LOOKING FOR LINCOLN isa film about trying to find out who Abraham Lincoln really was, who he was as a man, a person, rather than as we have been told he was, rather than as he was marketed. It is a question of re envisioning history, a difficult task.
Interestingly, Abraham, who is said to have walked rigidly and stood six foot 4 inches tall, and was considered odd looking, was quite interested in having himself photographed, aware that he needed a photo to market himself as a Presidential Candidate and President, that spoke for him. The image he finally chose was the image that was reproduced or redrawn or painted many times.
This video questions if it was ever Lincoln's Big Idea to Free the Slaves. At the time some of those who wanted to abolish slavery also thought about sending Free people of Color to Africa, to establish themselves there.
I believe this is because the line between slavery and indentured servitude was sometimes very thin. Someone who served their servitude and someone who was freed or bought others out of slavery.
Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner, Pulitzer prize winning authors who've written about Lincoln and other scholars including genealogist and historical professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. speak in this film.
Film came out in 2009 producted byby WNET ORG.
