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Lincoln's Assassination Character Analysis

Decent Essays

The Characterization of John Wilkes Booth(Revision)
When John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington on April 14, 1865, people almost immediately deemed Lincoln a martyr. Although, no one even began to question whether Booth was one. A martyr is said to be a person who is killed for their beliefs, in the case of Booth, his hatred towards the president. Yet, with such a vague definition, martyr becomes very subjective. Aren’t those who are promised Paradise and eternal worship if they strap bombs to their chests considered martyrs too? Of course not! Not in the eyes of Americans at least. More often than not, martyrs are people who are willing to die for the cause in hopes that it will bring change. However, …show more content…

He believed assassinating Lincoln would make him grander than the man, who according to Booth, was the “grandest character of the century”(83), John Brown. However when things played out otherwise, he was quite befuddled. Why wouldn’t political murder be greeted as an act of heroism? Booth was shocked to learn that what he assumed would be regarded as a courageous act of southern patriotism was covered in the press as a treasonous crime of an evil lunatic. This interpretation challenges the work of critics who have long believed that Booth’s strategy was sound, and executed accordingly. Yet some readers may still challenge the view that Booth is nothing but a misguided patriot whose actions had no effect on the “cause” he believed …show more content…

At the core, what really infuriated Booth was his conviction that America was now destined to be ruled by a dictator, Lincoln, who would bring about a horrible racial reversal. Booth was not exactly subtle in his hatred for black people and his favoritism for slavery. Writing in his journal, Booth complains that, “this country was formed for the white not the black man”(23) and that slavery was “one of the greatest blessings that God ever bestowed upon a favored nation”(23). In making this comment, Booth furthermore explains his uncompromising pursuit for Lincoln’s head. After Lincoln’s reelection in 1864, the genesis of Booth’s plot came to be. Two days after the surrender of the Confederate Army, led by General Robert E. Lee, Lincoln delivered a speech on the White House balcony. In his speech, Lincoln outlined some of his ideas for reconstruction as well as his wish to extend franchisement to African Americans. Booth stood in the audience for the speech, and this notion seems to have furthermore fueled the flames. He stated, “That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God, I’ll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make”(30). Three days later, Booth made good on his promise, driven by what he saw as a patriotic and religious duty to save his nation. Whereas some are convinced that Booth was a patriot fighting for a noble cause, others maintain that he was simply a

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