Preview

Negative Effects of the Lincoln Assassination

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3144 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Negative Effects of the Lincoln Assassination
Logan Flanagan
22 March 2013
Negative Effects of the Lincoln Assassination
Soon after President Abraham Lincoln died on Good Friday, April 15, 1865, the fatal bullet with which he was murdered was removed. Dr. Curtis, one of the doctors who performed the procedure, later wrote, “‘There it [the bullet] lay upon the white china, a little black mass no bigger than the end of my finger—dull, motionless and harmless, yet the cause of such mighty changes in the world’s history as we may perhaps never realize’” (Swanson 135). The doctor was correct in his statement that Lincoln’s death would have substantial and far-reaching effects. The assassination of the sixteenth president of the United States of America had many negative results that affected people all over the country. Although John Wilkes Booth thought he was helping the South, his assassination of President Lincoln brought hardship to the entire nation.
The Lincoln assassination brought ignominy to Lincoln’s family. The family had experienced deaths of two loved ones before, when Lincoln’s sons Eddie and Willie died in 1850 and 1862, respectively. The death of Lincoln himself seemingly brought a curse on his family. The most noticeable effect was on his wife, Mary. Author James Swanson lists several ways in which Mary was put to shame after his death:
During the months after Mary left Washington, there were rumors that she had plundered the White House of valuables; and in 1867, a scheme she hatched with Elizabeth Keckly to exhibit her dresses for money [. . .] made her a national laughingstock. [. . .]
Mary continued to live as an unsettled wanderer, spending much of her time in Europe. Irrationally, she believed herself destitute. She made mad, vicious accusations of dishonesty and theft against her son Robert, which led him to have her committed to a sanitarium for four months in 1875. [. . .] She finally returned to Springfield and moved into the home of her sister, Elizabeth Todd Edwards. It was



Cited: Curry, Angus. "The Lincoln Assassination and Its Aftermath." American Civil War Roundtable of Australia. American Civil War Roundtable of Australia, 2006. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. . "The Effect of President Lincoln 's Death on National Affairs." New York Times 17 Apr. 1865: n. pag. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. . Foner, Eric. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. New York: Norton, 2010. Print. Kunhardt, Philip B., III. "Lincoln 's Contested Legacy." Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian Institution, Feb. 2009. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. . McKinney, Cynthia. "Slavery, Segregation and Reparation." Race, Racism and the Law. Race, Racism and the Law, 11 Aug. 2001. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. . "Reconstruction." The History Channel Website. A&E Television Networks, 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. . Swanson, James. Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln 's Corpse. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. Print. Titone, Nora. My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy. New York: Simon, 2010. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Stealing Lincoln's Body

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The book, Stealing Lincoln 's Body, written by Thomas J. Craughwell, reveals an historic crime involving the stealing of a deceased president. The book starts out in the 1600 's explaining how the United States develops its monetary system along with counterfeiting. Craughwell develops narrative style and develops the progression of counterfeiting and how the United States government reacted to these crimes This leads to the creation of the United States Secret Service and then goes on into the actual procedures of stealing Lincoln 's corpse and holding it for ransom. The books central theme is revolved around the classic case of cops versus robbers to retell a forgotten incident of the past. There is not a thesis, or a purpose. In the acknowledgement Craughwell simply stated that he wanted to retell the story his father told him as a boy however he wanted the historical accuracy of the story. Craughwell retells this forgotten story in detail within just 210 pages.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard is about the awful plan of John Wilkes Booth and assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War which was led by President Lincoln and the president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis lasted for four years. John Wilkes Booth was a famous actor and well respected. Booth decided to take part in a conspiracy that included kidnapping Lincoln and holding him hostage until the Confederacy was restored. As Booth's obsession grew, so did his hatred against Lincoln. Booth settled on the idea that kidnapping was not enough, Lincoln had to be assassinated. Booth also had other…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author also observes that Lincoln’s moderation in attitude continued to influence his presidency through the Civil War. He believed that calming nonconformist ideas and restoring legal authority throughout the nation were his main objectives. Foner displays his opinion in saying that in the early stages of war abolition wasn’t a priority for Lincoln, but a bargain that encouraged the reunification of the United States. As well as avoiding the slavery question, the President was enticing the border states with offers of reimbursed emancipation. Foner puts emphasis on the fact that as Lincoln's perspective on the pending issues change, his view adopted a new position that were previously held by abolitionists and Radical…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The main reasons President Lincoln got killed were because him freeing the slaves, His decisions about slaves, and Him making Robert E. Lee surrender in the civil war. He gave slaves their citizenship, He forced the confederate troops to surrender at Appomattox and he got some great achievements during his term in the presidency. That was my essay on the assassination of Abraham…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This paper will first talk about what was happening the North and South at the time like the mood and tone of the war. In the second paragraph it will present statements from some of the conspirators like their motive and just what they had to say about their actions. After that, it will go in detail about the facts of the assassination including when, where, and how it happened. Next, we will talk about the aftemath of this event and how it changed America and they way the nation protect our president now days. Finally, the conclusion on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the other victims. Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only one to be murdered or attempted to be murdered on April 14th, 1865. He was one of many on the hitlist for a group…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    APUSH Essay

