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We were told in our history lessons that the American Civil War stemmed from the noble intentions of the Union States to end slavery in North America whilst the Southern States opposed as they were of an agrarian society of which cotton and sugar plantations were labour intensive. Well, that is just part of the story. As in any back story to an event in history, there is always money involved.

The Southern States traded cotton to Europe and the rest of the world. They got their other supplies from Europe and the Northern States. The South found imports from Europe to be cheaper than from their counterparts in the North. To protect the local industries, the Union, mostly comprising the Northern states, started imposing a levy on the European imports.

This incurred the wrath of Europe who stopped purchasing American cotton. The South felt bullied. Resentment was brewing.

Meanwhile, in the European continent, the French, the British and the Germans were apprehensive of a stable booming economy in the other side of the Atlantic. After defeating the Spanish and sending their armada packing from the Caribbean, the Americans decreed the Monroe doctrine which dictated that any attack on Northern or Southern American continent by a foreign force would be considered as an invasion on American soil and the Americans would retaliate. This kept their enemies at bay. The enemies thought a divided America would make their task easier. Hence, the wounded foreign powers had all the reasons to instigate hatred between brothers.

In fact, during the Civil War, the French conquered Mexico to put up a puppet leader in Maximilian, who had a cordial relationship with the Confederate States. At that time too, the British tried to checkmate the Americans by placing troops in Canada. Russia, who had a bone to pick with the French-German-British alliance for attempting to break some Balkan and Scandinavian states away from the Tsar kingdom, placed their battleships in America to threaten the potential invaders.

Lincoln, who was no sympathiser of the African slaves' course and had superiority feeling of the white race over the coloured, just wanted to stop slavery and send them all back to Africa. The problem is that the Southerners had invested a lot of money into acquiring slaves. Losing them immediately would be disastrous. The slave owners actually planned to make slaves freemen over time. Making them free would mean that they were paid for their work. Slaves were getting lazy already.

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The threat of the Southern states to leave the Union was the reason the Americans went to war.

War was good for business, especially for the bankers. Financiers from the European continent moved in to support both sides of the Marcus-Dixon line. From then, money dictated the progression of the course of the war. Many new monetary policies were devised to finance the war. Fiat money was printed and legitimised by legislation. National banking system and war bonds were sold to fund the war. The losing party is the general public. They lost their life earnings. Northerners who demonstrated and opposed the war were shot and killed by the Union soldiers. Imagine, shooting your own people to save slaves!

Lincoln made enemies on both sides of the divide; the Southerners for losing, the Northerner businessmen who wanted to make a more significant killing from the South. It seems that John Wilkes Booth was a member of an organisation that wanted to take over America to establish a military government!

That all men are equal?

Shadows (1959)
Director: John Cassevetes

Another John Cassevetes' direction. This is his early effort at an independent un-main stream production. This is actually a remake of his own film which he had earlier made in 1957 which was unscripted and did poorly at the box office. The remake, however, became a legend.
On the exterior, it appears that the US of A, the land of opportunity is the land of dream where everyman is born equal and free. They have a legislation to prove the effect to. In practice, however, the issue of race is not so black or white. The problem which reared its ugly head and let the nation into a gruesome civil war fail to settle the score even today.
It is evident from the the turn of events when a certain whiter than white lady, Rachael Dolezal, was exposed recently to be passing off as a black to head an association to help coloured people in America.

Racheal Dolezal

So when this issue came to fore, the usually issue frenzy US media stations went a spree to discuss the issue. Even Obama's name came up. Many half blacks are categorised as blacks to benefit from the affirmative actions to uplift the black.

Coming back to the story of 'Shadows'...

It is set in among the Beat Generation in the 50s who were shunning materialism and were engaged in literary and spiritual enlightenment. Lelia is a 20 year old girl who could pass out a white walking aimlessly through her life. She has three other elder brothers. Two of them were struggling musicians. and one is still trying to find his grapple in life.
Lelia meets an interesting guy to bring her home. Sparks flare up when he discovers that Lelia is actually black when he sees her brothers. After that it is self discovery and finally, from the way the movie went, they must have hooked up again.
The different way the director approaches the story is interesting. It lets the story flow without creating much melodrama, climax or resolution.

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A Civil War will be anything but civil!

Lincoln (2012)

Director: Steven Spielberg

In a recent research done by a TV station, Abraham Lincoln was voted as the most liked President of USA. Even though portraits of him show him as a serious person, it is because of the olden day imaging technique where prolonged posing in front of the camera is needed for a good picture. He was supposed to be a jovial chap, as seen in this movie where he is seen cracking jokes and telling stories to his subordinates.

The film shows a time after his re-election when he is trying to cajole the House of Representatives to approve the 13th Amendment which approves abolition of slavery. He is worried that as the 4year old Civil War is drawing to an end, he is worried that the free slaves may be re-enslaved. Even though, the film pictures Lincoln as an undying fighter for emancipation, some quarters claim that he himself was a racist. He only did what he did because of the sheer numbers of slaves and the harsh treatments they were exposed to. He did not forsee himself as much as dining in the same table with a slave. His real intention of abolition of slavery was to get them back to their country of origin!

This film may look like a romanticized version of a man's undying fight against a system which was not ready to end slavery, listening in between the dialogue may reveal the true double tongued speak of a true politician. Hats off indeed to Daniel Day-Lewis for a stellar depiction of now people would use as a yard stick of how Abraham Lincoln would have talked and walked. Medical journals say that he had a medical condition called acromegaly (overproduction of growth hormone) explaining his 6ft 4in stature lean physique. The dialogue in the film is in keeping with the flowery language that is associated with Lincoln's speeches.
Besides dealing with the hostile politicians to steam roll his proposition, Lincoln has to fight a war as well as deal with plethora of problems in the family circle. Even though his wife (Mary Todd, excellent depiction by Sally Field) is a pillar of strength sometimes, she is also a nervous wreck who has not got over the loss of their middle son. After his death, she was inflicted with a severe bout of depression which almost got her institutionalized. The high strung Mary also goes ballistic when their eldest son is adamant and finally leaves Harvard Law School to join the Army. 

Tommy Lee Jones plays an a major character in the movie as Lincoln's opposition who mellows down later. Historians claim that there were many inaccuracies in the depiction of his role. 

This movie lasts a good 2 and half hours, draining much of your cerebral energy but is a boon to lovers of history and flowery delivery of dialogue in the English Language...