Running Head: CONSPIRACY TO KILL ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 Conspiracy to Kill Abraham Lincoln? Daniel R. Matawest HIST 101/American History to 1877 Tom Leamy August 11, 2014 CONSPIRACY TO KILL ABRAHAM LINCOLN 2 Conspiracy to Kill Abraham Lincoln? After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the question of whether or not this was a conspiracy of one person or a bigger plan amongst others comes to question. While most reports will say that John Wilkes Booth acted out with a select few people in the planning and killing of President Abraham Lincoln, there are contradicting theories that say there were other people involved including those in government positions. This paper examines three theories of research that could point out that this was much more than a simple conspiracy of John Wilkes Booth, to include the theory of Vice President Andrew Johnson was involved in planning the killing and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was the mastermind behind the planned assassination. Simple Conspiracy John Wilkes Booth was said to be the mastermind behind the most believable theory of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. John Booth was a man born in Maryland and lived in the North during the Civil War despite having …show more content…
According to Norton (1996), on March 15, 1866, she wrote to her friend, Sally Orne: "...that, that miserable inebriate Johnson, had cognizance of my husband's death. I have been deeply impressed, with the harrowing thought, that he had an understanding with the conspirators & they knew their man... As sure, as you & I live, Johnson, had some hand, in all this..." An assassination committee was set up to investigate then Vice President Johnson who was now President, but could not find anything that would incriminate him. Still some Americans and Mary Todd Lincoln believed
Some of the inaccuracies include her children, John Wilkes Booth’s death, and the lawyers involved. The Conspirator is accurate with the main plot of the story. President Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre (Ferguson 154). Booth was an actor at the theater and knew the play, entitled Our American Cousin, so well that he chose the height of audience laughter to shoot (Ferguson 165).
The Lincoln Conspirator who got away with it. But how did John Surratt influence the assassination of President Lincoln? How did John Surratt get away when so many people were lynched and imprisoned? John Harrison Surratt was born on April 18, 1844 in Washington D.C.. He had two siblings: Anna Surratt and Isaac Surratt.
Mary Surratt should have been executed because she lied to the authorities. Mary lied to the authorities about knowing the people who shot Lincoln. Mary is guilty for Lincoln assassination because she was involved with the people who killed Lincoln and gave them weapons. In source 3, it says “I want you to have those shooting irons ready.” That meant that she had weapons and told the people who shot Lincoln to get them ready.
Chapter 1 of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson is about the assassination plan of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. This assassination plan had strengths and weaknesses. John Wilkes Booth was a twenty-six year old actor who was a strong, loyal, and passionate confederate. Booth and his conspirators had a mission to take down some of the top leaders of the United States of America - the President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and U.S Secretary of State William Seward. In assessing this plan, which is similar to any other assassination plan, it includes good and bad situations with conspirators, location/time, and also weapons.
On April 15, 1865 Abraham Lincoln died. On that day, it started a chase of Lincoln’s killers and henchmen. Lincoln’s killer was John Wilkes Booth and the helpful associate was George Atzerodt, David Herold, and Lewis Powell. Atzerodt was going to assassinate the Vice President, Andrew Johnson, David Herold was Booth’s navigator around Washington, and Lewis Powell was going to assassinate secretary William H. Seward but failed in doing so. This is about Mary Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd.
No matter how many news reports and newspapers people scour through, there is always a better chance than not that key information is missed because of a biased article writer. Through reading the book, Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, no side is left out, and while Swanson is a writer from the North, he manages to cover the entire story of Booth’s manhunt, including the many hidden facts as well as the motive behind Booth’s attack. Through primary sources and other documents, the text is quite informative, and therefore is a must read for anyone and everyone. It does matter if people read this book, because it reveals so much more than what most people know, about this horrific incident. Every day, manhunts and assassinations take place around the
Throughout all of Booth’s planning, Mary had known that Booth and his accomplices were using her house to plan further and knew her son John Jr. was very much involved as well but still kept quiet. Surratt seemed to want to be a part of Booth’s plan because during the planning process Surratt wanted to personally talk to Booth about horses needed in the plan. Booth’s plan of kidnapping Lincoln still was halted well in April when he was to happen in February or March. Booth then decided that he would assassinate President Lincoln on April 14. Booth not only planned to Lincoln, but also Secretary of State William henry Seward, General Ulysses S. Grant, and Vice President Andrew Johnson.
