John Wilkes Booth's Abducting Abraham Lincoln

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John Wilkes Booth had already contemplated on abducting Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. So when it came to the end of the Confederacy in 1865, Booth couldn’t help but take the opportunity to kill Lincoln when he found out that he and his wife were coming to the Fords Theatre on April 14th, 1865. Booth knew the Fords Theatre like the back of his hand. He even knew the play “Our American Cousin” to the exact curtain call. Booth did not always have it out for Lincoln; he just did not like him as did most Southerners. During the Civil War, Booth thought that abducting the president would result in the South winning, but knew that if the president were still alive it could then terminate in death. He could not go with abducting Lincoln.…show more content…
Questioning why Powell wasn’t there they rode to Surrattsville, Maryland. He could not turn back now. He then went to Mary Surratt’s where he went and got the package he had given to her earlier that day. They rode for hours until they got to Samuel Mudd, who could then help Booth with his injured foot. They then rode to Rich Hill, Maryland, to a Captain Cox. Captain Cox said he could not keep them in his household but he could place them in a heavily wooded pine thicket some distance from his home. Captain Cox then told them that he would send Thomas Jones to help them cross the Potomac River into Virginia. Jones would try to have Booth and Herold cross as soon as he knew the path was clear. After five days and four nights of sleeping on the ground, they were cleared to go across the river. He then sent them off into the Potomac River, but what they didn’t know was while they were left to the river alone they had started going the wrong way. As Herold realized they were near Nanjemoy Creek, he knew some farmers who could help. John Hughes did not let them stay it was too risky, so they went and stayed in the woods and once again laid upon the ground. They did not leave the next night fall instead Booth stayed there thinking if this is where he should end his run. Feeling like he was going nowhere. On April 20th they made for the river once again hoping for the best. They had…show more content…
Herold how had pleaded with them had already been arrested, but Booth stay. That day Booth knew he did not want to die by hanging, drowning, or burning, so he would go with a fight. But before Booth could even fight Sergeant Boston Corbett would shot Booth. As Booth laid there dying he could only whisper because the bullet had severed the communication between his brain and throat and was paralyzed. As Booth laid there dying, Lucinda Holloway sat beside Booth and moist his tongue. He asked to see his hands and she placed them where he could see them. “Useless, Useless” (pg.287) he whispered. He was now helpless and those were the hands that had killed the president. I tried to write more about what John Wilkes Booth was thinking during his time before killing Abraham Lincoln only because it was well thought out, but when it came to his running he really did not know what to do. Booth honestly had his plot well planned out but the broken leg and sleeping in the woods was not part of it. I really liked this book it interested me into thinking of how he thought of everything. I did not write about the whole death of Lincoln for he was not who I was trying to
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