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Why Did John Wilkes Booth Shoot President Lincoln ?
John Wilkes Booth was a stage actor who was responsible for assassinating President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865 at the Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. Booth belonged to a prominent family of actors, and by the 1860s, he was also a well known actor both in the Northern and Southern parts of the United States. |
However, Booth was also a Confederate sympathizer who hated the Lincoln administration, and he was furious when the South United States was defeated in the American Civil War. In addition, Booth was against abolishing slavery in the United States and he strongly opposed Lincoln's plan to allow voting rights to the freed slaves.
Booth along with some other Confederate sympathizers hatched a plot to assassinate Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward to help the Confederate states. Even though Robert E. Lee had surrendered, Booth did not believe that the war was over as the Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston was still waging a war with the Union Army. Out of all the conspirators, only Booth was successful in carrying out his mission. Seward was wounded but managed to recover. Lincoln died the next day from the bullet wound.
Booth fled the scene after shooting Abraham Lincoln and went on horseback to Maryland. From there he had his way to northern part of Virginia. However, 12 days later, he was tracked down by the soldiers of the Union Army and was killed. The other eight conspirators were tried and convicted, out which four were hanged.
It is suggested the Booth blamed Lincoln for the Civil War and all the problems that the South was facing. He had made a promise to his mother when the Civil War broke out that he would not enlist in the army. This prompted him to look for other means to help the Confederates and it was then he decided to first kidnap Lincoln so that he could exchange him for Confederate Army prisoners of war. However, when this plan did not work out, he decided to kill Lincoln so that he could force the North to recognize the Confederate government or bring the war to a swift end.
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