Debunking pop culture myths about Abraham Lincoln
Debunking pop culture myths about Abraham Lincoln
Learn about the creative license moviemakers have taken in films about Abraham Lincoln.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
What Pop Culture Got Wrong
Abraham Lincoln
At Britannica, our job is to tell you just the facts about your favorite historical figures.
But sometimes facts still get confused with fiction.
Here’s the truth behind everything pop culture got wrong about Abraham Lincoln.
Young Mr. Lincoln
Directed by John Ford, 1939
Wrong: As a young man, Lincoln prevented a lynch mob from killing two people.
As far as we know, Lincoln never single-handedly took down a lynch mob, or saved two people’s lives from such a group.
It’s also worth noting that the two men Lincoln saved from being “lynched” in the movie are white, while “lynching” in the United States is almost always used to describe white violence against Black victims.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, 2012
Wrong: Abraham Lincoln fought and killed vampires.
Okay, this one is obviously untrue. In the movie, vampires are white Southerners dedicated to keeping the slave trade alive (even if they’re dead).
Vampire-slayer Lincoln is driven by his hatred for racism, shown through his childhood-turned-adult friendship with Will, a free Black man.
Will wasn’t a real person, and Lincoln’s understanding of race was in no way cemented from childhood.
While Lincoln pushed for freedom of Black people from enslavement from the beginning of his political career, it took him years longer to consider an extension of civil rights.
He didn’t advocate for even partial Black enfranchisement until shortly before his death.
Lincoln
Directed by Steven Spielberg, 2012
Dubious: Lincoln may have been gay.
Spielberg hints at a possible romance in a scene where Lincoln wakes his secretary, John Hay, in the middle of the night to discuss politics—and Hay asks if the president would like some company.
The scene isn’t obvious, but neither are the facts about Lincoln’s sexuality. Some historians speculate that Lincoln had a romantic relationship with his friend Joshua Speed.
The two did live together for several years, and their correspondence shows them as being nervous about marrying women.
But it’s impossible to actually know the “truth” behind their relationship, if there is one.
We won’t call this something pop culture got totally wrong—but it’s a historical “guess,” not proof.
Abraham Lincoln
At Britannica, our job is to tell you just the facts about your favorite historical figures.
But sometimes facts still get confused with fiction.
Here’s the truth behind everything pop culture got wrong about Abraham Lincoln.
Young Mr. Lincoln
Directed by John Ford, 1939
Wrong: As a young man, Lincoln prevented a lynch mob from killing two people.
As far as we know, Lincoln never single-handedly took down a lynch mob, or saved two people’s lives from such a group.
It’s also worth noting that the two men Lincoln saved from being “lynched” in the movie are white, while “lynching” in the United States is almost always used to describe white violence against Black victims.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, 2012
Wrong: Abraham Lincoln fought and killed vampires.
Okay, this one is obviously untrue. In the movie, vampires are white Southerners dedicated to keeping the slave trade alive (even if they’re dead).
Vampire-slayer Lincoln is driven by his hatred for racism, shown through his childhood-turned-adult friendship with Will, a free Black man.
Will wasn’t a real person, and Lincoln’s understanding of race was in no way cemented from childhood.
While Lincoln pushed for freedom of Black people from enslavement from the beginning of his political career, it took him years longer to consider an extension of civil rights.
He didn’t advocate for even partial Black enfranchisement until shortly before his death.
Lincoln
Directed by Steven Spielberg, 2012
Dubious: Lincoln may have been gay.
Spielberg hints at a possible romance in a scene where Lincoln wakes his secretary, John Hay, in the middle of the night to discuss politics—and Hay asks if the president would like some company.
The scene isn’t obvious, but neither are the facts about Lincoln’s sexuality. Some historians speculate that Lincoln had a romantic relationship with his friend Joshua Speed.
The two did live together for several years, and their correspondence shows them as being nervous about marrying women.
But it’s impossible to actually know the “truth” behind their relationship, if there is one.
We won’t call this something pop culture got totally wrong—but it’s a historical “guess,” not proof.