Essay on The Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln

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.

“With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as god gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds; to care for him who shall borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphaned child-to do all which may be achieved and cherished a just and a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all other nations”-Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (Great Documents of America 19).

Even though slavery was abolished in 1865 by the thirteenth amendment, it declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."[1]

John Wilkes Booth, born May 10, 1838, was an actor who performed throughout the country in many plays. He was the lead in some of William Shakespeare's most famous works. Additionally, he was a racist and Southern sympathizer during the Civil War. He hated Abraham Lincoln who represented everything Booth was against. Booth blamed Lincoln for all the South's ills. He wanted revenge.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." –Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution

The United States would not be the same today if Abraham Lincoln was never assassinated on the unfortunate night of April 14, 1865. His killer, John Wilkes Booth, had a strong resent for the Union that subsequently caused a dramatic shift in history. This hatred was caused by many factors, such as his background and where he grew up, his lust for power and fame, and his mental illness. John Wilkes Booth, a master assassinator and conspirator, hoped to strengthen the confederacy by killing Abraham Lincoln. However, this murder created an even stronger opposition to the South than ever before.

There have been numerous attempts of assassinations on seating presidents of the United States. There have been about 20 attempts to kill not only sitting presidents but also sitting presidents, and also president-elects. Among the presidents, gunshot has killed them Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan are United States Presidents that were injured during assassination attempts. All the other presidents of America from John Kennedy have gone through attempts of assassinations. The majority of this assassination cases are connected to political ambitions with some cases being connected to political gains (Clerk, 2007). In this paper, the assassination of James Garfield and John F. Kennedy will be covered.

One of the most tragic moments throughout all American history in my opinion is the Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. With no surprise I am writing about certain event that occurred leading up to, during, and after this unfortunate event. This historical event is clouded with conspiracy but I will try to avoid specifics of that particular view.

One shot fired and the whole country becomes paralyzed. April 14, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre. Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth and became paralyzed after the shot. At the time Lincoln was sitting with his wife in the presidential box at the theatre when the shot rang out hitting Lincoln in the side of his head. The unjust assassination of President Lincoln being shot in the head caused distress leading to delayed plans of reconstruction, all of which was caused by the belief of one confederate sympathizer.

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”(US Const. amend. XIII, sec. 1) The 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States on December 6, 1865. The Amendment said that slavery or involuntary servitude was illegal

John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators planned to kidnap Abraham Lincoln on March 20, 1865, but on that day the president did not arrive at the location they thought he would. Once Booth figured out that Lincoln was going to Ford’s Theater he and his conspirators planned to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and William H. Seward (“Abraham”/history.com). Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated. As the president could not escape the southern sympathizers the nation was lead through its darkest hour when our 16th president Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America. He was elected into presidency on November 6, 1860. Many of the southern states were unsupportive of Lincoln becoming president because he had run on an anti-slavery platform. Lincoln being elected into presidency caused states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas to split from the Union. In his inaugural address Lincoln proclaimed it was his duty to maintain the Union; a month later the Civil War began. Although Lincoln did many great things for our country, his vital role in the Civil War is what most likely lead to his assassination.

American Experience presents The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, from Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Barak Goodman. This film interviews some of the nation’s best scholars, including several writers and historians, who recount the known facts of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. The film was very interesting and conveys the story from the beginning starting with murderer John Wilkes Booth, a young energetic, happy kid who grew upon his family farm in Maryland and followed his family’s footsteps into acting. But he had big shoes to fill trying to follow the greatness of his family who were famous theatrical actors. His acting was not very good as he began but he eventually became

The Life of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 to Thomas and Nancy

Abraham Lincoln, an influential man, was brutally assassinated. After the Civil War drew to a closure, John Wilkes Booth, “a supporter of slavery, [who was still enraged at the War’s turnout,] believed that Lincoln was determined to overthrow the Constitution and to destroy his beloved South,” (www.teachinghistory.org). He sketched up a plan to secretly kidnap President Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, his plan failed when Lincoln did not appear at Booth’s desired location on his ideal day. Disappointed, Booth drew up another plan to assassinate the President. He discovered that the President had tickets for the show, “Our American Cousin,” at Ford’s theater. Booth, a former actor at the theater, slipped into President Lincoln’s private box. “Using a .44 caliber derringer pistol—a small, easily concealed handgun—Booth fired a single shot into Lincoln’s brain,” brutally ending his life. Booth escaped from the theater after his evil act, causing, “one of the largest manhunts in history, with 10,000 federal troops, detectives, and police tracking the assassin down,” (www.history.com). The hunt for Booth lasted two weeks until Federal troops finally cornered him in an old tobacco barn in Maryland. There Booth died. On the