Steven Spielberg's latest movie "Lincoln" updates Americans' national understanding of their sixteenth president and provides a partial, artful lesson on the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, this movie will become a defining work on President Abraham Lincoln's character and leadership in his final days, and will raise questions about how politicians elevated emancipation into the nation's highest law. Once released on DVD, teachers could use this work to teach about Lincoln's personal and administrative challenges, Civil War-era political divisions, the patronage system, or the operation of the lower house. The movie's online "Learning Hub" offers a 28-page Educator's Guide with background content and primary sources, and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer has authored the companion book for young readers, "Lincoln: How Abraham Lincoln Ended Slavery in America." This review will examine the film's impact on Lincoln's image, provide some historical context, and look at its characterization of congressional emancipation. (Contains 9 notes.)