David CookHad you been a member of Congress in 1865, would you have voted to outlaw slavery?
An easy question today, 147 years later. Looking into our moral mirror, we would like to think that yes, unquestionably yes, we would have fallen on the right side of the slavery crisis.
(Of course, this is also a question for a white audience, as I can’t imagine being black in 19th century America without also being an abolitionist.)
The new Spielberg film “Lincoln” is beautiful, masterful art, mainly because of Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal of Lincoln in his last few months, as he devotes himself to the passage of the slavery-outlawing 13th Amendment.
The most frightening part of the film comes when those who oppose abolition explain so eloquently and expertly their reasons for doing so.