The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
On April 14, 1865, the President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, was with his wife on a night of leisure when he was shot in the head by a man named John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln was watching the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. That night, Lincoln was taken to a boarding house across the street, where he was visited through the night by members of his cabinet. After much suffering, he died the next morning. His body was moved to the White House, where he was placed in a coffin and then sent to the Capitol building to lay in state. Three days later, Lincoln’s remains were boarded onto a train and sent across the country to his hometown of Springfield, Illinois, where he and his son were interred in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Along its journey across the country, tens of thousands of Americans lined the railroad tracks to pay their respects to their fallen leader, a symbol of the Union and of the values that America strives for.
John Wilkes Booth was a highly popular actor during the Civil War era, the equivalent of today’s pop stars and singers. He had been raised a slave owner, and supported the Confederate cause during the war. He was not a soldier, but rather a secret agent passing information to the South. Over the course of the war, Booth’s career slowly declined, and near the end he hatched a plot to kidnap President Lincoln and hold him ransom for the lives of Confederate prisoners of war. This plot failed, but Booth was determined to succeed. He later conspired with several other Confederate supporters to launch an attack on the government of the Union. His plan involved attacking the President, the secretary of state William Seward, and the vice president Andrew Johnson. The fateful night of April 14 saw Booth shooting Lincoln, a man named Lewis Powell severely injuring Seward, and the failure of George Atzerodt to attack Vice President Johnson. Booth and fellow conspirator went on the run, only to be cornered 12 days later at an old barn in Maryland, where Booth was shot and killed. His co-conspirators were quickly caught, and many were tried and sentenced to execution by hanging. That was the end of the plot to kill the President.
The effects of Lincoln’s death were widespread, and many equated his death for the Union with the death of Christ, who died to save men’s souls. Before his death, he was not universally beloved, but after his passing the nation mourned the loss of great leader and praised him as a martyr. The people were not the only ones affected by Lincoln’s death. Vice President Andrew Johnson became President after Lincoln’s death, and the era that would come, Reconstruction, would be one filled with contention between the slave-owning, Southern president and the Radical Republican influence in Congress. Lincoln would have been able to control the Radical Republicans, and his method of Reconstruction was that of healing. Johnson tried to propose a similar plan, but the Radical Republicans were intent on punished the South for their actions. This further aggravated the South, making Reconstruction a difficult and chaotic time that went against everything Lincoln stood for.
It's really interesting to read about John Wilkes Booth's life as well as Lincoln's and gives good context for his motives! I wonder how the train to springfield went however. Given the less advanced rialroad system, did the trian have to run through any confederate states or border states? Even if not, there must have been some protesting seen along the way as well as support.
ReplyDeleteI think that your post is very interesting. It is clear that the effects of the Lincoln's death were widespread, but I feel like the effect on the political landscape is particularly interesting. Lincoln's death thrust Johnson into a new role, as you said. However, Johnson was not equipped to handle this position, as he was a Southerner who was not fully supportive of complete equality, but was also not able to identify with the plantation owners. He could not deal with the Democrats or Radical Republicans, and his attempts to veto bills were overthrown. Overall, due to the fact that Johnson's background made him ill-equipped, Lincoln's death set up the rest of the would-be Lincoln regime for failure. Johnson simply wasn't as iconic and good at unifying as Lincoln was.
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