The Controversy
The Abraham Lincoln assassination had many conspiracies:
1. That he was killed by John Wilkes Booth and his Conspirators
2.That it was Confederate leaders who planned Abe Lincoln's capture and recruited John Wilkes Booth to carry it out but after Richmond fell Booth turned it into an assassination.
3. The assassination was organised by international Bankers.
4.Vice President Andrew Johnson was involved Abe Lincoln's assassination.
5. Other less supported theories
Conspiracy 1: John Wilkes Booth and Conspirators
John Wilkes Booth was an actor from Maryland, who had a strong hatred against Lincoln and everything he stood for. In 1864 he started planning an abduction of Abe Lincoln. But to successfully kidnap the president by himself was to big a task ,so he sought help from other southern conspirators to help abduct Lincoln, these people as listed are Lewis Powell, David E Herold, Michael O’ Laughlen, Mary E Surratt, John Surratt, Edman Spangler, Samuel Arnold, George A Atzerodt, Dr Samuel a Mud. From 1864-1865 they planned to abduct him in various locations in Washington but he never showed so the kidnapping was a failure. By that time it was too late to abduct him and trade him for captured confederate soldiers because the war was over. Booth then heard that Lincoln would be at a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater and he would plan to kill him there.
Each conspirator had his or her part. Some would help the escape of Booth and the hideout and some would go to assassinate the head of State William Seward (they failed to kill him and only injured him). He entered at 6.00pm tampered with door to the presidential box so it could be jammed from the inside. At the third act he returned and shot Lincoln in the back of the head and he jumped onto the stage breaking his leg and shouting “Sic Semper Tyrannis” which means “thus always to tyrants” he then fled from the theater with his broken leg. Eleven days after the assassination Union troops surrounded the tobacco barn where Booth and some of his fellow conspirators where hiding. They set fire to the barn hoping to flush them out, all fled and where captured except Booth who remained defiant to the end where he was shot in the head and was dragged out of the barn and was pronounced dead. The rest of the conspirators were then hanged for treason.
Conspiracy 2: Confederate Leaders
It still remained a mystery if Booth and his conspirators where acting alone or if they were part of a wider plot from the Confederates trying to get revenge for the defeat of the South.The conspiracy theory was that a group of Confederate leaders were trying to undermine the North and Abe Lincoln, they recruited John Wilkes Booth to capture him to trade for captured Confederate troops. After the Capital of the Confederacy fell (Richmond) John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators went rogue and turned the kidnapping into an assassination attempt. It was even thought for a time that Judah Benjamin (Confederate Secretary of State) was involved in the conspiracy to capture/kill Lincoln for he had burned all of the records in Richmond before it fell and escaped to England to practice law and never returned to the United States.
Conspiracy 3:International Bankers
One theory is that the whole of Lincoln's assassination was organised by very powerful International bankers. Lincoln needed money to fund his war effort and Bankers in Europe and the Rothschilds offered Lincoln massive loans with very high interest. Rather than accept the loan Lincoln found other ways to fund the war. The English bankers also believed British free trade which was that human slavery and industrial monopoly should be together, Lincoln's policies would have undermined this and would have destroyed speculation in this particular commodities market. Lincoln also after the war had a mild reconstruction policy towards agriculture in the south and the Banks were betting on him making it high reconstruction. Lincoln to the banks was considered a threat to business and they hired John Wilkes Booth to kill him so Rothschilds could try and take over the American economy.
Conspiracy 4:Vice President Andrew Johnson
Another theory was that the Vice President Andrew Johnson some how contributed to Abe Lincoln's assassination, it was stated in "Right or Wrong God judge me" which was written by John Wilkes Booth that they had met in Nashville in 1864. Johnson at the time was the military Governor of Tenseness while Booth was acting in Wood's Theater and that they would spend time together. Lincoln had ignored him for the rest of his presidency based on his terrible behavior on his inauguration day, the congress was suspicious about Johnson's relations with Booth and set up a assassination committee to find links between him and the assassination but they never did.
Conspiracy 5: Other less supported theories
Aside from the four main theories there were smaller less supported theories such as:
1. That he was killed by John Wilkes Booth and his Conspirators
2.That it was Confederate leaders who planned Abe Lincoln's capture and recruited John Wilkes Booth to carry it out but after Richmond fell Booth turned it into an assassination.
3. The assassination was organised by international Bankers.
4.Vice President Andrew Johnson was involved Abe Lincoln's assassination.
