Assassination Vacation

HIST 202
09/20/2012
Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation When Lincoln was elected into office the country was divided into the North and South. However, the South became even more alienated when Lincoln was elected President because of his opposition to slavery and his pursuance of its abolishment. As a result of his win, several states succeeded from the Union to join forces and create the Confederacy which then only led the hostility to grow even more. The Confederates took the first shot that really began the Civil War with the attack was at Fort Sumter in April of 1861, which led Lincoln to respond with a call to military action - more Southern states succeeded. President Lincoln had two goals for the Civil War - the abolishment of slavery and the unification of the country under the Union. These two goals overlapped in a couple of ways. First, President Lincoln believed that for the country to succeed it had to be unified and progress to grow as one nation. Second, for the nation to be one, it could not be divided into the Union and the Confederacy where each side continued to fight the other. The common dispute and central cause for the separation in both goals was slavery. The solution: end slavery. President Lincoln believed that slavery had to be ended to propel the nation into a prosperous future. In 1863, President Lincoln set forth his objective to abolish slavery by creating the executive order, the Emancipation Proclamation. It did not free all slaves in all states, but it directed freedom in 10 states and pushed the other states into a route to outlaw slavery. This caused more division among the states. The Confederacy and its sympathizers did not see the future that President Lincoln explained as being a better future. John Wilkes Booth was one of the Confederate sympathizes and President Lincoln’s assassin. Booth was famous in his own right before killing President Lincoln because he was a famous theater actor. However, acting was not his only passion. Booth was outspoken about his support for the South and slavery, as well as his hatred towards President Lincoln and his policies. Overtime, he plotted to kidnap the President. Booth planned to use President Lincoln as a ransom trade with the North for prisoners of war and to make the North recognize the Confederate government. Booth was unremitting in his plan to kidnap President Lincoln but his attempts were foiled by circumstances with ironic twists. Booth was even at Lincoln’s second inauguration though he did not attempt to kill Lincoln, Booth relished in the fact that he had the opportunity. April of 1865 was a turning point in Booth’s plan to kidnap the President. Robert E. Lee had surrendered and an imminent demise of the Confederate was clear. With this development Booth changed the kidnapping to a killing. Booth learned that President Lincoln would be attending a play at Ford’s Theater. Immediately plans were made with his co-schemers to assassinate Secretary of State Seward and Vice President Johnson. Seward was stabbed but lived and VP Johnson’s assassin backed out and never attempted his attack. Booth was the only one “successful” with the plan. Booth shot President Lincoln in the back of the head, jumped from the balcony and began fleeing to go into hiding. In his hiding, newspapers criticized Booth and he found little public support. His plan had backfired and it actually gave reverence to President Lincoln out of both fear and admiration. Some Southerners feared an attack from the North as repercussion of Booth’s action, while others valued President Lincoln for his idealistic belief in the greatness of the United Sates as a free nation for all men. They believed he came and unjust end. President Lincoln had attainment his goal by freeing the slaves and rebuilding the nation from its broken condition after the Civil War. One can see how President Lincoln’s actions led those opposed to push the conflict into the Civil War. However, it was President Lincoln’s determination and belief in a greater nation that led him and the country not down a path of destruction but ultimately onto a course that removed the walls of supremacy and towards a nation of reconstruction that brought, in hopes, a better nation. To the lesser side of Presidential achievements of greatness is James A. Garfield. It seems that the most exciting thing about Presidents Garfield’s tenure was his assassination. However, his role as President only lasted about six months and truly only four months because he survived for two months after he was shot. The lack of time lends the reason as to why he was so lack-luster in office. President Garfield’s assassin was Charles Guiteau whose anger can only be explained to come from a place called his ego. Plus he was a little crazy. Charles Guiteau’s feelings towards President Garfield did not begin in aggression as it did with President Lincoln’s because Charles Guiteau was actually a supporter of James Garfield for President. The support turned to hatred after President Garfield denied Charles Guiteau a place within the government. Charles Guiteau was such an early supporter of Garfield that he wrote and distributed a speech that he believed eventually was responsible for President Garfield’s win in the election. Due to that type of success, Charles Guiteau thought he should be rewarded with a governmental position and he thoroughly made his thoughts known in D.C. He eventually was banned from the White House. After his banishment, Charles Guiteau became angry and eventually believed that God had then commanded him to kill President Garfield. He bought a gun and stalked President Garfield until his moment arrived. The fateful day came at the Sixth Street Train Station. Charles Guiteau fired two shots before the President went down. Charles Guiteau tried to escape but police quickly caught him. President Garfield was later taken to New Jersey for comfort but he could not recover from the infections that had set in. The assassination of President Garfield became the one thing that Charles Guiteau and President Garfield were known for throughout history. President McKinley saw more success than President Garfield during his tenure. President McKinley’s first successful deed was when the economy showed a turn around with growth and revitalization after the depression from the Panic of 1893. Another victory also came in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American War with taking control of Puerto Rico and the Philippines. It was a successful first term for President McKinley and he ran for a second term under his accomplishments which won him a second term. Though life was prosperous for President McKinley there were some people in the country that did not have the similar triumphant tale. Leon Czolgosz would be one of those people. Leon Czolgosz had a difficult time finding employment during and after the Panic of 1893 causing him to become confused and angry. He found anarchism and thought it was the answer to his troubles. Leon Czolgosz was entranced by the anarchist community and one of its power players, Emma Goldman. Leon Czolgosz attended one of her speeches and spoke with her afterwards. She claims that she recommended some books and did not proclaim to boast violence as a solution but she explained her sympathizes for those who do commit violence. Leon Czolgosz only grasped the concept of understanding those who resulted to violence. As some point, Leon Czolgosz found his way to Buffalo, NY where President McKinley later ventured to on a tour to the World’s Fair. Leon Czolgosz shot President McKinley in the stomach during a meet-and-greet line procession in the Temple of Music. McKinley did not die immediately but it did subsequently lead to his death eight days after the shooting. President McKinley’s assassination came at a time when he was encouraging the nation to allow international trade connecting to Pan-America project and the World’s Fair. The day before his assassination President McKinley spoke about international trade and how the United States needed to start looking beyond the borders and create alliances for more national prosperity. Though each assassin believed that their evil deed would create something better for the nation on a grand scale they can each be broken down into something that deflates them into nothing bigger than their own hatred. John Wilkes Booth was a bigot, Charles Guiteau was a psycho and Leon Czolgosz a radical. However, despite how terrible their deeds were, their stories are shown in the book how intricate the connections between man and the country can be.