James L. Swanson’s Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and The Manhunt for Jefferson Davis describes the separate journey of the two most important faces of the civil war, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Swanson seems to write for the purpose of allowing readers to experience the final journeys of what he believes is the most unique time in history.
This adolescent version of Swanson’s adult novel, Bloody Crimes, describes Lincoln’s journey to the grave and the manhunt for the accused Davis. The North United States was “led by Abraham Lincoln, fighting to keep the Southern states from seceding from the United States. The South, led by its president, Jefferson Davis, believed it had the absolute right to quit the Union…
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The telegraphs also allowed the audience to compare the point of views between Lincoln and Davis as well as compare the time difference of then and now. The pictures allowed Swanson a basis to base his information on that also proved it to be true. Swanson also went above standards and included, in the last pages of the book, “who’s who,” “glossary,” “places to go,” and a “for further reading” page. The “who’s who” section had the names and the title of the individuals in the Confederacy and the Union. Throughout the book, Swanson bolded important words, he placed the definition to these words in the “glossary.” The “places to go” portion described the location of where events took place and the memorials that were described in Bloody Times. Swanson also took the time to create a “for further reading” section that would help the readers get additional information on the topic through similar books or sources. These little portions of the book allowed the readers to get extra insight that may have been needed on the topic. The real adventure begins in chapter seven when “at 7:22 A.M. on April 15, Abraham Lincoln died.” This starts the question of who killed Lincoln? The tension rises as most of the nation believed Davis was the murder, it is even more suspenseful that he was no where to be found. Davis had fled two weeks prior to Lincoln’s assassination. The Confederate states did not believe Richmond would be captured;
Jefferson Davis was undoubtedly an important figure in the Confederacy. Davis was placed in charge of nation that had very few soldiers, little industrialization, and a lack of unity. Many historians blame the defeat of the South on Davis for being a “hot-tempered micromanager”. After the war, Davis was made into a scapegoat; a symbol of treason and racism. Who was Jefferson Davis as a person, solider, statesmen, and leader? A focus on Davis’ life, leadership skills, speeches, and actions before, during, and after the war may offer evidence to show who Jefferson Davis truly was. Also, it is crucial to take into account circumstances that affected Davis and his decision making before, during, and after the
To resume to the summary, the book “Chasing Lincoln's Killer” by James L. Swanson. The book is about the killer John Wilkes Booth, and not shows the full view of Abraham Lincoln because the book is talking about John Wilkes Booth Saga. The Story follows John Wilkes Booth along with his plan, and the plan was to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. The book shows the sketch also, shows how he, J. Wilkes Booth, killed Abraham Lincoln a point blank shot kill. After he killed the president, John Wilkes Booth flead from the theatre and went out of Washington to keep himself safe from danger. Throughout his adventure, he has been going through ups and downs across his road, on the contrary he had companions to help him out when he his going through horrible times. John Wilkes Booth helpers gave him a home to live even having the risk of being arrested for helping out a murderer. This means, it shows that John Wilkes Booth reputation is high and can have an ample amount of helpers throughout his
Ira Berlin (author of many thousands gone) starts this book off (in the prologue) by recalling a dispute some years ago over “who freed the slaves?” in the Civil War South. He was interviewed on Washington's public radio station about the meaning of “The Emancipation Proclamation”. He also addressed other familiar themes of the great document origin’s nature of the Civil War changing, the growing Black labor and the union's army’s dependence on it, the Evermore intensifying opposition to slavery in the North, and the interaction of military necessity an abolitionist idealism. He rehearsed the long established debate over the role of Abraham Lincoln, the radicals in Congress, abolitionists in the North, the Union army in the field, and slaves on the slaves on the plantations of the South in the destruction of slavery and in the authorship of legal freedom. During this debate he restated his position that “slaves played a critical role in securing their own freedom”.
The first major reason of the civil war stems from Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech. Lincoln gives warning to the growing rift between the North and the South, the Anti-Slavery and the Pro-Slavery groups, as evidence in ‘I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.’ Although the antagonism and eagerness of protecting the Union is not shown as prominently as future speeches, we can find a hint of caution in his tone. He goes on to support his claims through the hodgepodge of legislation that is the ‘Nebraska Doctrine’ and the legal crisis of the Dred Scott court case. He politely refers to this as ‘squabble’ and speak of the controversy and moral implication that they have caused. For his part, it is easy to see the insinuation of the speech- he believed slavery was immoral and was wholly incompatible with the principles of the Declaration of Independence embodied in the phrase
History class to many falls as a boring lesson, memorizing facts nobody will use in life. The day America got it’s independence, the dates of the end of World War 1 and 2. These facts may seem useless, but behind each one, their is a story with so many valiant people, a story with people who must be forever condemned, and facts that we can always use. In the book, Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, written by James L. Swanson, there is one such story about the death of Abraham Lincoln and the manhunt that followed. What is really important about this story is that there are heroes, who should be remembered, and attackers whose actions must always be condemned. Most importantly, this book shows how many people worked together in order to catch the escapees
In order to look into the lives of the U.S. citizens during the Civil War I decided to look into the first week from April 12, 1861 to April 18, 1861 of the New York Times. I looked into this week of articles to see how the New York Times covered the outbreak of the war and the people’s response to it. Some of the main war events covered were: call for Union to relinquish command of Fort Sumter and first shots of the war, reaction to the surrender of Fort Sumter, Lincoln’s Proclamation to add seventy-five thousand volunteers to the war efforts, possible attacks on Fort Pickens, and the Confederate reaction to Lincoln’s Proclamation. During this week, the north was obviously nervous and scared yet felt they would win as well as confused as to why the war was happening at all.
