characters who appear throughout the film. Many thanks to 20th Century Fox, NuMetro and Ster-Kinekor for their generous support of this remarkable film and engaging event.

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WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD(played by David Strathairn)

Born on May 16th 1801 to a slave-owning family, Seward enjoyed a privileged upbring-ing in Florida and New York. During his childhood, he spent much of his time in the kitch-

ens with the slaves and those early years influ-enced his staunch anti-slavery philosophy as an adult. He became dedicated to abolition. After studying at New York’s Union College, he became a lawyer. Flamboyant, charismatic and intellec-tual, Seward loved to smoke cigars - he was cul-tured and enjoyed literature and theater. Gover-nor of New York from January 1839 until January 1843, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1849. A former Whig, he joined the Republican Party in 1855. Seward was a rival of Lincoln, with ambi-tions of becoming President himself. He was ac-tually the frontrunner in the race for the Repub-lican nomination in 1860, but lost out to Lincoln. In a brilliant political move, Lincoln appointed Seward as Secretary of State in March 1861 (making an ally of a rival). Despite differences of opinion, the former rival came to respect the President. He carefully managed international affairs during the Civil War and was an expert politician who spoke his mind and was highly principled.On the 5th of April 1865, Seward was thrown from his carriage and severely injured. Nine days later, at his home at Washington DC, he was attacked by a fellow-conspirator of John Wilkes Booth, at the same time that Lincoln was assassinated. Seward recovered and remained in the cabinet of President Andrew Johnson. He negotiated the 1867 purchase of Alaska.

PRESTON BLAIR(played by Hal Holbrook)

Francis Preston Blair was born in 1791 in Virginia and was raised in Kentucky. After studying law, he pursued journalism and founded The Washington Globe newspaper in 1830. A former slave-owner, in the 1850s Blair became involved in anti-slavery politics. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party in 1856. He served as a valued advisor to President Lincoln and was an important ally. He was the father of Montgomery Blair, a member of President Lincoln’s cabinet. A Conservative, peace-seeking Republican after Lincoln’s re-election in 1864, he went unofficially to Richmond (Virginia) and met privately with Confederate leader Jefferson Davis. Blair tried (and failed) to arrange a peace agreement.

THADDEUS STEVENS(played by Tommy Lee Jones).

Stevens was a rad-ical Republican, ut-terly devoted to the abolition of slavery, both polit-ically and person-ally. He was born in Danville, Ver-mont in 1792. After

graduating from Dartmouth College, he moved in 1815 to Pennsylvania. A lawyer in Gettysburg, he became known for defending runaway slaves for free. Always a vocal opponent of slavery, he was elected to Congress as a Whig in 1848 and later joined the Republican Party. He was elected to Congress again in 1859. He was a critic of Lin-coln, convinced that he was not going far enough or fast enough to end slavery. Stevens also wield-

KEY FIGURES IN LINCOLN THE MOVIE

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ed influence in Lincoln’s administration as head of the House Ways and Means Committee.

FERNANDO WOOD(played by Lee Pace)

Wood was a Con-gressman who bit-terly denounced the Republican ad-ministration and the Civil War. He was elected to Con-gress before be-coming Mayor of New York City in 1854. Defeat-ed in 1859, he re-

turned to power in 1861. Wood suggested that New York City should also secede from the Union and was blamed for causing the Draft Riots in the city. Wood served in the House of Representa-tives (1863-65) and was a staunch opponent of the Radical Republicans. He made impassioned speeches attacking President Lincoln, calling him a traitor and tyrant who wanted to subvert de-mocracy.

ULYSSES S. GRANT: (played by Jared Harris)

Grant command-ed the Union Army from March 1864 to the end of the war and directed the strategy that led to Union Vic-tory. He was born in Ohio to parents who owned a tan-nery. He studied at

The United States Military Academy (West Point) and displayed excellent equestrian skills. After failed attempts at farming and business, Grant of-fered his services when the newly elected Lincoln called for volunteers. He served as Colonel of an Illinois regiment before being appointed Brigadier General and was appointed as commander of all Union armies in early 1864. Under his command a series of victories followed that helped Lincoln

win reelection as President in 1864. He was nick-named ‘Unconditional Surrender Grant’. Union forces continued to rout the Confederate Army after Lincoln’s reelection. Robert E. Lee’s forces officially surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865. In 1868, Grant, a Republican, was elected as the 18th President of the United States.