O’Reilly introduces John Wilkes Booth as the mastermind behind the President Lincoln assassination. John Wilkes Booth was a well-known popular stage actor from Maryland. He starred in many different shows that people, such as the president, would attend. After the Civil War the Union supporters from the North celebrated day and night. The people were excited that they had won the war, except John Wilkes Booth.
As the president's limousine passes the Texas School Book Depository, shots are fired from a sixth floor window. The wire services at the time reported that three shots were fired hitting the president and one striking the governor, this subject seems so incredibly documented that much of the conspiracy theories seem like happenstance or the normal reactionary panic that seems to be common in very media oriented societies; and the fact that all of the footage and personally owned cameras were confiscated right after the assassination does lead to the ensuing hysteria over the decades over this assassination, when the simple fact is that the government needed all of the evidence possible to find out and document what had actually occurred. And
Brian Hernandez Prof. Cicirelli CM-115-02 11/30/15 JFK Assassination Many conspiracies have taken place within government, but none of them have been more serious then JFK assassination. When JFK had fired its director and other agents, the CIA was scared that Kennedy would take down the CIA permently, he believed to be an extremely terrible agency under the government. The shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, who was in the marines at one point was planted into the biggest CIA camp somewhere in the Asian pacific and had been wanting to attend the CIA. Apparently he was the guy for the job. Many critics say that Lee Harvey Oswald might have been brain washed by the CIA.
Five days after the Confederacy’s surrender, John Wilkes Booth had successfully killed one of the most influential presidents in American history to do what he believed would redeem power to the southern states. Booth’s main goal was to tear down the Union’s government by taking down their leader and his successors, but the original plan did not involve the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Historian Christopher Hammer explained in his article "Booth's Reason for Assassination", the former actor had created a group of co conspirators and designed "a ploy on March 17 to capture Lincoln as he traveled in his carriage [and had] collapsed when the president changed his itinerary—and several of Booth’s conspirators ultimately left the group.” (Teaching History). Since the failed capture of the president, Booth hatred towards Lincoln grew after hearing the president’s goal to officially abolish slavery in his Second Presidential
“John” notes that Booth’s family was a renowned acting dynasty at the time of the Civil War. Booth himself was an ardent supporter of slavery with a burning hatred for Abraham Lincoln (Britannica.com). “Assassination,” suggests that Booth’s hatred of Lincoln may have been caused in part Lincoln’s undemocratic practices. The President deemed censorship of speeches and newspapers necessary during the Civil War. Additionally, the President was able to suspend any writ of habeas corpus, which prevented trials from taking place (2009).
Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth who supported the Confederacy even though they lost the American Civil war to the Union. Booth murdered Lincoln while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theatre. The murder was similar because there were apparently several co-conspiritors who helped Booth plan the assassination. Both of
James L. Swanson Chasing Lincoln’s Killer 2009 Chasing Lincoln’s Killer is a book about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a past United States of America president. The introduction of the book is how John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s killer, and his accomplices, made a plan to kidnap the American president, but their plan failed. So, John Wilkes Booth and his little gang decide to kill the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of State in one night. John Wilkes Booth would kill the president at Ford’s theater, His accomplice George Atzerodt would kill the Vice President at the Vice President’s hotel room. Lewis Powell and David Herold would kill the Secretary of State.
Many of America's leaders were assassinated such as John F. Kennedy and MLK. The motives to their assassinations were most from disagreements which is the same motive for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On April 14th 1865, John Wilkes, shot and killed Abraham Lincoln at a play at ford Theatre . John Wilkes Booth was born in Maryland and was born in 1838. He lived in the north during the civil War but but yet he still didn’t agree with Abraham Lincoln.