Lincoln and the Prevalence of Dirty Hands

            Throughout the duration of this course, the problem of dirty hands has been addressed in many blogs in reference to many different ideas, people, and events. This, to me, means that the problem of dirty hands is a prevalent and frequent one that plagues society in more ways than we can imagine. Using means that conflict with our own moral code to achieve something that we believe is a good greater than ourselves or other individuals seems to be a pattern and a natural choice in human morality, perceivably because of our ability to rationalize these decisions that could potentially be an obstacle to our ultimate goal if we chose to act in accordance with conventional morals.

            The problem of dirty hands arises once more in the popular new movie from Steven Spielberg, Lincoln. This movie quickly gained recognition from audiences and critics alike, and the New YorkTimes review of it even said, “Go see this movie. Take your children, even though they may occasionally be confused or fidgety. Boredom and confusion are also part of democracy, after all. ‘Lincoln’ is a rough and noble democratic masterpiece — an omen, perhaps, that movies for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Daniel Day Lewis ponders dirty hands

            Because of the raving reviews, numerous recommendations, and the fact that Anna Karenina was sold out, I ended up seeing this movie for myself over thanksgiving break. As it turned out, everyone who said that Lincoln was a great movie was being truthful, and on top of being a good watch, it really made me think about the democratic process that lead to the 13^th amendment being passed.

            The premise of the movie is the process of passing this amendment, in almost exclusively political terms. The social movements in favor of this amendment as well as the economic reasons for fighting against it were perhaps mentioned, but the main focus was the debate over whether it was a necessary act needed to end the war, and the process it took for congress to pass the amendment in the end. Lincoln’s party, the Republicans, were abolitionist, but were in the minority, and had to be creative in the way that they made the effort bi-partisan. This meant buying votes from Democrats.

The 13th Amendment

            Thus, much of the movie was centered around the attempts of the Republicans to buy votes from Democrats who were not up for reelection (if they were not up for reelection, their Democratic supporters would have no way of punishing them for voting in favor of the abolition of slavery), and the difficulties that ensued. They offered the congressional Democrats money or a new job for when their term expired in the way of a bribe, as instructed by president Lincoln.

I then realized that this is a perfect example of dirty hands in American history, because abolishing slavery is a truly noble goal that unfortunately most likely could not have passed without some bribery and unethical negotiations. Buying votes from Democrats who were opposed to the 13^th amendment is cheating the democratic system of representative government, but Lincoln and the Republicans realized that if it meant destroying an atrocious institution like slavery, it was worth it to cheat the system and make a large part of the population unhappy. Previously, I had not known of this historical example of dirty hands, but the movie really brings the process of dirty hands that occurred during this process to light. During the scene of the movie in which the leader of the Republican movement for abolition is telling his partner, who is African American, about the amendment passing, he states that Lincoln made this possible through corrupt bargaining with the Democrats. This, according to an article about the historical accuracy of the movie, was indeed a true statement that the leader in abolition made about the means by which his amendment was passed.

Thaddeus Stevens knows his hands are dirty

While people were fighting against this amendment, Lincoln also lied to the public in regards to the war, refusing to admit that the south could not continue to fight and would therefore surrender soon, because his professed reason for supporting the amendment was to remove slavery as an issue and therefore end the war. This failure to admit the truth to the public for the sake of virtually tricking people into supporting the amendment was another instance of Lincoln’s dirty hands during the movie. Clearly, when it comes to matters as important as slavery, even “Honest Abe” had to get his hands dirty for the betterment of the country and the lives of African Americans.

The problem of dirty hands, in my opinion, is one of the biggest and most unanswered concepts in political theory that we have studied thus far. It seems to be everywhere, and yet, there is no conclusion one way or the other as to whether dirty hands are a positive or a negative thing. However, when you look at examples such as Lincoln and the emancipation of slaves, dirty hands seem worth it in the end. That being said, the problem of dirty hands can also be applied to a number of scenarios that I would find abhorrent, and so I think dirty hands, like everything else, are to be examined on a case by case basis, and measured by how much damage is done and how much good is gained.