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Short And Long Term Effects Of Lincoln's Assassination

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The assassination of Lincoln was a devastating event in American history; it was also the first presidential assassination in United States’ history. It led to a lot of change that affects us even today; this change includes how the president’s security is handled.. The event itself occurred in Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, around a week after Robert E. Lee Surrendered to the Union ending a long and bloody civil war. At this time there was a lot of animosity towards northerners and blacks coming from the South. Many Confederate sympathizers, including Lincoln’s assassin, were outraged after Lincoln gave a speech pertaining to Reconstruction a few days after the end of the Civil War because he wanted to increase the amount of rights that …show more content…

He was present for Lincoln’s Reconstruction speech and enraged by it. Originally he had planned on kidnapping the president and using him as a bargaining tool. He would trade the Union president for every confederate prisoner in Union hands. This was possible because at the time, it was not uncommon for the president to walk around Washington D.C. alone. Today, this idea seems very foreign, our president is one of the most protected men on the planet and this is actually one of the effects of Lincoln’s assassination. However, John Wilkes Booth’s plans fell through and so he decided he would settle for assassinating the president, believing he would become a hero to the South and the country as a whole. Then, on April 14, 1865 Lincoln was viewing the British comedy Our American Cousin with his wife, Major Henry Rathbone, Rathbone’s fiancée, and Clara Harris, the prominent daughter of a senator, when Booth approached Lincoln from behind and shot him once in the back of the head and stabbed Rathbone. Next, he jumped onto the stage, breaking his leg and confusing the crowd until Mrs. Lincoln screamed. He then fled and this act created one of the largest manhunts in United States’ history. He was found approximately two weeks later and killed by Union soldiers at the …show more content…

One of the biggest changes is that Reconstruction failed, today there is still racial animosity between blacks and whites. Issues such as Ferguson have made this perfectly clear. One of the reasons Reconstruction most likely failed is because the new president, Lincoln’s vice president, Andrew Johnson was a racist himself. This made Lincoln’s promise of making blacks equal difficult because Johnson would never follow through. Another result of Lincoln’s assassination that still applies today was the formation of the Secret Service, the government realized they needed a unique security service to help prevent similar assassinations from occurring. The Secret Service was formed in June of 1865 and endures to this day. However over time, the government has increased the amount of things that the Secret Service is responsible for. Lincoln’s death forever changed how the president’s life is guarded and these systems remain in place

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658 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proposed a new plan called Reconstruction. It required one tenth of the number of voters who voted in 1860 to take an oath of allegiance so the states could reorganize a state government. Also, to let the confederate states could come back into the Union. The state constitution had to be Republican in form, abolish slavery, and provide for Black education. On April 14th, 1865 Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth who was the leader of a conspiracy group that was committed to the southern cause.

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Five days after the Confederacy’s surrender, John Wilkes Booth had successfully killed one of the most influential presidents in American history to do what he believed would redeem power to the southern states. Booth’s main goal was to tear down the Union’s government by taking down their leader and his successors, but the original plan did not involve the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Historian Christopher Hammer explained in his article "Booth's Reason for Assassination", the former actor had created a group of co conspirators and designed "a ploy on March 17 to capture Lincoln as he traveled in his carriage [and had] collapsed when the president changed his itinerary—and several of Booth’s conspirators ultimately left the group.” (Teaching History). Since the failed capture of the president, Booth hatred towards Lincoln grew after hearing the president’s goal to officially abolish slavery in his Second Presidential

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John Wilkes Booth was a famous actor in the 1850’s, who agreed with slavery during the Civil War. John Wilkes Booth killed the president of the United states, Abraham Lincoln in Ford 's theater Washington D.C. in 1865. Booth thought assassinating the president would make the south stronger, but it did not. John Wilkes Booth thought that killing Lincoln would make America a better country (John Wilkes Booth had thought). He was trying to exchange Lincoln 's life for saving his preconceived foundations of the country, but this did not go as planned.

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The main action taken that affected the South after Reconstruction was the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws legalized racial segregation in everything from education to public facilities to religion. Due to this law, Black Americans struggled for racial equality. Abraham Lincoln’s Death: Abraham Lincoln’s death marked an extending time period of racism, segregation, discrimination, and fight for equal rights under the constitution. Without Lincoln there to guide the United States through reconstruction, the United States took action on the issue at hand.

