Gee maybe the Civil War was about slavery - just a little?

Rating: 7/10 (11 February 2013)

I have to admit this review is not so much of the movie but of the reviews. I am getting sick of these history revisionists who scoff at the traditional image of Lincoln and seek to replace it with an image of some conniving, profiteering politician. To hear the modern 'historians' tell it, the Civil War was totally unrelated to slavery; it was all about States rights and secession or maybe just power and greed. But that's like saying that "My car doesn't turn because I turn the steering wheel; it turns because the wheel turns." How do you separate the slavery issue from secession in 1860? Read the diaries of the day - they understood it to be about slavery even before the emancipation proclamation. "History" can be made to say what you want it to and there is a temptation for those writing new books to come up with "new theories" just to sell them. I think in the 150 years since the Civil War, the losers have re-written the history. I don't say that this is 100% the greatest movie ever made on the subject but I do applaud Spielberg pointing out that yes, Lincoln did effectively end slavery in this country - period.