Essay Questions

Why did John Wilkes Booth want to kill President Abraham Lincoln?

John Wilkes Booth was a supporter of the Southern case under the Civil War, which was President Abraham Lincoln's opposing side. He hated Abraham and his policies. During the war, he tried kidnapping him in order to get information and help the Southern side win the war, put the plan failed. As the Northern side won, John was aggravated and filled with hate. He wanted to kill not only Abraham Lincoln, but the Vice-President and the Secretary of State as well in hopes of inspiring the Southern soldiers to continue fighting.

How did Booth die?

After Booth shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln, he fought and was tackled by the other people that sat in the box together with Abraham. He broke his leg, which slowed him down. Booth fled to a farm in the countryside. Officers set the shed he hid in on fire, hoping to smoke him out, though he refused to leave. He was then shot by an officer through a gap in the boards. He was paralyzed, but alive. He was then hanged together with all his co-conspirators.

Why didn’t Booth use his status as an actor and kill President Abraham Lincoln earlier?

John Wilkes Booth was one of the most famous actors in his time, and he could have walked into the Presidents office nearly whenever he wanted. He had an intense desire to have the President killed, yet he chose not to. He was afraid of losing his positive fame and didn’t want the President’s death connected to him, nor getting caught. That is why he decided to wait as long as he did before he followed through with his plan of killing the President.