Premium Essay

A Summary Of John Wilkes Booth's Assassination

Submitted By
Words 750
Pages 3
John Wilkes Booth was a famous American actor, known as “the handsomest man in America”, but soon became the first person to assassinate an American president. On April 15, 1965, Booth shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln while he was attending the play Our American Cousin, at Ford’s Theater, in Washington DC. Shortly after, he jumped on stage yelling, “Sic semper tyrannis!”, meaning “the South is avenged” (History.com Staff 1). He managed to assassinate the president with the help of planning with his co-conspirators. Booth and his co-conspirators were found at a barn, yet Booth refused to surrender. John Wilkes Booth died three hours after being shot in the barn by an investigator.There are a few possible motives as to why he assassinated …show more content…
He strongly opposed the ending of slavery. Growing up, John Wilkes Booth lived in a household that owned slaves. Because of this, Booth was used to the idea of having slaves around. However, Lincoln campaigned against slavery and advocated the outlawing of the spread of slavery amongst the states. He supported extending the vote to educated African Americans and all black veterans. In January of 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that said, “all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free” (PBS 1). The support President Lincoln had against slavery really bothered Booth. This disagreement gave John Wilkes Booth a motive for Lincoln’s …show more content…
After Robert E. Lee’s army surrendered the confederate capital was near collapse in the south. The surrender effectively ended the Civil War. John Wilkes Booth thought that assassinated President Lincoln would save the Confederacy. Booth was willing to do anything to help the south. Also, it was believed that Booth was a confederate spy which gives him even more of a reason to be such a big supporter of the confederate army. He felt that Lincoln was overthrowing the Constitution, and to stop it he thought that assassinating him would help the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Summary Of John Wilkes Booth's Assassination

...John Wilkes Booth was an extremely famous actor in the mid-1800’s. He was adored by many because of his good looks and his amazing acting in a theater. He was a sensation to Americans everywhere, until the unexpected murder of President Abraham Lincoln. Booth had murdered Lincoln in cold blood, in an effort at revenge for the Civil War. Booth was an enthusiastic Southerner, obviously, and was angered by Lincoln’s success in the Civil War, and, therefore, murdered the President. After this event, Booth was faced with many conflicts, which were very much so out of his own hands. Booth faced the conflicts of successfully executing his murderous plot, finding help to escape the reach of manhunters, and staying alive in his times of being on the...

Words: 735 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

A Summary Of John Wilkes Booth's Assassination

...Washington D.C. However, their revelry was cut short when famous actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln and escaped from Ford’s Theatre. For 12 days, manhunters were searching for the most wanted man in America. The 12 day manhunt culminated at the Garrett farm in Northern Virginia with a fiery barn that was an inferno, a dead assassin who was at his prime in life, and a grieving nation left to heal its wounds. John Wilkes Booth committed the...

Words: 2313 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

A Summary Of John Wilkes Booth's Assassination

...a president was unheard of until John Wilkes Booth had assassinated the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, on April 14th, 1865. This was the first assassination of a president ever. John Wilkes Booth had assassinated president Lincoln but he did not act alone. John Wilkes Booth had many accomplices in this act. One of Booth's accomplices was Lewis Powell. Booth had met Powell at a hotel and he soon recruited him to help with his plan to take down the president and the leading power in the government. Booth had also took in George Atzerodt to help in this horrific act. Lewis Powell was sent to attempt to murder Secretary of State William Henry Seward, but this did not go as planned. Powell ended up attempting to shoot Seward's son but he had misfired. He had also slashed Sergeant George F. Robinson an army nurse watching over Seward. Also in his attempt to reach Seward he had punched Seward's daughter in the face. When he had got to Seward he had stabbed and slashed him on the neck and cheek.(Blakemore) George Atzerodt had become filled with fear so he did not complete his task. Atzerodt’s task was to murder vice president Andrew Johnson at his hotel. Atzerodt had not even make it past the hotel bar. He was going to drink a little bit to calm his nerves but he kept drinking...

Words: 518 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

A Summary Of John Wilkes Booth's Assassination

...Only a few short hours after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, amateur detectives and conspiracy theorists, questioned and debated the proven fact that the sixteenth president of the United States, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. Booth’s plans for the assassination were detailed, his co-conspirators followed-through on their parts of the plot and the escape route was all mapped out. The successful assassination of President Lincoln and escape of John Wilkes Booth, seemed a sure thing, until Booth was trapped in a barn on Garrett’s farm and ultimately shot dead by a Union soldier. Lincoln’s killer, John Wilkes Booth, had several reasons to murder the President on the night of April 14, 1865. According to Historynet:...

Words: 1519 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

A Summary Of John Wilkes Booth's Assassination

...Only a few short hours after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, amateur detectives and conspiracy theorists, questioned and debated the proven fact that the sixteenth president of the United States, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. Booth’s plans for the assassination were detailed, his co-conspirators followed-through on their parts of the plot and the escape route was all mapped out. The successful assassination of President Lincoln and escape of John Wilkes Booth, seemed a sure thing, until Booth was trapped in a barn on Garrett’s farm and ultimately shot dead by a Union soldier. Lincoln’s killer, John Wilkes Booth, had several reasons to murder the President on the night of April 14, 1865. According to Historynet:...

Words: 1519 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

The Day Lincoln Was Shot Summary

...Book Review: “The Day Lincoln Was Shot” Nicole True “The Day Lincoln Was Shot” by Jim Bishop takes its readers on a captivating journey through the events that took place leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s death. The unique writing approach taken by the author presents a detailed hour by hour summary of the day when president Lincoln was killed, beginning with the morning of Friday, April 14th, 1865 and ending the following morning. Every chapter represents an hour, though scattered throughout the book are various sections that give insight to the assassination. Some of the most notable extra chapters are, “The Days Before”, “The President”, and “The Conspiracy”. These parts are intended to give enough background information so that the reader is able to make connections and, in Bishop’s words, “[place] the events of the day in context.” Throughout the book the reader examines the step by step course taken by major characters,...

Words: 1262 - Pages: 6