Killing Lincoln Book Assignment

PART I:

Chapter 1
1. O’Reilly quotes that “nothing scares Lincoln more.” Lincoln is overwhelmed with wanting to heal and restore America that he tells Grant to offer Lee lenient surrender terms. Soldiers of the confederate army and horses will not be harmed. They will be return back home to their normal lives.
Chapter 6-7
2. As Lincoln is coming into the harbor arriving in Richmond he begins to see sunken ships and torpedoes, this is only the beginning. When Lincoln arrived in Richmond he found the city burned to the ground. There was literally nothing left to the city. The damage to the city was not caused by the Union but by the people of Richmond. Upon Lincolns arrival in Richmond the people saw him as an enemy no more, but they showed no gesture or sign of welcoming the president. The people stood in complete silence as Lincoln towered over them.
Chapter 15
3. The surrender at Appomattox Court House occurred on April 9, 1865. General Robert E. Lee arrives wearing a brand new uniform. Upon his arrival he sits and waits for General Ulysses S. Grant. He soon arrives wearing a private’s uniform that is missing a button. The two men shake hands, sit down and began discussing how they had met before. Lee changes the conversation to the point of their meeting. General Grant had thoughts earlier about making a historic general give up is army. General Grant writes terms of surrender simply being: “Put down your guns and go home.” Robert E. Lee will not have to give up his sword. They agree to pursue President Lincoln’s goal of rebuilding the nation as one.
Chapter 17
4. Booth’s original plan was to kidnap or “capture” Lincoln, as he liked to refer to it as. As booth loses and gains conspirators throughout his plan he begins to think about his plan more in depth. The war is over and to Booth kidnapping Lincoln now is pointless. Booth ponders he is doesn’t kidnap the president then what will he do? He decides that something still must be done. His decision now becomes that he will be the first man to assassinate a U.S. President. This new scheme motivates Booth daily to kill the President.
Chapter 22-23
5. One connection between the assassination of Julius Caesar and Lincoln is that Booth’s plot to kill president was composed of ideas from Julius Caesar. Booth had just previously performed the Broadway play and it became an inspiration to him. Another connection is that Lincoln had an extreme fondness for Shakespeare and had seen many of them performed including Julius Caesar.
Chapter 37
6. Booth’s assassination plan was very detailed and in order. The group consists of four men, John Wilkes Booth, David Herold, Lewis Powell, and George Atzerdot. Powell is the youngest of the four men but the most experienced. Powell and Herolds job was to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward. George Atzerdot was to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson. John Wilkes Booth was to kill President Lincoln. Booths plan is to be concealed in the state box, and simply pull the Derringer out and shoot the President. After the assassinations occur they are to head towards to the Maryland side of the Potomac River to escape town.
Chapter 38-39
7. As soon as Booth enters the theatre, he looks around examining the area and making sure nothing obstructs the pathway. He then takes a seat at the bar outside of Ford’s ordering a whole bottle of whiskey. Doubt starts to feel his mind but he quickly pushes it away. At 10:07 he makes his way back into the theatre, getting in for free and grabbing some tobacco from the ticket taker. Booth then goes to enter the dark theatre and makes his way up to the state box where he realizes John Parker is still at the saloon and enters without question. Booth gets where he staring right at the back of Lincolns head. His cue is just ten seconds away. He removes the Deringer from his coat, steps through the door, and squeezes the trigger hitting the President of the United States in the head. He yells the word “Freedom” and jumps over the rail breaking his fibula landing on the stage. He got up and did the only thing he knew to do – run. As he is on the way out of the theatre, he slashes the orchestra leader William Withers with his knife, exits the theatre and saddles up on the horse. Booth’s getaway had begun.
Chapter 41-42
8. Atzerdot’s assassination did not go as planned at all. He started drinking and never stopped. He became so drunk that killing the Vice President was not even on his mind although Andrew Johnson was only a few floors above him. Powell’s attempt does not fail as bad. He enters the Seward home immediately slashing Private Robinson, which awakens Seward himself. Seward and Powell begin fighting on the bed. Powell stabs Seward multiple times. Afterward he stabs Seward’s son seven times. Powell now has four people who he thinks are dead. He makes his escape riding out on horseback. The four people survive the attack but never forget it.
Chapter 52
9. When John Wilkes Booth reads the newspapers for the first time he becomes angry. He gets angry because the actions, which he has done, are not getting applause. He learns how intense the search is for him and his fellow conspirators. One newspaper that Booth thought would explain his actions rebelled against him. The newspapers portrayed him as a “coward for shooting Lincoln.” Angry about what he has read, he puts them aside and begins writing a personal journal about his journey from killing Lincoln to being on the run.
Chapter 62
10. Mary was arrested on April 17th and had been locked up since. The trial began on May 10th. Mary underwent some physical changes while in jail due to cramping, menstruation, and endometriosis. After three days the jury came to a decision finding Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold guilt. The four people were sentenced was to be hung. At the hanging of the four people, “Mary Surratt becomes the first and only woman ever hanged by the United States government.”

PART II:
2. When John Wilkes Booth made the plan to kill the President he was planning to be a hero for the South. For the southerners the death of President Lincoln is a joyous time. For the northerners it is a time of mourning. John Wilkes Booth becomes miserable. He is in extreme pain due to his broken leg, hung-over, exhausted and anxious. All of this is the result of being hunted and wanted by Americans. Booth now has a reputation that will never be forgotten. John Wilkes Booth learns of how the search is going for him and how America feels from reading the newspapers. He is the most wanted man and is seen as coward for shooting such a heroic man like Lincoln. Lincoln’s wife is extremely distraught and spends five week sobbing in her room. Over 600 people attend the funeral of President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln left behind “the messy unfinished business of healing the nation.” The healing of nation now has to wait until John Wilkes Booth is found. The happiness Booth thought he would have from killing Lincoln is far-gone. When Andrew Johnson took over as president he had huge hole to feel by replacing Abraham Lincoln. His idea of Reconstruction to America proved to be inept. Although he was not impeached, he was not reelected. For some, American will never be the same and recover from this shocking assassination of the most heroic President of the United States.