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The Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the Plot to Topple the Federal Government
John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was part of a larger plot to kill the leadership of the Federal government in support of the secessionist and slavery movements. It was Booth’s hope that this would create chaos in the government and would inspire the South to renew its war for secession.
In March 1864, during the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union forces, suspended the prisoner of war exchanges between the Union and Confederacy in the hope that this change in policy would help bring the war to an end. John Wilkes Booth and several co-conspirators who were Confederate sympathizers had plotted to kidnap the President, with the plan that they would demand the release of Confederate prisoners of war as a ransom for Lincoln’s release (Kauffman, 130-134). Lincoln had a habit of riding his horse out to the country without an escort. In March 1865, the kidnap plot is unsuccessful when the President makes a last minute change in his plans to visit a soldiers’ hospital (Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln). On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee, commander of The Army of Northern Virginia, the main body of the Confederate forces, surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. This, effectively, marks the end of the Civil War. Booth, frustrated by the defeat of the South, decides that drastic action must be taken and he plans a plot to kill Lincoln and other top government officials.
John Wilkes Booth, age 26, was a well-known actor from a prominent southern family of Shakespearian actors. He was a passionate secessionist and pro-slavery advocate who had an
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...on in the Presidency when Lincoln’s administration would have been much more sympathetic toward the South.
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Works Cited
“assassination of Abraham Lincoln.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 2013. December 3, 2013.
(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1762443/assassination-Abraham-Lincoln).
“Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.” Abraham Lincoln Papers. N.p..Web.
.December 4, 2013. (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml.alrintr.html).
Bogar, Thomas A. Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination. Washington, DC: Regnery History,
2013. Print.
Kauffman, Michael W. American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracy. New
York : Random House, 2004. Print.
“Lincoln.” The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Fifteenth Edition, 2010. Print.
O’Reilly, Bill and Martin Dugard. Killing Lincoln. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2011.
Print.
Most Americans know John Wilkes Booth as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. Shot at a play at Ford’s Theater on April 14th, 1865. However, the names of the conspirators that surrounded Wilkes Booth are relatively unknown, especially that of Mary Surratt. Mary Surratt, a mother and boardinghouse proprietor, was arrested and tried for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln along with her son, John Surratt. Pleas from her family, lawyer, and fellow conspirators did not allow her to escape her fate, and she was hanged for her crimes on July 7th, 1865.
Killing Lincoln is a historic, non-fiction book co-written by Bill O’Reilly, a popular conservative TV show host and Martin Dugard, a well established author. Published by Henry Holt and Company on September 27, 2011, this piece of literature contains 336 pages with complete sources, and references. In addition, this book [insert award] for its literary impact on young adults. With this historical thriller, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard seek to describe the antagonist, victim, and impact of one of the most devastating and historical event in American history.
John Wilkes Booth was a famous actor, and could have had many assassination chances, including Lincoln’s second inauguration. Wanting the South to win the war, he never wanted the punishment of assassinating the president of the United States. Being a supporter of the Confederate, Booth believed that he assassinated Lincoln the momentum would spark the Confederate troops to life and lead them to victory. This book is very vivid in detail and is a great educational tool if you would like to learn more about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
“ Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer”, was written by James L. Swanson, a dedicated Lincoln scholar and attorney. He details in his book the incredible escape of John Wilkes Booth’s from authorities, with immaculate descriptions of little-known facts in the case of Lincoln’s Killer. Swanson’s nonfiction book dives into actual pieces of literature written at the time of Lincoln’s assassination by individuals who actually took part in the real-life drama, including John Wilkes Booth himself.April 14, 1865 is a day of infamy in United States history,it is the day that John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Swanson delves deep into the minds of Booth and his accomplices , analyzing their every move. Booth flees the scene of the crime with Davey Herold, who has been a willing participant in Booth's secret plots to kill Secretary of State William Seward, Abraham Lincoln, and Vice President Andrew Johnson.
Booth had got the news that the president would be at the Ford’s theatre. This was great news for john both Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln will be there in the same place. “Booth heard the big news: in just eight hours the man who was the subject of all his hating and plotting would stand on the very stone steps here he now sat. “Booth began to plain his assassination without having to hunt for Lincoln. John had a deep hatred for Lincoln, he had hated the state that our country had been in.
In Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson, the main characters were; John Wilkes Booth, Dr. Leale, Abraham Lincoln (even though he dies.) When John Wilkes Booth (a.k.a Booth) found out that the North had won the Civil War, he felt anger and disgust but he could do nothing. Booth had one plot that the book talked about and that was to kidnap the president and sell him to the leaders of the South but that plot never got put into action. When booth went to Ford's theatre got a letter, Booth worked at the theatre, the letter that said that the President of the United states would be visiting ford's theatre quickly he put a plot into works. First he went to get accomplices and they too would kill someone that night. When the time had come to Booth snuck into the President’s box, not even noticed he pulled out a gun and shot a bullet into the left side and under the left ear of the President's head. That didn’t kill the President, yet. When Booth tried to leave he was stopped by General Henry Rathbone, they had a knife fight while trying to stop both of them from leaving, although Booth got away jumping from the President's box and onto the stage shouting "Sic Semper Tyrannis" (Chasing Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson.)
Killing Lincoln Book Review The mystery of how John Wilkes Booth pulled off the most influential and notorious assassination in history is revealed in Killing Lincoln. The author of this book, Bill O’Reilly, built up the plot of the story through vivid historical details and pieced them together like a thriller. He tries to explain all of what happened on one of the most interesting and sad days in American history. Many conspiracies and Civil War ideals are on full display in the book. I agree with most of O’Reilly’s ideas, but there are some that I am not really sure about because of his point of view, like many of the conspiracy theories.
leading up to and surrounding President Abraham Lincoln’s death. The purpose of this book is to
John Wilkes Booth infamously known for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was himself an interesting personality. The man was a well-known American stage actor at the Ford’s theatre, Washington. Booth believed slavery was a part of the American way of life and strongly opposed president Lincoln’s view on abolition of slavery in the United States.
1865 to a series of plots to abduct Lincoln and use his capture to nullify the Union’s war aims. Every
Without any question, most people have a very clear and distinct picture of John Wilkes Booth a in their minds. It is April 1865, the night president Lincoln decides to take a much-needed night off, to attend a stage play. Before anyone knows it a lunatic third-rate actor creeps into Lincoln's box at Ford's theater and kills the president. Leaping to the stage, he runs past a confused audience and flees into the night, only to suffer a coward’s death Selma asset some two weeks later. From the very moment that Booth pulled the trigger, the victors of the Civil War had a new enemy on their hands, and a good concept of whom they were dealing with. A close examination of the facts, however, paint a different view of Booth, a picture that is far less black and white, but a picture with many shades of gray.
"Abraham Lincoln Biography." The Biography Channel website. 2008. 01 March 2009 ‹http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9382540.›Abraham, Lincoln.” Biography Channel . [2008.] [ 20, Apr.2011 ]
Have you ever wanted something really bad? Like maybe a new toy or a higher job position? Imagine getting that thing you wanted most after working so hard for it and then losing it right after. It must be the worst feeling ever. Now put yourself in Abraham Lincoln’s shoes. You’ve just been inaugurated as president and days later you unfortunately get assassinated. President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 in Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. (Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination). Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was an untimely event that slowed down the process of reconstruction after the Civil War (Effect of Lincoln Death on Reconstruction). The assassination increased the north’s hate towards the south (The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln pg.51). With Lincoln dead, there was no one to control the Radical Republicans who wanted to punish the south (Effect of Lincoln Death on Reconstruction). When Lincoln died he was replaced by President Andrew Johnson who had a bad relationship with the Congressmen (Effect of Lincoln Death on Reconstruction).
Dilorenzo, Thomas J.. The Real Lincoln: a new look at Abraham Lincoln, his agenda, and an unnecessary war. Roseville, Calif: Prima, 2002
On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln and his wife went to go see a play (“Our American Cousin”) at Ford’s Theatre. During the performance, John Wilkes Booth sneaked into the President’s balcony, and shot him in the head at about 10:15 PM. Lincoln was carried to the Peterson House across the street. He laid in a bed not long enough for him, stripped of his clothes, while physicians tried to remove blood clots which formed over the bullet wound. This relieved the pressure on his brain and allowed it to continue functioning and allowing respiration to take place. He internally and externally had hemorrhaging until 7:22 the next morning when he passed away. He was 56 years old when he died. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton immediately said, “Now he belongs to the ages.”