The 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, was unrightfully assassinated as a result of racial equality. Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln because he didn't agree with the President's stance on racial equality. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the proclamation that freed all slaves, over a year before his death. John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1864 at the Ford’s Theater, in Washington, D.C. Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was unjust because of Lincoln’s role abolishing slavery; however, some Confederate sympathizers believed Abraham Lincoln violated the constitution and destroyed the South’s economy. Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was unjust because John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln because of a difference in political views. Abraham Lincoln believed that every man was created equal, thus freeing all slaves; however, Booth believed African-Americans were merely property. “Booth was an open Confederate sympathizer...A supporter of slavery, Booth believed that Lincoln was determined to overthrow the Constitution and to destroy his beloved …show more content…
Southern sympathizers argue that abolishing slavery would ultimately destroy the southern economy. According to USHistory, “Defenders of slavery argued that if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos.” Former slaves would struggle to find work and contribute to the economy and landowners wouldn't be able to maintain. After Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery, landowners no longer had free labor to maintain their land and since landowners could not maintain their land, the southern economy declined drastically. Since African-Americans were “property” that slave owners purchased, many believed it was completely absurd that President Lincoln freed
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.
...o to do something that protects the country and to get revenge on a traitor who betrayed the country. Overall, Killing Lincoln was very successful in getting the point across that the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was not just an impulsive decision by a radical southerner. It was a long, drawn-out process that was being planned for months after the Civil War had ended.
Abraham Lincoln became the United States' 16th President in 1861, delivering the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863. If there is a part of the United States history that best characterizes it, it is the interminable fight for the Civil Rights. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. The Declaration of Independence states “All men are created equal”. Even when the Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, and the black people embraced education, built their own churches, reunited with their broken families and worked very hard in the sharecropping system, nothing was enough for the Reconstruction to succeed.
Abraham Lincoln is known as the President who helped to free the slaves, lead the Union to victory over the confederates in the American Civil War, preserve the union of the United States and modernize the economy. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued through Presidential constitutional authority on January 1st, 1863, declared that all slaves in the ten remaining slave states were to be liberated and remain liberated. The Emancipation Proclamation freed between three and four million slaves, however, since it was a Presidential constitutional authority and not though congress, the Emancipation Proclamation failed to free slaves in Border States like Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. Essentially, states that were under Federal Government and loyal to the Union did not have their slaves liberated; Lincoln even stating “When it took effect in January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves.” Some argue Lincoln issued this Proclamation in an attempt to satisfy the demands of Radical Republicans, members of a group within the Republican Party. Radical Republicans were a group of politicians who strongly...
At the time, the South depended on slavery to support their way of life. In fact, “to protect slavery the Confederate States of America would challenge the peaceful, lawful, orderly means of changing governments in the United States, even by resorting to war.” (635) Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and realized that slavery was bitterly dividing the country. Not only was slavery dividing the nation, but slavery was also endangering the Union, hurting both black and white people and threatening the processes of government. At first, Lincoln’s goal was to save the Union in which “he would free none, some, or all the slaves to save that Union.” (634) However, Lincoln realized that “freeing the slaves and saving the Union were linked as one goal, not two optional goals.” (634) Therefore, Lincoln’s primary goal was to save the Union and in order to save the Union, Lincoln had to free the slaves. However, Paludan states that, “slave states understood this; that is why the seceded and why the Union needed saving.” (634) Lincoln’s presidential victory was the final sign to many Southerners that their position in the Union was
It would be either all free as the result of abolishing slavery, or it would be all slave because slavery had spread to every state in the union. Even today we are facing the same situation. To get a better understanding of Lincoln;s words, it can be stated as “American cannot continue as a nation, half-socialist and half-free. Either one will fall or the other. Either all the states and every state and city, town and village will become socialist. Or all will become free." A Slaveholding economy or a Socialist economy cannot co-exist for long with a free system. They must naturally consume and expand to survive. And Socialism, the modern day slavery, is quickly expanding across America. And we cannot long survive as a mix of free states and slave states. We can either have a nation of free men, or a slaveholding nanny state. We cannot have both. “The time when we could choose is quickly passing, and the chains and collars are nearing our throats.”(Greenfield,
This prompted the development of “free soil,” in which Northerners opposed the expansion of slavery. Southerners viewed free soil as a threatening policy primarily because of the off balance that new free states that were being admitted to the US would cause between the more unequal slave states’ representation in Congress. Southerners believed that if outnumbered to free states in Congress, laws would be passed to abolish slavery in the South, thus causing economic downfall in the
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.
On April, 14 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was shot while watching a performance of An American
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).
In a speech that Lincoln gave prior to his presidency, we can see how ambiguous his stance on slavery truly was. This speech, known as the ‘House Divided’ speech, was given on the 16th of June, 1858, and outlined his beliefs regarding secession, but did not solidify the abolition of slavery as his main goal. Lincoln states that the nation “could not endure, permanently half slave and half free,” and that the slavery will either cease to exist, or will encompass all states lawfully (Lincoln). At this point in his life, Lincoln’s primary concern is clearly with the preservation of the nation.
Contrary to what today’s society believes about Lincoln, he was not a popular man with the South at this time. The South wanted to expand towards the West, but Lincoln created a geographical containment rule keeping slavery in the states it currently resided in. Despite his trying to rationalize with the South, Lincoln actually believed something different ”Lincoln claimed that he, like the Founding Fathers, saw slavery in the Old South as a regrettable reality whose expansion could and should be arrested, thereby putting it on the long and gradual road ”ultimate extinction” (216). He believed it to be “evil” thus “implying that free southerners were evil for defending it”(275). Lincoln wanted to wipe out slavery for good, and the South could sense his secret motives.
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States and perhaps one of the most hated presidents that ever served, this hatred for president Lincoln came from his options and actions regarding the nation’s conflict at the time; the Civil War, this came after the succession of fourteen southern states subsequently dividing the nation into Union and Confederates (Notes). The war was about reuniting the nation and that was exactly what Lincoln focused on during his second term in office (Notes). Many people however did not believe Lincoln’s actions were in the best interest of the nation at all, one of these people was famous actor John Wilkes Booth.
Lincoln's use of executive authority during the civil war is many times illegal and unjust; although his issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation may seem justified, Lincoln blatantly abused his power regarding civil rights. He did things like institute an unfair draft, suspend Constitutional rights, allocate military spending without Congress, and institute emancipation. Although some may justify these actions, they stomped on the Constitution.
Abraham Lincoln had abolished slavery . The south was damaged and torn apart after the war, hint the name reconstruction. The reconstruction of the south was important because the nation needed to be whole again in order to thrive. The south now was a part of the union and had to accept the newly implanted laws such as the abolishment of slavery. The south relied on the use of slaves before the civil war to make money. Now that the slaves are free the south had a new aggression towards the slaves. Even though the slaves were granted freedom white southerners still put up a fight to make sure they weren’t treated as equals. The slaves were free by the proclamation of the American government but some remained on plantations because they were too poor and plantation owners wouldn’t allow them their