Lincoln's Dilemma

This documentary is well done, educational, and illuminates a Black perspective on Lincoln and the American Civil War. I highly recommend this series, although it may be disturbing to people who have never gotten an unbiased education in history.

This four part documenatry about Lincoln and his military and political objectives to keep the Union together and ultimately emancipate the slaves and pass the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution is immensely entertaining and enlightening. It is also well crafted, using various photogrpahic techniques combined with narratives provided by historians with varied backgrounds. Lincoln had to weave his way through a complex set of problems, dealing with military setbacks, political pressures from abolitionists, Southern sympathizers, and citizens cool to the idea of emancipating the slaves at the expense of prolonging the Civil War. Lincoln kept an open mind, listened to intellectuals like Frederick Douglas, and finally found a general who could win battles, and provide the political capital to achieve emancipation, renunite the country, start on a path to reconstruction, and pass the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The series also covers two other facets of the aftermath of the Civil War: the backlash against reconstruction, and rebuilding the image of the Southern insurrectionists and basically trying to rewrite the history of that period, including the building of monuments all over the South to glorify the leaders of the insurrection. This is a series that all American's should watch to get a better understanding of how the history of that era still affects us today.

Kudos to the artists involved in making this series. The writing, animation and graphics are superb. Visually the use of the veil of lint and static on these animations and graphics effectively set the place and time. Overall a well thought out piece of work.

At a point it is necessary to "separate the wheat from the chaff", setting apart what is true and logical from the worthless.

Well written history describes what took place in the past, what it represents in the present and, with hope, can be accomplished in the future. It should be striving for an understanding of ourselves and for our neighbors.

A quick google search and reading a few books on Lincoln will confirm much of what is in the documentary. Lincoln was a complex man. He was a politician caught up in the precipice of saving the Union. What did that mean? He finally did the right thing...and emancipated the enslaved. Unfortunately the people who need to watch this won't and instead downgrade this documentary.

This documentary doesn't add much to what generally is known. Though is several hours long it seems to omit the economic impact slavery had. If slavery had a value it must have been money and power. Would it be far fetched to deduce there is econimical reason why Lincoln wanted to free the slaves? Could it be this changed the power dynamic in favor of the North between the south and the north?

Lest also not forget that this Unified America is built on the economical gains it made from it's slavery. Bitter as this might be.

I am against slavery, racism and any abuse of humans, but also a realist. Even as I write this I realise that I am the child of the generation that came before me. And with child I mean the resulting product of the conduct of my forefathers.

A weighted insight into the human, economic and impact on the future, would have made this valuable and important documentary, alas it is not.