The infamous presidential assassin, John Wilkes Booth, succeeded in killing President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Booth was captured and killed in Virginia that same year. We have known that for a long time. Little is known, however, about Booth's warped inner motivation, cowardice, and racial hypocrisy.
Booth was a disillusioned romantic coward, claiming that he would, heroically, "...live in history" for killing Lincoln. That might have been the case had Booth's crime been perpetrated 1863 when neither the Union nor the Confederacy had the upper hand in the war. But, the assassination took place in 1865, at the end of the war while the nation was in the process of trying to heal. In his warped mind Booth saw
himself as Brutus killing Caesar, something he alluded to in his diary. And, in fact, his father's middle name was Brutus.
Booth was also clearly a hypocrite. He supported the Confederacy, and chose to live and work as an actor in the South. In that time period he became infatuated with the culture of the region. However, when the war began and the shooting started he moved to the comfort of the North. He would later claim that he was a "slave"in the North. But, while there he met with high ranking Confederate spies in Canada where a plot to kidnap Lincoln was planned. That plan was financed and given to Booth to carry out. But, with resources in hand he would later change the plan to one of killing the President and 2 cabinet members. His co-conspirators objected but could not stop Booth once he got started on this new course of action.
On April 14, 1865, the day of the assassination, President Lincoln and The First Lady went on a customary carriage ride, without the protection of the Secret Service. Booth was aware of this habit after shadowing Lincoln for several weeks. Later that day, Booth would hide in the bowels of the Ford Theatre and wait for the the right moment to strike. After shooting the President, Booth jumped from the Ford Theatre balcony onto the stage and broke his leg. But, he was still able to run outside and meet a collaborator who would aide in his escape to the south. Booth fled away on horseback, and later on foot through the swamps of Maryland as he attempted to reach, and cross the Potomac River into Virginia. Booth was expecting help along the way from confederate sympathizers, but was shunned by those who might have sheltered him earlier in the war. Immediate action was taken by Secretary of State William Stanton, who mobilized Union Army Troops in an all out manhunt to capture the President's killer.
Hatred was directed at Booth from across the political spectrum. Abolitionist, Frederick Douglass called the assassination a personal loss as well as a national calamity. Even Confederate Military Commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee expressed regret over the assassination.
Booth thought he would be hailed as a hero for killing the President, but nobody wanted to identify with, or give aid to this fugitive for fear of being accused of collaboration. For Booth, there was no place to run or hide.
This situation exposed even more hypocrisy from Booth as he sought shelter in the Maryland cabin of a free black man named William Lucas. Booth paid Lucas 5 dollars for a bed for the night. Lucas had no idea who Booth was. There was no 24 hour news.
Later, in trying to make his way to the Potomac River, Booth had another encounter with a free African American named Oswald Swan who gave Booth a ride in his horse drawn wagon across the Sacaya Swamp(Maryland) to the river. Booth was then just about 30 miles from Virginia. But, with the country in an uproar, and solemnly preparing to bury the first assassinated President of the United States, the days of John Wilkes Booth were numbered. Just 19 days after Abraham Lincoln was killed, Booth was alone, wounded, and surrounded by Union troops in a barn on the Garrett Farm in Port Royal,Virginia. He refused to surrender.
A young sergeant named Boston Corbett, from the 16th New York Regiment, shot Booth in the neck. He took the shot when he saw Booth raise his gun hand as if to fire. The shot paralyzed Booth, and he bled to death after about 2 hours. Corbett, for his part, saw himself as an avenger for the president, but was later disciplined for shooting Booth because his commanders wanted the fugitive captured alive.
According to his own diary, which he had on his person when killed, Booth wrote about his disgust with having to pay for, and sleep in former slave cabins, in addition to accepting transport in a horse drawn wagon owned by a free African American.
How ironic!
Sources: "Their Last Full Measure: The Final Days of the Civil War, by Joseph Wheelan, Wikipedia, The History Channel, and salon.com
Booth was a disillusioned romantic coward, claiming that he would, heroically, "...live in history" for killing Lincoln. That might have been the case had Booth's crime been perpetrated 1863 when neither the Union nor the Confederacy had the upper hand in the war. But, the assassination took place in 1865, at the end of the war while the nation was in the process of trying to heal. In his warped mind Booth saw
himself as Brutus killing Caesar, something he alluded to in his diary. And, in fact, his father's middle name was Brutus.
On April 14, 1865, the day of the assassination, President Lincoln and The First Lady went on a customary carriage ride, without the protection of the Secret Service. Booth was aware of this habit after shadowing Lincoln for several weeks. Later that day, Booth would hide in the bowels of the Ford Theatre and wait for the the right moment to strike. After shooting the President, Booth jumped from the Ford Theatre balcony onto the stage and broke his leg. But, he was still able to run outside and meet a collaborator who would aide in his escape to the south. Booth fled away on horseback, and later on foot through the swamps of Maryland as he attempted to reach, and cross the Potomac River into Virginia. Booth was expecting help along the way from confederate sympathizers, but was shunned by those who might have sheltered him earlier in the war. Immediate action was taken by Secretary of State William Stanton, who mobilized Union Army Troops in an all out manhunt to capture the President's killer.
Hatred was directed at Booth from across the political spectrum. Abolitionist, Frederick Douglass called the assassination a personal loss as well as a national calamity. Even Confederate Military Commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee expressed regret over the assassination.
Booth thought he would be hailed as a hero for killing the President, but nobody wanted to identify with, or give aid to this fugitive for fear of being accused of collaboration. For Booth, there was no place to run or hide.
This situation exposed even more hypocrisy from Booth as he sought shelter in the Maryland cabin of a free black man named William Lucas. Booth paid Lucas 5 dollars for a bed for the night. Lucas had no idea who Booth was. There was no 24 hour news.
Later, in trying to make his way to the Potomac River, Booth had another encounter with a free African American named Oswald Swan who gave Booth a ride in his horse drawn wagon across the Sacaya Swamp(Maryland) to the river. Booth was then just about 30 miles from Virginia. But, with the country in an uproar, and solemnly preparing to bury the first assassinated President of the United States, the days of John Wilkes Booth were numbered. Just 19 days after Abraham Lincoln was killed, Booth was alone, wounded, and surrounded by Union troops in a barn on the Garrett Farm in Port Royal,Virginia. He refused to surrender.
A young sergeant named Boston Corbett, from the 16th New York Regiment, shot Booth in the neck. He took the shot when he saw Booth raise his gun hand as if to fire. The shot paralyzed Booth, and he bled to death after about 2 hours. Corbett, for his part, saw himself as an avenger for the president, but was later disciplined for shooting Booth because his commanders wanted the fugitive captured alive.
According to his own diary, which he had on his person when killed, Booth wrote about his disgust with having to pay for, and sleep in former slave cabins, in addition to accepting transport in a horse drawn wagon owned by a free African American.
How ironic!
Sources: "Their Last Full Measure: The Final Days of the Civil War, by Joseph Wheelan, Wikipedia, The History Channel, and salon.com
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