    • 644 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln, a man renowned for his involvement in the civil war and the reconstruction that followed the war’s lambasted segregation of brotherly blood, held an ideology regarding reconstruction that he wished to be upheld nationally. Lincoln’s bias, with its roots in the core of early humanistic values and union preservation, called for the national synthesis of the North and the South in the presence of benevolent and humanitarian efforts that would strive to “bind up the nation’s wounds.” However, regardless of Lincoln’s idealistic view of reconstruction, the events that followed his assassination, whether they were of political or social affiliation, generally served to contradict Lincoln’s peaceful philosophy on a grand scale.…

    • 644 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln is arguably one of the most influential presidents that our nation has had to this day. He fought to abolish slavery through the beginning phases of the Emancipation Proclamation, and attempted to unify our country once again. Though Lincoln accomplished an incredible amount in office and played a vital part in how America functions today, it was his assassination that truly changed America forever. In the book, Killing Lincoln written by Bill O’ Reilly and Martin Dugard, these co-authors explore what led the assassination and the advances to track down Wilkes Booth and everyone that helped him.…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    President Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865 at the Ford Theater, in Washington D.C., while they were watching the play Our American Cousin with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, a twenty-eight year-old officer named Major Henry R. Rathbone, and Rathbone 's fiancée, Clara Harris. After the play was in progress, a figure with a drawn derringer pistol stepped into the presidential box, aimed, and fired. The president slumped forward. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, dropped the pistol and waved a dagger. Rathbone lunged at him, and though slashed in the arm, forced the killer to the railing. Booth leapt from the balcony and caught the spur of his left boot on a flag draped over the rail, and shattered a bone in his leg on landing. Though injured, he rushed out the back door, and disappeared into the night on horseback. A doctor in the audience immediately went upstairs to the box. The bullet had entered through Lincoln 's left ear and lodged behind his right eye. He was paralyzed and barely breathing. He was carried across Tenth Street, to a boarding-house opposite the theater, but the doctors ' best At almost the same moment Booth fired the fatal shot, his accomplice, Lewis Paine, attacked Lincoln 's Secretary of State, William Henry Seward. Seward lay in bed, recovering from a carriage accident. Paine entered the mansion, claiming to have a delivery of medicine from the Secretary 's doctor. Seward 's son, Frederick, was brutally beaten while trying to keep Paine from his father 's door. Paine slashed the Secretary 's throat twice. There were at least four conspirators in addition to Booth involved in the mayhem. Booth was shot and captured while hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia, and died later the same day, April 26, 1865. Four co-conspirators, Paine, George Atzerodt, David Herold, and Mary Surratt, were hanged at the gallows of…

    • 1786 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Murdering Mckinley

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The book Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America by Eric Rauchway provides a well constructed and heavily detailed analysis of the details and motives behind the assassination of William McKinley, as well as the lasting affects that it imposed on America. The book first presents the reader with an exact description of how McKinley’s assassination occurred, however, this only scratches the surface of what truly transpired. The main factors that are presented in the book include how the assassination affected America and its society, Roosevelt’s response to the assassination and his succession to the presidency, the reasons for committing the murder, and the evidence that supports the cases of the assassin and the district attorney. I found this book to be a well-organized and accurate account of the assassination as well as the surrounding events. I found the events that occurred to be extremely wrong and hurtful to the American society. The means by which the assassin achieved the political changes that he desired were completely immoral and threatening to America.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Paludan, P. S. (1995). Emancipating the Republic: Lincoln and the Means and Ends of Antislavery. In J. M. McPherson, We Cannot Escape History: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth (pp. 45-58). Retrieved from http://virtualschool.bths201.org///.php?id=9935…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ordeal or Reconstruction

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages

    When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated it brought much chaos to the United States, a big question was how the government was going to handle and cope with the tragedy that recently happened especially since it was right after the war had ended.…

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, shortly after the end of the Civil War, leaving the executive office to his successor Andrew Johnson. Shadowing the war, plans were made for the reconstruction of the United States. Lincoln's plans for reconstruction would eventually be over written by Johnson's poor leadership in office. Andrew Johnson had many weaknesses, his greatest one of all was his “sensitivity to public opinion” as well as failing to recognize that he had no political base or his lack of understanding of how to fulfill the role of party leader. Johnson’s faults during his term were direct examples of poor leadership and would result in a disgraceful presidency.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated on April 14, 1865. This period of time in American history will forever be marked by his tragic death. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer at Ford’s Theater. Booth, along with Lewis Powell and George Atzerodt planned to bring chaos among the federal government and have the Confederacy step in to overthrow them (Boardman, 1865). His plan succeeded in the death of President Lincoln. However, his scheme to overthrow the government backfired. Lincoln was not viewed very well by the people before his assassination. However, due to Booth’s decision to murder Abraham Lincoln,…

    • 2370 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the year 1810, Abraham Lincoln was the man who had eyes for the future. He had remarkable hopes, dreams and goals he wished to accomplish for his country. He was a member of the union and was working towards freeing the slaves, and crushing the confederacy. Most of the country supported him and his goals. Yet there were still a few states that supported slavery and wanted Lincoln dead. Confederates were worries that Lincoln would take away their rights. However the confederates did not see that Lincoln was made for greatness. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by: John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth became the first person to assassinate an American president when he shot and killed Abraham Lincoln in his box at Ford’s Theater in Washington (Kauffman).…

    • 845 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Good, Timothy. (1995). We Saw Lincoln Shot, One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays