New Delhi: April 14, 1865. It was a Friday. A performance of the comedy ‘Our American Cousin’ was on at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Some time after 10 pm, a man entered a private booth at the theatre and shot the person, occupying the booth along with his wife, in the head. The perpetrator then jumped from the box to the stage below and shouted “Sic semper tyrannis (Thus always to tyrants)”.
The victim was none other than the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. In fact, he effectively ‘united’ America a few days before he was shot at by Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died next morning and his murderer 12 days after the shooting. But why Booth, a member of one of America’s most renowned actor families, killed Lincoln?
Was Lincoln Killed Because He Wanted To End slavery?
To understand the reason behind Lincoln’s assasination, one must understand why the American civil war happened. The main issues that led to the war were abolition of slavery and soveriginity of the states.
Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1860, to become the first Republican president. He was fiercely against slavery. Before his election too, there were differences in the northern and southern states over the issues of modernisation and slavery. After Lincoln’s election, the polarisation between north and south reached its climax. Seven southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) seceded and declared a Confederate States of America.
The civil war, per se, was triggered by the attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. The conflict raged on for four years, but a decisive moment came in the third year. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free”. This struck at the very heart of the cause for which the southern states went to war.
The proclamation was not as crucial in ending the slavery as it was to transform the war into a moral battle. It allowed Lincoln’s Union armies to recruit Black soldiers, who joined the cause in great numbers. Also, the proclamation made it impossible for foreign powers to join the southern states, who were the biggest producers of cotton at that time.
The legacy of Abraham Lincoln
Jefferson Davis, the president of the confederacy, was thought to be a more able commander than Lincoln at the start of the war. He was a former war secretary and a military hero. While Lincoln was not even a remarkable politician in 1861.
However, the war changed Abraham Lincoln. He became a wise politician, a distinguished communicator and an effective war commander. His determination to end slavery and preserve the union, at whatever cost, is praised by historians and people alike.
His assasination made him some kind of a mythological figure, who ensured the freedom of African-Americans. The Emancipation Proclamation laid the foundation of the Union, which emerged after the civil war. Lincoln is considered by many as the embodiment of the values for which the United States stands.
Lincoln was seeking a reelection bid in 1865, when he was assassinated. The four years of civil war strengthened his case to return to the office. The surrender of Robert E Lee, commander of the confederate army, on April 9 at Virginia’s Appomattox Court House effectively ended the war. The surrender was accepted by General Ulysses S Grant of the Union Armies. Lincoln was shot five days later. It was a Good Friday.