2007-12-26 06:23:25 · 8 answers · asked by ronnierogers2002 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
spreedog133 has it right. The plan was to assassinate the Secretary of State William Seward, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and Vice President Andrew Johnson, among others. Boothe was among several co-conspirators, but he was the only one who completed his part of the deal.
2007-12-26 06:39:59 · answer #1 · answered by Rick K 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He believed he was doing the South a great turn for the better by killing Lincoln but the irony was Lincoln was the South's best friend due to his lenient proposals for reuniting with the Union and solidified the country and heal wounds faster. Booth was an actor who was a Southern sympathizer whose real intention was to kidnap the President and hold him for ransom thus giving the South a crucial blow to keep the Confederacy alive. But after Lee's surrender at Appromatox, he knew he had to go to greater measures . And so with an array of conspirators decided to kill Lincoln, Johnson and Seward which would cause anarchy in the North. Only Booth succeeded in his quest although Seward was severely wounded.
2007-12-26 12:07:49 · answer #2 · answered by Dave aka Spider Monkey 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
These are all great answers!
But I'm going to add a bit more.
By targeting the President and his two immediate successors to the office, Booth seems to have intended to decapitate the Union government and throw it into a state of panic and confusion. Booth also planned to assassinate the Union commanding general, Ulysses S. Grant; however, Grant's wife had promised to visit family and so they were heading to New Jersey. Booth had hoped that the assassinations would create sufficient chaos within the Union that the Confederate government could reorganize and continue the war. Witnesses said he shouted "Sic semper tyrannis" (Latin for "Thus always to tyrants", the Virginia state motto) from the stage, while others said he added, "The South is avenged."
The assassination was fueled by ideas from Julius Caesar's assassination also. Booth's father admired Brutus and Cassius for their "noble" deeds in order to save a democracy.
2007-12-26 07:54:12 · answer #3 · answered by pepsi_chugger8899 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'll just add a little more to some of the great answers.
Booth was apart of this confederate sympathizer group. Their main thing was, if we do these assassinations, they won't do anything to us because everyone knows we're doing it for the right reasons. Religion also played a small part in the conspiracy. They all thought that what Lincoln was doing was an abomination to God. So it was their duty to set them straight. As another poster said, he was the only one who did his end because Johnson opted out of the play and I ( not sure ) think the Secy. of State was sick that night so he didn't go.
2007-12-26 07:09:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Booth originally thought he would kidnap Lincoln and use him for an exchange of Confederate soldiers in Union prison camps. When Lincoln started talking about giving Blacks rights that pushed Booth over the edge.
2007-12-26 06:35:46 · answer #5 · answered by staisil 7 · 6⤊ 1⤋
He thought it would benefit the cause of the South even though Lee had surrendered and a military victory then seemed impossible. Booth's plan called for several assassinations to cut off the head of the Yankee government at this critical time.
It was a futile plan. The angry backlash in the North would make the period of post war reconstruction much harder on the people of the South.
2007-12-26 06:29:25 · answer #6 · answered by Spreedog 7 · 10⤊ 0⤋
cause he stole his taco.
2007-12-27 03:31:43 · answer #7 · answered by lynsey michelle <3 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Licoln was sitting in Booth's theatre seat.
2007-12-26 06:31:24 · answer #8 · answered by fkd1015 4 · 1⤊ 9⤋