Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: A Deeper Look

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Abraham Lincoln was assassintated in April of 1865, however there was a bigger objective and a debate about wether the fate of those responsible for Lincoln’s death was correct. After two failing attempts to kidnap the president, John Wilkes Booth decided Lincoln needed to be killed along with Andrew Johnson and William Seward. The same night Lincoln delivered his speech at the Appomattix, he decided to go to a play with Major Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris. To fully understand the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, one must know who killed him, his accomplices, and the larger pla
During the middle of the play, Booth slipped into the president’s box with a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. Once he was stood directly behind Lincoln, he fired the gun into the back of his head and slashed Rathbone’s arm with the dagger. Afterwards, Booth launched …show more content…

The soldiers were not allowed to shoot him, so intead, they lit the barn on fire. Once the fire was lit, Sergeant Boston Corbett finally shot Booth. He was dragged to a porch where he uttered his last words, “Useless...useless.” As for Booth’s accomplices, two of them were executed by hanging on July 7, 1865. Their names were David Herold and Mary Surratt, who was the first woman put to death by federal government. The others were simply jailed. I feel like the punishment for those who were jailed was very minor. They should have had the same punishment as those who were executed. Those people were still apart of the plan to kill Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward. In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln’s death was a terrible tradgedy and the entire country mourned over the loss of one of the greatest presidents. Some of those punished were punished unfairly and very minorly comapred to others. Those who were executed did not have as large a part in the plan as others and therefore their punishment was very

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