John Wilkes Booth's Motives

The final motivating factor that influenced Booth to assassinate Lincoln is that he did it for the good of the country. Booth believed that his country wanted the same as he did, although that was not the case. In Booth’s diary it states, “The country is not what it was. This forced Union is not what I have loved. I do not care what becomes of me. I have no desire to outlive my country.” In the statement he is explaining that since Lincoln has been the president he has turn the country “upside

Booth’s second try fortunately failed again. Lincoln had decided to attend a function at the Wilkes hotel back in Washington instead. Booth and his men were waiting once again for nothing. This would be the last attempt that Booth would try to kidnap the president. He would soon become outraged at the South’s loss of the war and the move towards the thirteenth amendment. The next time they met Booth would succeed by taking Lincoln’s life (Geringer).

Everyone knows that John Wilkes Booth was the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, but not everyone knows John Wilkes Booth’s take on it. Like Why did he do it? Who were his accomplices? What happened after he did it? Well that is was this paper is about.

When Booth found out that the president was coming to Ford’s Theater on April 14th, 1865, he was very determined to kill him. In chapter one, it reads, “Booth heard the big news: In just eight hours, the man who was subject of all his hating and plotting would stand on the very steps where he sat now.” This is talking about how excited Booth was when he found out the president was coming to the theater. Instantly, his mind started forming a cunning plan to annihilate the confederate leaders.

He was a famous actor born in Maryland in 1838. He sided with the Confederates and did not like Abraham Lincoln. Instead of assassinating Lincoln, he had planned to kidnap him on March 5, 1865 and take him to the Confederate capital, Richmond. This planned failed when Abraham Lincoln did not show up to the spot. Two weeks after this, the Union forces took over Richmond. Booth then decided that Lincoln still needed to be killed, so he shot him with his .44 caliber, then stabbed Army Officer Henry Rathbone. After paralyzing Lincoln, “Booth leapt onto the stage and shouted, “Sic semper tyrannis!” (“Thus ever to tyrants!”–the Virginia state motto)” (History.com). He fell off of the stage after this, which resulted in him breaking his leg, but he still was able to

At the core, what really infuriated Booth was his conviction that America was now destined to be ruled by a dictator, Lincoln, who would bring about a horrible racial reversal. Booth was not exactly subtle in his hatred for black people and his favoritism for slavery. Writing in his journal, Booth complains that, “this country was formed for the white not the black man”(23) and that slavery was “one of the greatest blessings that God ever bestowed upon a favored nation”(23). In making this comment, Booth furthermore explains his uncompromising pursuit for Lincoln’s head. After Lincoln’s reelection in 1864, the genesis of Booth’s plot came to be. Two days after the surrender of the Confederate Army, led by General Robert E. Lee, Lincoln delivered a speech on the White House balcony. In his speech, Lincoln outlined some of his ideas for reconstruction as well as his wish to extend franchisement to African Americans. Booth stood in the audience for the speech, and this notion seems to have furthermore fueled the flames. He stated, “That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God, I’ll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make”(30). Three days later, Booth made good on his promise, driven by what he saw as a patriotic and religious duty to save his nation. Whereas some are convinced that Booth was a patriot fighting for a noble cause, others maintain that he was simply a

He was also a Confederate sympathizer, vehement in his denunciation of Lincoln, and was strongly opposed to the abolition of slavery in the United States. Booth and a group of co-conspirators originally plotted to kidnap Lincoln but later planned to kill him, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward in a bid to help the Confederacy 's cause. Although Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered four days earlier, Booth believed the American Civil War was not yet finished because Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston 's army was still fighting the Union Army. Of the conspirators, only Booth was completely successful in carrying out his part of the plot. Booth shot Lincoln once in the back of the head, and the President died the next morning. Seward was severely wounded but recovered. Vice-President Johnson was never attacked at all. Following the assassination, Booth fled on horseback to southern Maryland, eventually making his way to a farm in rural northern Virginia 12 days later, where he was located. Booth 's companion gave himself up, but Booth refused and was shot by Boston Corbett, a Union soldier, after the barn in which he was hiding was set ablaze. Eight other conspirators or suspects were tried and convicted, and four were

On April 14, 1865 at twelve o’ clock midnight John Wilkes Booth lay in his bed at the National Hotel. Three days earlier he had attended a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln at the White House. The civil war had commenced just two days earlier and the crowd was jubilant. When Lincoln concluded his speech with the the acknowledgment of black suffrage, Booth became incensed and declared that “Now by God, I’ll put him through, that will be the last speech he makes”. Booth was a staunch Confederate sympathizer and he had previously plotted a kidnapping involving the president in exchange for POWS between the northern and southern states. With that plan failed, he became desperate in figuring a way to put the power back in the Confederacy. Along with three other conspirators Booth realized exactly what needed to be done and that night at Ford’s Theatre, while a performance of the play “Our American Cousin” was appearing, Booth slipped into the Presidential Box seats where Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd were seated and shot him. Booth jumped onto the stage below and fled the scene among the chaos. As Lincoln lay dying a young surgeon named Charles Leale and other doctors in the audience tended to Lincoln and decided that traveling to the White house was out of the question, so carrying him out of the theatre on a stretcher, Lincoln was taken to the Petersen Boarding House

