What if the Booth Assassination Plot had succeeded?
Jul 27, 2017 21:29:03 GMT
Antonio Santa Anna and Marshal Ney like this
Post by Ivan Kolev on Jul 27, 2017 21:29:03 GMT
On April 14th of 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre before shooting Sic Semper Tyrannis (Thus always to Tyrants) and then fleeing Washington D.C. He would later be pursued by Union troops before being cornered at a Maryland farm where he'd die in the barn the troops set fire to.
But that wasn't how the plan was supposed to go. Booth established a carefully planned plot to not only assassinate President Lincoln, but also have three of his fellow co-conspirators also assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward while Booth assassinated President Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant. They would then flee to Maryland where Confederate sympathizers would smuggle them to French occupied Mexico.
Lewis Powell was tasked with killing Seward while David Herold was in charge of the escape from the Seward household. Powell nearly killed Seward, who was already bedridden from previous injuries, but the Seward son and Seward's personal bodyguard prevented his death. Harold also fled before Powell was finished with the assassination, leaving him to be arrested.
George Atzerodt was tasked with assassinating Johnson at the hotel which he resided in. Atzerodt checked into the hotel Johnson stayed at, but refused to commence with the assassination upon becoming intoxicated and nervous.
John Wilkes Booth was the only semi-successful assassin. He shot President Lincoln, but didn't assassinate General Grant as Grant was out of the capital at the time.
All of the conspirators were captured, except Booth who was killed during the manhunt stated previously. Atzerodt, Powell and Herold, along with a Confederate sympathizer named Mary Surrat who let Booth reside at her home, were all executed later in 1865.
Assuming everything went according to plan, President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, Secretary Seward, and General Grant would have all been assassinated and the conspirators would have all escaped. What do you think could have changed in American history if these four people died on April 14th, 1865?
But that wasn't how the plan was supposed to go. Booth established a carefully planned plot to not only assassinate President Lincoln, but also have three of his fellow co-conspirators also assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward while Booth assassinated President Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant. They would then flee to Maryland where Confederate sympathizers would smuggle them to French occupied Mexico.
Lewis Powell was tasked with killing Seward while David Herold was in charge of the escape from the Seward household. Powell nearly killed Seward, who was already bedridden from previous injuries, but the Seward son and Seward's personal bodyguard prevented his death. Harold also fled before Powell was finished with the assassination, leaving him to be arrested.
George Atzerodt was tasked with assassinating Johnson at the hotel which he resided in. Atzerodt checked into the hotel Johnson stayed at, but refused to commence with the assassination upon becoming intoxicated and nervous.
John Wilkes Booth was the only semi-successful assassin. He shot President Lincoln, but didn't assassinate General Grant as Grant was out of the capital at the time.
All of the conspirators were captured, except Booth who was killed during the manhunt stated previously. Atzerodt, Powell and Herold, along with a Confederate sympathizer named Mary Surrat who let Booth reside at her home, were all executed later in 1865.
Assuming everything went according to plan, President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, Secretary Seward, and General Grant would have all been assassinated and the conspirators would have all escaped. What do you think could have changed in American history if these four people died on April 14th, 1865?
