When John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, it was a life changing event for the whole country. It took many days for the country to know Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. Then, everyone wanted to know why. Why did John Wilkes Booth assassinate Lincoln? Did he do it to be evil or did it for a specific reason? The fact that John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln was unexpected. He was a famous actor that had no criminal background. Nobody had any clue why he chose to do what he did, or did they? There were many motivating factors that influenced John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, and many people knew about it. The first motivating factor that made John Wilkes Booth assassinate Lincoln is Booth was from the South and supported …show more content…
Before he assassinated Lincoln he thought if he kidnapped Lincoln he would be known has a hero. In Booths last diary entry it states, “What made Tell a hero? And yet, I striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew, I am looked upon as a common cutthroat.” In this statement Booth is referring to a Greek god. Booth is upset that fro taking down the President, no one thinks he is a hero. Before assassinating Lincoln he first attempted to kidnap him. On biography.com it states, “Frustrated at seeing his plot fail, Booth resolved to go to a far greater extreme.” When he chose to go to a far greater extreme, he chose to assassinate. When he jumped from the stage after shooting the President he shouted something. In the book Chasing Lincoln’s Killer it says, “Sic sempter to tyrants! The south is avenged!” When Booth says the “The South is avenged!” he means the south is free and they are no longer under Lincoln. That made him angry, and wanted to kill the president even more than ever. In conclusion, Booth thought he was going to be a hero, but things turned out