In “Company Aytch,” Sam R. Watkins first wrote this book to describe his experience at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, in 1864. As a soldier in Company H of the First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment, CSA, Watkins witnessed the panorama of war in grand scale as he marched and fought with the hard luck Confederate Army of Tennessee across the Western Theater. His honest, vivid, and dramatic memoir, published in the 1880s, is a classic that conveys the horrors, humor, and realism of the Civil War, and the firsthand experience of being in this war
The death of Abraham Lincoln is described very vividly: “...the sphere of Britannia metal poked a neat round hole in Lincoln’s skull and then pushed fragments of that bone deep into Lincoln’s brain as it traveled precisely seven and a half inches before plowing to a stop in the dense gray matter.” (page 208). After the arrests of the other co-conspirators like Azterodt and Powell, detective Lafayette Baker attempts to hunt down John Wilkes Booth and David Herold who are hiding out in a swamp in Maryland. Eventually, the two conspirators are found in a barn in Virginia and John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed as the barn burned to the ground. Finally, the assassin of the killer of Abraham Lincoln is killed in the same manner as the president.
The bloodiest war in American history, led by Abraham Lincoln for the north, and Jefferson Davis for the south, both presidents, but two different sides. Both garner for peace, yet one is willing to start a war, while the other is willing to accept it. This essay will compare and contrast the political, economical, and social outlooks on Lincoln’s and Davis’ Inaugural addresses throughout the civil war between the North and South. Slavery, laws, and state rights drove the South to start a war, and Lincoln received the war with open arms. Both sides wanted peace, but their means of achieving it and their leaders’ choices and beliefs differed greatly while still holding similarities.
This book was a view on slavery between during the Civil War. It shows the different views of the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. These two had very different views at first, but then learned to adapt to each other and eventually became great friends.
Although James McPherson presents Lincoln as having numerous qualities that defined him as a brilliant leader, he wastes no time in revealing what he believes to be Lincoln’s greatest strength. In his Introduction, McPherson states regarding Lincoln’s political leadership: “In a civil war whose origins lay in a political conflict over the future of slavery and a political decision by certain states to secede, policy could never be separated from national strategy…. And neither policy nor national strategy could be separated from military strategy” (McPherson, p.6). Lincoln could not approach the war from a purely martial standpoint—instead, he needed to focus on the issues that caused it. For the catalyst of the war was also the tool for its solution; a war started by differing ideologies could only be resolved through the military application of ideology. This non-objective approach to the waging of the war almost resembles the inspired approach McPherson brings to his examination of Lincoln himself.
John Wilks Booth, an actor and hater of the south and blacks, makes plans to tear apart the United State’s government by planning his assassins timing to kill part of Lincoln’s Cabinet along with the president’s death. Bill O’Reilly’s representation of President Lincoln in this novel is not one of a hero, or a victim, but to expand upon this tragic event. The killing of Lincoln occurs at the end of the Civil War, and changes America
He keeps to the subject very well in this book, making the tone of it objective, keeping his personal views out. The book is written in an undeviating fashion, looking at Lincoln’s relationship with slavery from his early childhood to his death and beyond.
It was on April 14, 1865 that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Lincoln went to see a play with his wife at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. During the play a man by the name of John Wilkes Booth snuck in and up the steps that lead to the balcony where Lincoln was sitting. He waited until there was a part in the play for the crowd to make noise and it was then that he shot President Lincoln in the back of his head. It is said that after shooting Lincoln in the back of the head, Booth jumped onto the stage from the balcony where Lincoln was sitting and shouted, “Sic semper tyrannis! (Ever thus to tyrants!) The South is avenged” and fled on horseback (history.com). Lincoln died the next morning.
“Battle Cry of Freedom; The Civil War Era id a work of such vast scope necessarily emphasizes synthesis at the expense of theme. If there is a unifying idea in the book, it is McPherson 's acknowledged emphasis on “the multiple meanings of