The Knights Of The Golden Circle Analysis

On this night John Wilks Booth intended on killing the vice president Andrew Jackson, the secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton, and successfully assassinated the 16th president of the United States of America. Booth spent 12 days on the run, within those 12 day Samuel Cox ( farmer who provides temporary refuge for Booth and Herold), Richard Garrett ( the farmer in whose barn Booth and Herold are captured), where few of the people who helped Booth during those 12 days. Sergeant Boston Corbett was the union solider who shot Booth. Booth misjudged how people would react he thought he would be seen as a southern hero, but most people saw it as a heinous crime. (O’Reilly 12) (Levison par.

While Booth and Lincoln did not know one another, Lincoln did think about Booth and appreciated watching him perform at Ford's Theater.

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.

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. However, his original plan involved only capturing President Lincoln, then holding him hostage in exchange for confederate prisoners of war. But not long before his plans were going to take place,

After the confederate loss he felt it was necessary to reclaim vengeance and victory for the South. Following two failed kidnapping attempts, Booth decided the only option was to kill the president, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and the Secretary of State all in the same night. However, Booth would be the only one to successfully kill his target. After assassinating President Abraham Lincoln in the Ford Theater, he screamed “thus be it ever to tyrants!” and fled on horseback. Some accounts even say he screamed “the South is avenged!” (USHistory.org. 3). His actions were justified to those who followed his cause because the south was “cheated” from its way of life. On the other hand, to those who followed Lincoln it was a complete travesty and took away any chance America had of rebuilding itself because Lincoln provided innovative ideas and abolitionist ideals.

When he heard about the news of Lincoln attending a play at Ford’s Theatre, he knew he had to take the chance. With the use of him being a highly popular actor, he was able to get into the president’s box where he then shot the president in the back of the head. Booth then jumped off the balcony breaking his leg, ran outside to the horse he was using for his escape, and then ended at the Garrett Farm where he was then captured and

He was not a terrorist, meaning he was not willing to die for his cause. He had planned to escape and stay hidden away from the soldiers. “Over the bridge, Booth turned to see if his henchman - David Herold, Lewis Powell, or George Atzerodt- followed in the distance. This was their escape route too.” (Swanson, 65).

Booth was now in the box of the theatre. On April 14, 1865, just after 10 p.m., Booth pulled a .44-calibre derringer and shot President Lincoln in the back of the head. “He grappled briefly with Union officer Maj. Henry Rathbone (who, along with his fiancée, was in the box as the Lincoln’s guest), swung himself over the balustrade, and leaped off it, reportedly shouting, “Sic semper tyrannis!” (the motto of the state of Virginia, meaning “Thus always to tyrants!”) or “The South is avenged!” or both” (Encyclopedia Britannica 2017). Booth next jumped off the stage, breaking his leg in the process, but managed to make it to his getaway horse before anyone in the shocked crowd could stop him (Biography April 28, 2017). The attempt to kill Seward did not succeed, but Lincoln died shortly after seven o’clock the following morning. (Encyclopedia Britannica 2017).

Booth then came up with a desperate plan in order to save the past. When Lincoln had won the civil war Booth then wanted to kill

When the Union won, those few days had been the worst of booth’s young life. When Lincoln was coming to Ford’s Theatre on April 14, Booth knew right away that night he was going to kill the president. The president was coming to

According to biography.com it says “Tell mother… I died for my country.” This is implying that he is willing to risk his life to save the country because he thought Lincoln was a bad person and he was the reason the Confederates lost the war. Additionally, biography.com says that Booth became involved with a kidnapping plan. It also says the plan including bringing him to Richmond and either demand peace or the release of Confederate supporters. In this piece of evidence he is saying that he wants to have revenge and avenge the south. When he jumped off of the stage he yelled the south is avenged. That also says that he thinks he is getting revenge for the south.

They had hoped that with the capture of the president that the Union would release captured Confederate soldiers in exchange for the safe return of the president back to the Union (law2.umkc.edu). Though his plan was ultimately foiled with General Robert E. Lee’s surrender (law2.umkc.edu). At which point it became clear to Booth that the only way to avenge the South was to murder the president (law2.umkc.edu).

I chose this article because I have always been curious of the story of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In a way I felt like it was a murder mystery because I didn’t know all of the details to the story and those are my favorite. As I began to read more into the assassination, I began to love it even more and wanted to learn more about it and I actually had an interest in history which I have never had before.

Sadly, Lincoln was killed due to the belief of Booth that “Lincoln was going to over throw the constitution and destroy the south he loved.” (Booths reason for assassination) This was most likely caused by the fact that Booth was an open confederate sympathizer during the war. It was also thought that the guards were not doing their jobs at the theatre and that they allowed Booth to sneak by and shoot Lincoln in the head with a 44 caliber derringer pistol. Recently after Lincoln’s death it was found that co-conspirators were involved in Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s

Lee surrendered to the North. The surrender pushed Booth over the edge, and he realized, that in order to make a difference, he would have to perform a larger act then a kidnapping. He would have to assassinate Abraham Lincoln (“John Wilkes Booth.” Civil War Trust). On April 14, 1865, Booth entered Abraham Lincoln’s box at Ford’s Theatre. He drew a .44-calibre derringer, a small handgun, and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. He then proceeded to throw himself over the railing of the balcony onto the stage shouting, “Sic semper tyrannis! The SOuth is avenged (“John Wilkes Booth.” Encyclopædia Britannica)!” Booth ran away limping, after breaking his leg. He escaped on a horse that was waiting outside. He rode until he reached the house of Dr. Samuel Mudd. Dr. Mudd fixed Booth’s broken leg ,and when he was questioned, he denied even knowing Booth. Booth, along with a fellow conspirator David E. Herold, escaped to VIrginia, where they found a tobacco barn near Port Royal. Soldier then found them, and Booth was shot down. It is unknown whether someone whot him or if He shot himself. Booth died thinking he help the South, but in actuality he caused more defeat. “Lincoln believed that the country could never be whole again unless the South was welcomed back with open arms (Hillstrom 33).” After Lincoln died, President Andrew Johnson took hi splace. Contrary to