Booth went to Ford’s Theater to pick up mail, he heard that Lincoln was going to be attending a play that night. Booth knew the theater really well since he had performed there, and decided that night was the perfect chance to murder Lincoln. Booth had a meeting with the other conspirators to finalize the plan. Lewis Powell was supposed to kill William H. Seward, the secretary of state, but did not succeed. Powell only wounded him by stabbing him in the face with a knife. George Atzerodt was assigned to kill Vice president Andrew Johnson, but failed miserably. He got to the bar where Andrew Johnson was drinking, and got too afraid to go through with the plan. He ended up getting drunk, throwing the knife away, and falling asleep in a hotel room. Booth however went through with his part. Booth went up to the Presidential Box, waited until there was a funny line so the audience would be laughing very loudly, and shot Abraham Lincoln at point-blank range. Major Rathbone, who was in the box with Lincoln immediately jumped up to try and keep Booth from escaping. Booth jumped twelve feet out of the presidential Box and onto the stage, thus breaking his left leg. Many eyewitnesses said he yelled “Sic semper tyrannis!” which translates to “Thus always to tyrants!” Booth immediately fled out of the building and started one of the greatest manhunts in american history. After two weeks, Booth was finally shot and killed. Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt were executed by hanging on July 7, 1865. Samuel Arnold, Samuel Mudd and Michael O'Laughlen were sentenced life imprisonment. All seven that were tried were

Lincoln's Assassination. What can you say about it? Do you know much about it? If not, I'm here to tell you all about it! Here's how it goes... On April 14th, 1865, Abraham Lincoln arrived at Ford's Theatre with his wife Mary, army soldier Henry Rathbone, and Rathbone's fiancé, Clara Harris. They had arrived late to the production "Our American Cousin". At 10:15pm, John Wilkes Booth slipped into the Presidential Box and shot Lincoln's head with a .44 caliber single shot derringer. Booth jumped onto the stage and yelled "Thus ever to tyrants!". As people rushed to Lincoln's side, he was found paralyzed and having trouble breathing. Soldiers carried Lincoln to William Peterson's house and laid him on a bed. When the general surgeon arrived,

The theme that I chose was the pursuit for justice. John Wilkes booth and his 3 selected henchmen were on the pursuit for justice. So they were of the pursuit for fair treatment.

Many conspiracies have been made on Booth 's original intentions behind his utter hatred and later the murder of the President. An accusation made by Jim Bishop says, ...it may be that Abraham Lincoln offended the actor by proclaiming, in the election of 1860, his intention of holding the union together against the wishes of the Southern secessionists. 1 When Lincoln was elected for

The horrific day of the assassination of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln happened on April 14th, 1865 at Fords Theater when watching a play called “Our American Cousin” with is friends and family. Late that night, as they were watching a play, John Wikes Booth, slipped into the theater and made a very cruel and sneaky scheme. He had planned to assassinate the president, Abraham Lincoln! Once he got into Fords Theater, he grabbed a .44 caliber derringer pistol and shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head. When they all heard the gunshot, everyone thought it was a part of the play. Then they heard Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary, scream and knew it was not part of the play. Once of Abraham Lincoln’s

John Wilkes Booth had major plans to complete what felt was necessary for him. Booth had a personal feeling for the president “[Lincoln is] a false president yearning for kingly succession as hotly as ever did Ariston [an ancient Greek tyrant].” (Giblin 96). Booths hatred started when the civil war began during President Lincoln's term and Booth disagreed with many of his believes. As the war took a toll of casualties for both the North and the South, Booth had many plans for the South coming out victorious it was whether when was he going to take action. Before the war started, Booth was a well known actor. He served many famous plays for that

For example, the South hated the “slave line” established during the Missouri Compromise, and abolitionists were hated by southerners. “Booth was deeply committed to the South, and he had little patience for abolitionists”(Otfinoski 15). This “commitment” eventually lead him to join the militia. As Booth wrote of a abolitionist who was hung by the Confederacy, “‘I saw John Brown hung,’ he later wrote, ‘. . . and while I live, I shall think with joy upon the day when I saw the sun go down upon one traitor less within our land’”(Otfinoski 15). However, as mentioned before, Booth was a man who had a hard time making up his mind, so he made a crucial mistake when he joined the militia. Soon after John Brown’s execution, he realized his feelings for him were confused, and he quit the militia. He didn’t quit because he stood for Brown’s abolitionist views, but because he admired Brown’s determination to stand for something until his death. And that was exactly what Booth intended to do, “Despite his intense focus on his successful acting career, Booth never lost his passion for the southern cause”(Otfinoski 30). Booth made a vital mistake when he joined the militia, because the Civil War and southern pride only sparked more of his persistent personality, in a hazardous