Abraham Lincoln's Assassination Essay
"I walked with a firm step through a thousand of his friends, was stopped, but pushed on.” On April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln was killed amidst the play, “Our American Cousin,” by a Confederate sympathizer and former spy by the name John Wilkes Booth. These were the words of John Wilkes Booth, describing the frightening, historical moments in which he was on his way to kill the President, Abraham Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth, unlike what many people think, had many reasons for his strong, unprecedented, decision to kill the President of the United States. Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, “biography.com", and Booth’s last diary entry have all been valid, helpful, and great resources to supply knowledge on this topic. John Wilkes Booth did kill Lincoln,
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but it wasn’t out of spite, in fact, he had many factors and reasons he chose to do this terrible thing.
The first predominant factor occurred in Booth’s childhood. Early in his life, his family was wealthy because of the fact that most of his siblings, plus his parents, were successful actors. They owned a plantation, and of course, it was worked by slaves. He grew up not doing much work, knowing that people were harvesting the crops in his family’s farm. According to biography.com, “John and his siblings were raised on a farm, which was worked by the family’s slaves.” He believed in slavery because he grew up with it, and Abe Lincoln, in his mind, was the only thing in his way to keeping slavery.
Additionally, he believed it was the will of God, and that what he was doing was right.
He believed God was waiting for someone to rise up and kill the “tyrant” that was Abraham Lincoln. In his last diary entry, Booth stated, “Our Country owed all our troubles to him and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment…” As well as, “This was not a wrong, unless God deems it so.” He believed that because he wasn’t getting his way, he had to end the person who was preventing him from getting what he wanted.
Lastly, he believed that because slavery was being abolished and he was not getting his way, the country was getting worse, and that is was all the President’s fault. In his words, “The country is not what it used to be… This forced Union is not what I have loved.” We can take from this that he believed that the South was doing right, and that everything & everyone were ‘equal’, and obviously, they were not.
“I do not wish to shed a drop of blood, but ‘I must fight the course.’ ‘Tis all that’s left to me.” John Wilkes Booth, the actor, the son, the confederate, the assassin. So many things one can do, and John Wilkes Booth chose to waste his whole life to end something he did not support. In conclusion, John Wilkes Booth clearly had plentiful reasons that motivated him to make the vile decision to kill Abraham
Lincoln.
but it wasn’t out of spite, in fact, he had many factors and reasons he chose to do this terrible thing.
The first predominant factor occurred in Booth’s childhood. Early in his life, his family was wealthy because of the fact that most of his siblings, plus his parents, were successful actors. They owned a plantation, and of course, it was worked by slaves. He grew up not doing much work, knowing that people were harvesting the crops in his family’s farm. According to biography.com, “John and his siblings were raised on a farm, which was worked by the family’s slaves.” He believed in slavery because he grew up with it, and Abe Lincoln, in his mind, was the only thing in his way to keeping slavery.
Additionally, he believed it was the will of God, and that what he was doing was right.
He believed God was waiting for someone to rise up and kill the “tyrant” that was Abraham Lincoln. In his last diary entry, Booth stated, “Our Country owed all our troubles to him and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment…” As well as, “This was not a wrong, unless God deems it so.” He believed that because he wasn’t getting his way, he had to end the person who was preventing him from getting what he wanted.
Lastly, he believed that because slavery was being abolished and he was not getting his way, the country was getting worse, and that is was all the President’s fault. In his words, “The country is not what it used to be… This forced Union is not what I have loved.” We can take from this that he believed that the South was doing right, and that everything & everyone were ‘equal’, and obviously, they were not.
“I do not wish to shed a drop of blood, but ‘I must fight the course.’ ‘Tis all that’s left to me.” John Wilkes Booth, the actor, the son, the confederate, the assassin. So many things one can do, and John Wilkes Booth chose to waste his whole life to end something he did not support. In conclusion, John Wilkes Booth clearly had plentiful reasons that motivated him to make the vile decision to kill Abraham
Lincoln.