Skip to content

Courtney’s Connecticut Quibble With ‘Lincoln’

Sally Field and Daniel Day-Lewis star in the Spielberg-directed film “Lincoln.” (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)
Sally Field and Daniel Day-Lewis star in the Spielberg-directed film “Lincoln.” (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)

Rep. Joe Courtney wants Steven Spielberg to stop besmirching Connecticut’s reputation.

“As a Member of Congress from Connecticut, I was on the edge of my seat during the roll call vote on the ratification of the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery,” the Connecticut Democrat wrote to the film director, referencing his viewing of Spielberg’s epic “Lincoln.” Then Courtney lowers the boom:  “But when two or three members of the Nutmeg State’s House delegation voted to uphold slavery, I could not believe my own eyes.”

Courtney, or one of his staffers, dug up the Congressional Globe from the Jan. 31, 1865, vote in question. The congressman learned that all four of Connecticut’s House members voted to abolish slavery.

Courtney ends his letter to Spielberg, dated Tuesday, by acknowledging that some artistic license is understandable. However, he wrote, the director should have double-checked Connecticut’s voting record.

Finally, he asks that Spielberg correct this mistake and change the scene in the Blu-ray and DVD versions.

Recent Stories

Menendez told colleagues he’s not quitting. Now what?

House panel details the ethics rules of a shutdown

US aid to Egypt under new scrutiny after Menendez indictment

House Republicans short on evidence to impeach Biden, witnesses tell panel

At the Races: Garden State of chaos

Biden pushes bipartisanship ahead of potential shutdown