The Lincoln Assasination

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be murdered. Lincoln was a self taught lawyer, born in Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was nominated to be the candidate for President of the new Republican Party. He received a lot of hate mail because of his beliefs about slavery. Lincoln had three sons. He and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln were aware of the death threats and they were very careful about his safety. The first assassination attempt was to blow up a train Lincoln was on that was headed for Washington DC for his Inauguration. When they discovered the plan, Lincoln decided to take an earlier train. During Lincoln's time in office, he was not a very popular President. Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was about freeing the slaves and allowing them to fight for their freedom. The White House was not protected with a lot of security, the way it is today, so the President was more exposed to the public. Abraham Lincoln also liked to be free and walk among the people. He did not want to live in fear, even though he knew there were many people who wanted to kill him. Abraham Lincoln liked to go to the theater with his wife. One show that Abraham Lincoln went to see at the Ford Theater was 'The Marble Heart' which featured the great, John Wilkes Booth. Abraham Lincoln specifically liked the character played by John Wilkes Booth. On the other hand, we learn that John Wilkes Booth despised President Lincoln. He actually stopped acting to become a Confederate spy. He believed in slavery and disagreed with Lincoln's politics. John Wilkes Booth had a plan to kidnap Abraham Lincoln and would release him in exchange for Confederate prisoners of war (POWs). John Wilkes Booth started an Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy group. At the time, John Wilkes Booth used a boarding house owned by Mary Serrat, a supporter of the Confederacy, to hold his anti-Lincoln meetings. There was a disagreement among the conspiracy participants about the plans to kidnap Lincoln. The plan fell apart.

In April of 1965, the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia fell and Robert E. Lee surrendered, ending the Civil War. Lincoln gave a speech from the balcony of the White House about how blacks should have the right to vote. Those closest to Lincoln were not happy about his choice of location to give the speech because he again, was not protected and too exposed to the public. Soon after, Lincoln goes to the Fords Theater to see a show. Upon hearing that Lincoln is at the theater, John Wilkes Booth and the conspirators decide to not kidnap Lincoln, but to murder him instead. They also plan to murder, the Vice President, Andrew Johnson and the Secretary of State, William Senard. The murders are planned to take place at the same time so as not to draw attention and giving them easier access to the officials. The believed if they killed all three men, the political power would be weakened in the Union and the Confederacy could perhaps rise again. During the plays funniest moment, John Wilkes Booth opens the door to Lincoln's Presidential box and shoots Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth jumps down from the box and lands on the stage before running away. Lincoln is carried from the theatre across the street where he is unconscious for the next 24 hours before dying. Lincoln was 56 years old. The other two officials survived their attempted assassinations, one assassin chickened out and the other tried stabbing the official but he was too skinny and he kept missing! Lincoln's body was placed on a funeral train. David Harold and John Wilkes Booth, two of the assassins were on the run headed for Virginia when they were caught and shot. Orders where for them to be brought back alive, but one soldier decided to fire his rifle. John Wilkes Booth was 26 years old when he died. He was killed on April 26, 1865