MARY TODD LINCOLN (played by Sally Field)

Born in 1818, Mary Todd was the daughter of Eli-za Parker and Rob-ert Smith Todd, wealthy pioneer settlers in Ken-tucky. Mary lost her mother at the age of six. Her father re-

married. Mary went to Springfield, Illinois, to live with her married sister, Elizabeth, wife of Ninian Edwards, the wealthy son of a former governor of Illinois. Considered ‘the belle of the town’, Mary had many suitors including Abraham Lincoln, who had been a law partner of her cousin John Todd Stuart and was a partner with another cous-in, Stephen T. Logan. Although they came from very different economic and social backgrounds, Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd shared a sense of humor and a love of politics. They were mar-ried on November 4, 1842, in the Edwards’ man-sion.Mary Todd Lincoln was well informed politically. Assertive and opinionated, she supported her husband early on in his career. After Lincoln was elected President, the family moved to Washington, D.C., and Mary set about refurbishing the White House. But in wartime America, many people including abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens (head of the House Ways and Means Committee) viewed her as an extravagant and profligate spendthrift.Three of the Lincolns’ children died young, which had a devastating effect on Mary. She became increasingly depressed.On July 2, 1863, Mary was thrown from a carriage in an accident that was believed to

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be an assassination attempt on the President. She sustained a severe head injury and lost consciousness for several hours. After the accident her moods deteriorated and it is thought that she suffered some kind of brain injury. Mary was sitting beside her husband at Ford’s Theater when he was shot. She remained in mourning for the rest of her life.

ROBERT LINCOLN(played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son Robert was born in 1843. Lincoln was often away traveling the cir-cuits of law and politics while Robert was grow-ing up and father and son never developed a close relationship. At 16, Robert went to boarding school, then studied (briefly) at Harvard Universi-

ty Law School when his father became President. Robert withdrew from Har-vard and enlisted in the Union army in 1864, despite his fa-ther’s attempts to dissuade him. He served with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant until the end of the war.After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, Robert moved to Chicago and resumed his law studies. In 1868, he married Mary Harlan, daughter of a Senator from Iowa. In 1880 he served as Secretary of War under President James A. Garfield.

1809: February 12th: Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky. The son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, he had an old-er sister Sarah, and a younger brother, Thomas, who died as a baby.

1818: Lincoln’s mother died of ‘milk sickness’ while the family was living in Indiana. Thomas Lincoln left his daughter Sarah (aged 12) and Abraham (aged 9) alone for several months while he returned to Kentucky to look for a wife. He came back to Indiana with Sarah Bush Johnston, who had three children from a previous mar-riage. Thomas Lincoln passed on his own hatred of slavery to Abraham, but father and son were not close. Abraham did forge a close relationship with his stepmother, who encouraged him in his studies.

1830: The family moved to Illinois where Abra-ham Lincoln had a variety of jobs. At New Salem he worked as a clerk. Together with a partner, William Berry, Lincoln bought a village store, which failed, leaving the men in debt.

1832: Lincoln served as Captain of a militia unit during the Black Hawk War.

1834: Lincoln was elected to the Illinois General Assembly and began to study law.

1835: Lincoln’s first love, Anne Rutledge, died of typhoid fever. He was reportedly heartbroken.

1837: He moved to Springfield Illinois and began practicing law.

1841: While practicing as a lawyer, Lincoln argued in defense of a black Illinois woman who was threatened with being enslaved. He insisted that under the laws of Illinois, a human being could not be bought and sold. He won the case.

1842: He married Mary Todd (Lincoln). The couple had four sons: Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), Edward Baker Lincoln (1846-50), William Wallace ‘Willie’ Lincoln (1850-62), and Thomas ‘Tad’ Lin-coln (1853-71). Only Robert lived to adulthood.

1843: Lincoln unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives.1846: He was elected to the House of Represen-tatives.

