In Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, which amendment is President Lincoln trying to pass?

In Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, President Lincoln is trying to pass the Thirteenth Amendment.

The amendment abolished slavery in the United States, except as punishment for a crime after conviction. Spielberg’s 2012 film focuses on the political struggle to secure its passage through the House of Representatives in January 1865.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Abraham Lincoln, while the story draws heavily on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. The film dramatizes negotiations, pressure on representatives, and the administration’s effort to secure enough votes.

The amendment passed Congress on January 31, 1865, and was ratified by the required states later that year, in December. The Fourteenth Amendment addressed citizenship and equal protection, while the Fifteenth concerned voting rights for men regardless of race.