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Lincoln
by Tony Kushner
President Abraham Lincoln delivers a complex legal and moral justification for the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet. He explores the paradoxical 'slippery' logic of using war powers to seize slaves as property while simultaneously maintaining they are free men, ultimately arguing for the necessity of the Thirteenth Amendment to ensure permanent abolition.
In the quiet hours of the pre-dawn, Abraham Lincoln reflects on the mathematical foundations of justice while drafting a crucial telegram. He uses Euclid’s axioms to explain the 'self-evident' nature of equality to two young telegraph operators, ultimately deciding to delay a peace commission to ensure the passage of the 13th Amendment.