1856: Lincoln assisted in the formation of the new Republican Party of Illinois, which was opposed to the expansion of slavery. (The Democrats were pro slavery). Lincoln ran for the Senate, but was unsuccessful.

1858: He ran against Democrat Stephen A. Doug-las for a Senate seat, but lost that election.

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1860: Lincoln was elected the 16th U.S. President on November 6th and South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20th.

1861: Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President and delivered his first Inaugural address. The Civil War began.

1863: January 1st: The President issued The Emancipation Proclamation (against slavery).

November 19th: Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.

1864: November 8th: Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as President, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan.

1865: January 31st: Congress approved the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution which officially abolished slavery.

April 9th: General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to General Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia.

April 14th: Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary went to Ford’s Theater to see the play ‘Our American Cousin’. During the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth, an actor and a Confederate sympathizer, shot the President in the head at approximately 10:13 p.m.

April 15th: President Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 in the morning. Vice President Andrew Johnson assumed the Presidency.

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REPUBLICANSAmerica’s Republican Party was founded in the Northern States in 1854 by anti-slavery activists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free-Soilers and became the principal opposition to the dominant Southern Democratic Party. As President, Lincoln was responsible for creating the federal income tax, the national bank, national currency, national holidays, and the draft.

DEMOCRATSThe Democratic Party was at that time the princi-pal party of the Southern States and was primar-ily pro-slavery and in favor of its expansion. There were, however, prominent Democrats in the North as well. In the election of 1864, George B. McClellan (the former General In Chief of all the Union Armies) was the Democratic nominee for President and lost to Abraham Lincoln.

THE CONFEDERACY The Confederate States of America consisted of the 11 states that officially seceded from the Union between December 1860 and April 1861.

This move led to the Civil War. All of the states were in the Southern part of the country and were opposed to President Lincoln’s plans to abolish slavery. They were against abolition for economic reasons; much of the southern econo-my was driven by slave labor on the plantations. The States drafted their own constitution that specifically recognized the right to own slaves.

THE UNION During the American Civil War the Union (often referred to as the North) was the original federal government of the United States before the 11 Southern States seceded. During the Civil War, the Union consisted of 20 free states in the northern part of the country and five border slave states: West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Dela-ware, Missouri. Those states remained within the Union throughout the Civil War.

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Lincoln on January 1, 1863. The Proclamation freed very few slaves because it only applied to

GLOSSARY

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the rebellious states, not to slave states still within the Union nor the parts of the Confederacy under Union control. Lincoln realized that the Proclama-tion, as a wartime measure, could be discarded once the war came to an end. He knew that he no legal power to single-handedly eradicate the institution of slavery without a constitutional amendment. The Proclamation inspired millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. From that point on, the abolition of slavery became a primary objective of the war for the Union side.

THE 13th AMENDMENT - AND THE LAME DUCK CONGRESSThe 13th Amendment to the Constitution formally and officially abolished slavery in the United States. It was passed by Congress on January 31st, 1865 and ratified by the States on December 6th, 1865. The Amendment declared: “Neither slav-ery nor involuntary servitude, except as a pun-ishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

The 13th Amendment had actually passed the Senate in April 1864, but had been defeated when it went before the House of Representa-tives in June of that year. Abolishing slavery was almost exclusively a Republican Party effort; only

four Democrats voted for it. But Lincoln needed a two-thirds majority in both houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives, in order for the Amendment to pass. At that time, that was considered to be practically impossible.

When Lincoln was reelected for a second term in office, he had to convince a group of ‘lame duck’ congressmen to vote ‘yes’ on the Amend-ment. He was able to get that crucial majority because Congress included defeated members who had lost their respective elections, so in sev-eral months they would be out of a job. He had to sway the votes of moderate Democrats and border-state Unionists.

LAME DUCKThe expression ‘lame duck’ originated in eigh-teenth century Britain and applied to bankrupt businessmen who were considered as ‘lame’, because they couldn’t pay back their debts and were vulnerable like a wounded game bird. The term was then extended and applied to elected politicians whose service had a set termination date (for example, Congressman who have lost an election or have chosen not to run again, but still need to complete the term of their existing session).

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Many thanks to Elaine Lipworth for the research and original writing for this booklet.