Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer “ Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer”, was written by James L. Swanson, a dedicated Lincoln scholar and attorney. He details in his book the incredible escape of John Wilkes Booth’s from authorities, with immaculate descriptions of little-known facts in the case of Lincoln’s Killer. Swanson’s nonfiction book dives into actual pieces of literature written at the time of Lincoln’s assassination by individuals who actually took part in the real-life drama, including John Wilkes Booth himself.April 14, 1865 is a day of infamy in United States history,it is the day that John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Swanson delves deep into the minds of Booth and his accomplices , analyzing their every move. Booth flees the scene of the crime with Davey Herold, who has been a willing participant in Booth's secret plots to kill Secretary of State William Seward, Abraham Lincoln, and Vice President Andrew Johnson. The book begins with a prologue dated March 4, 1865, on the day of Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration, a photographer is preparing for the event and in the background, the capitol building is under construction. A man is watching, unsatisfied with the events …show more content…
Booth assembled his men;the men he met over the years who were filled with southern pride and anger at the new nation. His conspirators in Lincoln’s assassination and escape were: Lewis Powell, David Herold, John Surratt Jr., Samuel Arnold, Michael O’Laughlen, and George Atzerodt.To prepare, Booth packed his weapons of choice: a .44 caliber pistol and a Rio Grande camp knife just in case. When Abraham and Mary Lincoln arrived at Ford’s Theatre, they were met with loud applause, even though they didn’t send word of their arrival;the crowd never thought that this would be the last night they would see Abraham Lincoln
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Show MoreThe book Chasing Lincoln’s Killer is about the world famous story of assassinating President Abraham Lincoln. This book takes the reader into the lives and minds of the four main conspirators responsible for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the attempted assassination of the Vice President, Andrew Johnson , and the Secretary of State, William H. Seaward. Not only will the reader learn about the details of the planned assassinations but the background of all conspirators involved, each one of their motives for committing the crimes, and all the differences between the actual killings and what was supposed to happen if everything went according to plan. In this gripping novel the writer, James Swanson, takes the reader through a key point in American history in order to learn the truth of what must have happened while chasing Lincoln’s killer.
“Chasing Lincoln’s Killer” was a true story about the assassination attempts of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. Lincoln was president during the Civil War, which was a war between the Union and Confederate. Most everybody got to choose a side to root for either the Northern policies or the Southern cause. Although John Wilkes Booth worked in the north, Booth was an unyielding supporter of the Confederate cause. Booth execrated President Lincoln and what he stood for. John Wilkes Booth was a famous actor, and could have had many assassination chances, including Lincoln’s second inauguration. Wanting the south to win the war, he never wanted the punishment of assassinating the president of the United States. Being
Dilorenzo, Thomas J.. The Real Lincoln: a new look at Abraham Lincoln, his agenda, and an unnecessary war. Roseville, Calif: Prima, 2002
The book takes you day by day through John Wilkes Booth escape after killing Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the book Booth seems to get away with a lot. Many people help him throughout his journey of escaping without knowing what he has done.
In Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson, the main characters were; John Wilkes Booth, Dr. Leale, Abraham Lincoln (even though he dies.) When John Wilkes Booth (a.k.a Booth) found out that the North had won the Civil War, he felt anger and disgust but he could do nothing. Booth had one plot that the book talked about and that was to kidnap the president and sell him to the leaders of the South but that plot never got put into action. When booth went to Ford's theatre got a letter, Booth worked at the theatre, the letter that said that the President of the United states would be visiting ford's theatre quickly he put a plot into works. First he went to get accomplices and they too would kill someone that night. When the time had come to Booth snuck into the President’s box, not even noticed he pulled out a gun and shot a bullet into the left side and under the left ear of the President's head. That didn’t kill the President, yet. When Booth tried to leave he was stopped by General Henry Rathbone, they had a knife fight while trying to stop both of them from leaving, although Booth got away jumping from the President's box and onto the stage shouting "Sic Semper Tyrannis" (Chasing Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson.)
