The Assassination Of Brutus And John Wilkes Booth

A conspirator’s motives toward assassination differ from person to person. These reasons can either be justified or are simply for selfish motives and personal gain. Specifically, the two conspirators, Brutus and John Wilkes Booth, can be justified in their actions concerning the death of their respective political leaders. Whether their actions can be justified or not by society is one thing; however, these conspirators ultimately believed that their actions were going to benefit their societies. I believe that leaders are assassinated for the benefit of society because conspirators are concerned for the well-being of their nation and people.
First of all, the conspirator Brutus had taken part in the assassination of Julius Caesar because

he believed it was necessary for the well-being of Rome. In this scene, Brutus explains his motives as to why he had taken part in the conspiracy to kill Caesar. In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus proclaims:
Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar
was no less than his.

If then that friend demand why
Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not
that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.
Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves,
than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; As he was fortunate,
I rejoice at it. As he was valiant, I honor him. But, as
he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his
love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valor, and
death for his ambition. (III.ii.19-27)
Brutus genuinely loved and admired Caesar, but his love for Rome exceeded his love for Caesar. Fearing the possibility that Caesar would become a tyrant and would therefore ruin Roman society, Brutus chose to join the conspiracy to kill him. This correlates with the claim that Brutus assassinated Caesar for the benefit of society because despite his love Caesar, he placed the needs of Rome and its people first rather than his own needs. A second example of Brutus’ selfless behavior for the Roman people can be shown in the same play by Shakespeare, where Mark Antony announced:
This was the noblest Roman of them all.
All the conspirators save only

he
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar.
He only in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, ‘This was a man.’ (V.v.68-75)
Antony claims that the other conspirators killed Caesar for their own selfish reasons except for Brutus, who killed Caesar because his love for Rome surpassed his love for Caesar.

Therefore, it can be said that Brutus truly acted for the benefit of society because of the claims from Mark Antony, a loyal friend of Julius Caesar, and not out of greed and jealousy like the other conspirators. Through Brutus’ noble actions, it is evident that leaders are assassinated for the good of

society.
Another example of a leader being murdered for the benefit of society can be shown through the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. Since Lincoln’s beliefs for the United States contradicted the beliefs of Booth, he made the decision to assassinate Lincoln. In Robert E. Jakoubek’s book, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he describes Booth, a man who passionately supported the Confederacy and believed that the institution of slavery was a blessing. The beliefs of President Lincoln, which was the abolishment of slavery and not permitting the Confederacy to secede from the Union, completely contradicted Booth’s own beliefs. Eventually, Booth made the decision to assassinate Lincoln for the good of their nation (1). In other words, Booth’s beliefs contrasted with Lincoln’s, and this ultimately fueled his cause to kill Lincoln. This proves that Booth killed Lincoln for the benefit of society because he thought that if Lincoln’s plans actually occurred, the United States would fall apart. This ultimately caused him to assassinate Lincoln to save the United States. Another example is shown in the same book where Jakoubek writes, “Depressed and drinking heavily, Booth got it into his head that if Lincoln and his government were eliminated there would be some sort of political revolution. Left leaderless at the moment of its victory, the North might yet be vanquished” (4). Booth justified his plans to murder Lincoln by thinking that if Lincoln died, the Confederacy would be saved and the North be defeated. This ties to the claim that leaders are assassinated for the greater good of society because despite the hopeless situation Booth had been in, he continued to devise a plan to bring down Lincoln, whom he thought was the reason for the downfall of their nation. John Wilkes Booth’s vehement beliefs justify the reasons for assassinating leaders.
To conclude, leaders are assassinated by conspirators for the benefit of society. These assassinations convey a pattern which is generally linked to political instability and possible oppression towards a nation. This can be shown with both Brutus and John Wilkes Booth. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the conspirators thought that if Caesar came to power, Rome would no longer be a republic and the citizens would become slaves. Since Caesar represented these reasons, it was inevitable that he was murdered. This can also be applied with John Wilkes Booth, where he feared that the South would be defeated and slavery would be abolished, ultimately leading to Lincoln’s death. There are numerous reasons conspirators have to justify their assassinations, however these two conspirators in particular can be justified in their assassinations because of their selfless urge to help and save their people.