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The people in Washington D.C. were thrilled that an end had come to this war and that the Union had won, that is except for John Wilkes Booth. Booth was absolutely outraged and this victory for the Union added fuel to his raging fire. Before this moment Booth had merely planned to kidnap the president and hold him hostage until the southern states won the war. He now knew that kidnapping was not going to solve his problem, he wants payback and the only way he can get it is if he takes the president’s life.

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924 Words | 4 Pages

It was the Peterson house where Lincoln died. One of the reasons Lincoln was assassinated because he wanted to make America, united as one even if it was an all slave country or an all free slave country. All Lincolns wanted to do was to unite the country as one. It takes a war and his life to make that happen. There were about five attempts to kill Lincoln, one attempt was 9 months before Lincoln 's assassination.

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There are many different books that tell the story of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. One such book is Killing Lincoln, written by Bill O’Reilly. This book is not only about the assassination of President Lincoln, but it’s about the end of the Civil War too. O’Reilly’s Killing Lincoln has many strengths and weaknesses, overall, it’s a good book.

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Unfortunate Dr. Mudd On April 14th, 1865 John Wilkes Booth murdered President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater, after the Civil War was over. John Booth broke his ankle jumping on the stage of Ford’s. John Booth conspired with two other men, David Herold helped Lewis Payne attempt to kill Secretary of State William Seward. Herold, after escaping the authorities, met Booth and they came to Bryantown to fix Booth’s ankle.

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Abraham Lincoln's assassination was was one of most tragic things that has happened to America. John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln and the search for Booth and his accomplices was the largest manhunt in American history to that date. Back then when he was killed people were in disbelief, sorrow but some felt joy. Lincoln was very loved but some people did not like him because they were racist. What were some disadvantages for his death?

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He was outspoken in his advocacy of slavery, and his hatred of Lincoln. In a letter to his brother-in-law, John Wilkes Booth states, “This country was formed for the white, not for the black man. And looking upon African slavery from the stand-point, as held by those noble framers of our constitution, I for one, have ever considered it, one of the greatest blessings (both for themselves and us) that God ever bestowed upon a favored nation.” Booth was basically saying that slavery was a “blessing” for the white and the black man, and a very good thing that the creators of our country brought across. John Wilkes booth did not actually want to kill Lincoln, at first he only wanted to kidnap him until all confederate prisoners were released.

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The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln changed America forever. Lincoln’s assassination happened on April 14th, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre. A famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth, shot Abraham Lincoln. Booth’s plan was to kidnap Lincoln and take him to Richmond, VA, but failed. Abraham Lincoln made a huge impact in our history as President (History.com, 1).

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473 Words | 2 Pages

Many of America's leaders were assassinated such as John F. Kennedy and MLK. The motives to their assassinations were most from disagreements which is the same motive for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On April 14th 1865, John Wilkes, shot and killed Abraham Lincoln at a play at ford Theatre . John Wilkes Booth was born in Maryland and was born in 1838. He lived in the north during the civil War but but yet he still didn’t agree with Abraham Lincoln.

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Positive gains from the Reconstruction Era include: Freedmen’s Bureau: food, Medicare, and legal advice granted to newly freed African Americans; 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment which abolished slavery, granted citizenship to everyone born in the U.S, and granting everyone the right to vote. Negative effects from the Reconstruction Era include: the KKK: a group of whites who threatened blacks so they wouldn’t vote, and killed many; Black Codes: laws that limited the freedom from U.S citizens. The effects of the Reconstruction, which linger in our society nowadays, are the three amendments passed by congress, the Civil Rights act of 1866, and black schools and universities were established; most importantly, we are once again a unified

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722 Words | 3 Pages

Abraham Lincoln's assassination was very significant to U.S. history. The reason his death was so significant, was because once he died the country went into a harsh period of racism and segregation from then on. On April 15, 1865 Abraham Lincoln officially died from a gunshot wound to the head. John Wilkes Booth shot him, since Abraham Lincoln’s main goal at the time was to free black people and give them equal rights, and John Wilkes Booth was a confederate man who was racist. Once he died, Andrew Johnson, the Vice President at the time, became president.

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1309 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout the establishment of the United States, there have been 44 presidents whom the people elected. A particular number of these terms have been deemed as “legendary” from the accomplishment of the president and his overall impact on American society. From these presidents, the 16th has shown to be the embodiment of this legendary status. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, has achieved many accolades in his lifetime. He was our president during the Civil War, which was one of the bloodiest in history.

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