The book begins with an in-depth explanation of what happened in the latter stages of the Civil War. Major battles like Sayler’s Creek, High Bridge and Richmond are described through detailed language. For instance, at High Bridge, “Each man wages his own individual battle with a ferocity only a life-and-death situation can bring. Bullets pierce eyes. Screams and curses fill the air. The grassy plain runs blood red.” (page 61). All of these iconic Civil War battles led up to the Confederate surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse and the inescapable rebuilding of a new nation Abraham Lincoln had to deal with. Next, John Wilkes Booth is introduced and his pro-Confederate motives are made clear. His conspiracy to kill the president is described and his co-conspirators like Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt who also attempted to kill Secretary of State Seward a...
Pittman, Benn. The Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Conspirators. New York, NY: Moore, Wilstach, and Baldwin, 1865. 83-87. Print.
When the Civil War erupted, Wilkes was in his early twenties- still very young and naïve. Booth’s family mostly supported the Union. On the other hand, Booth was a supporter of the Confederates. As a child, his father’s farm had been operated by slaves, which influenced his views on the subject of the Confederates. Malicious and harmful emotions and opinions materialized from the war that led Booth to start creating schemes against President Lincoln. By 1864, at age 26, he created a plan to keep Lincoln hostage and planned to release him only if the Confederates in the war were freed. The plan began to crumble, so Booth decided to reach out to others who felt the same as he did. He met with several conspirators. The most crucial meeting was when Booth and a few others met at a woman named Mary Surratt’s boarding house in Washington D.C. to come up with a ne...
Booth lived an exciting life as an actor and a secret agent, but he wanted more. So he joined a conspiracy to kidnap the United States president, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was an abolitionist and supported the north, so when he was elected president, it sent the confederates into rages of anger. They did not like Lincoln.
leading up to and surrounding President Abraham Lincoln’s death. The purpose of this book is to
It gave an interesting point of view of an unknown part of history. The attempted stealing of Lincoln’s body is not very well known by many people. Thomas Craughwell gives the reader an untold story about the much loved President Lincoln. Craughwell’s unbiased writing style gives the reader the full perspective that is necessary to understand the crime. By prefacing the explaining of the crime with a brief history of the corrupt counterfeiting, the reader gets to understand the criminal 's motive for the ransom. I loved every part of this novel. The prologue immediately draws the reader in and makes them want to know more about this unknown part of our nation 's’
John Wilkes Booth infamously known for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was himself an interesting personality. The man was a well-known American stage actor at the Ford’s theatre, Washington. Booth believed slavery was a part of the American way of life and strongly opposed president Lincoln’s view on abolition of slavery in the United States.
1865 to a series of plots to abduct Lincoln and use his capture to nullify the Union’s war aims. Every
Without any question, most people have a very clear and distinct picture of John Wilkes Booth a in their minds. It is April 1865, the night president Lincoln decides to take a much-needed night off, to attend a stage play. Before anyone knows it a lunatic third-rate actor creeps into Lincoln's box at Ford's theater and kills the president. Leaping to the stage, he runs past a confused audience and flees into the night, only to suffer a coward’s death Selma asset some two weeks later. From the very moment that Booth pulled the trigger, the victors of the Civil War had a new enemy on their hands, and a good concept of whom they were dealing with. A close examination of the facts, however, paint a different view of Booth, a picture that is far less black and white, but a picture with many shades of gray.
At 10:15 Booth slipped into the box and fired his .44 caliber single-shot derringer into the back of Lincoln's head (“Abraham”/history.com). Booth managed to escape by jumping from the presidential box after stabbing Henry Rathbone, but he broke his leg during the jump. John Wilkes Booth escaped by running to the back door after jumping onto the stage and riding his horse out of there (Whitney #140). Charles Leale, a 23 year old doctor in the audience rushed to Lincoln after he got shot. The do...