5. Other less supported theories
Conspiracy 1: John Wilkes Booth and Conspirators
John Wilkes Booth was an actor from Maryland, who had a strong hatred against Lincoln and everything he stood for. In 1864 he started planning an abduction of Abe Lincoln. But to successfully kidnap the president by himself was to big a task ,so he sought help from other southern conspirators to help abduct Lincoln, these people as listed are Lewis Powell, David E Herold, Michael O’ Laughlen, Mary E Surratt, John Surratt, Edman Spangler, Samuel Arnold, George A Atzerodt, Dr Samuel a Mud. From 1864-1865 they planned to abduct him in various locations in Washington but he never showed so the kidnapping was a failure. By that time it was too late to abduct him and trade him for captured confederate soldiers because the war was over. Booth then heard that Lincoln would be at a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater and he would plan to kill him there.
Each conspirator had his or her part. Some would help the escape of Booth and the hideout and some would go to assassinate the head of State William Seward (they failed to kill him and only injured him). He entered at 6.00pm tampered with door to the presidential box so it could be jammed from the inside. At the third act he returned and shot Lincoln in the back of the head and he jumped onto the stage breaking his leg and shouting “Sic Semper Tyrannis” which means “thus always to tyrants” he then fled from the theater with his broken leg. Eleven days after the assassination Union troops surrounded the tobacco barn where Booth and some of his fellow conspirators where hiding. They set fire to the barn hoping to flush them out, all fled and where captured except Booth who remained defiant to the end where he was shot in the head and was dragged out of the barn and was pronounced dead. The rest of the conspirators were then hanged for treason.
Conspiracy 2: Confederate Leaders
It still remained a mystery if Booth and his conspirators where acting alone or if they were part of a wider plot from the Confederates trying to get revenge for the defeat of the South.The conspiracy theory was that a group of Confederate leaders were trying to undermine the North and Abe Lincoln, they recruited John Wilkes Booth to capture him to trade for captured Confederate troops. After the Capital of the Confederacy fell (Richmond) John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators went rogue and turned the kidnapping into an assassination attempt. It was even thought for a time that Judah Benjamin (Confederate Secretary of State) was involved in the conspiracy to capture/kill Lincoln for he had burned all of the records in Richmond before it fell and escaped to England to practice law and never returned to the United States.
Conspiracy 3:International Bankers
One theory is that the whole of Lincoln's assassination was organised by very powerful International bankers. Lincoln needed money to fund his war effort and Bankers in Europe and the Rothschilds offered Lincoln massive loans with very high interest. Rather than accept the loan Lincoln found other ways to fund the war. The English bankers also believed British free trade which was that human slavery and industrial monopoly should be together, Lincoln's policies would have undermined this and would have destroyed speculation in this particular commodities market. Lincoln also after the war had a mild reconstruction policy towards agriculture in the south and the Banks were betting on him making it high reconstruction. Lincoln to the banks was considered a threat to business and they hired John Wilkes Booth to kill him so Rothschilds could try and take over the American economy.
Conspiracy 4:Vice President Andrew Johnson
Another theory was that the Vice President Andrew Johnson some how contributed to Abe Lincoln's assassination, it was stated in "Right or Wrong God judge me" which was written by John Wilkes Booth that they had met in Nashville in 1864. Johnson at the time was the military Governor of Tenseness while Booth was acting in Wood's Theater and that they would spend time together. Lincoln had ignored him for the rest of his presidency based on his terrible behavior on his inauguration day, the congress was suspicious about Johnson's relations with Booth and set up a assassination committee to find links between him and the assassination but they never did.
Conspiracy 5: Other less supported theories
Aside from the four main theories there were smaller less supported theories such as:
- The Roman Catholic Church was behind the Abe Lincoln assassination: it was said by ex-priest Charles Chiniquy that Booth was a corrupted tool of the Jesuits and was directed by the Vatican to kill Lincoln because Jefferson Davis was offering 1 million dollars to who would ever help stop the person who started the civil war and in the process cost many lives.
- Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was the mastermind behind the assassination: It was stated that he was against his mild reconstruction plans in the South, Ulysses S Grant was absent the day of the performance as he was meant to attend with Lincoln but was ordered by Stanton to change his plans, if he was there his guards would have never allowed Booth to enter the box, and not letting Major Tomas T. Eckert off duty to guard Lincoln stating he was on important business.
- Disaffected Northerners were behind the Assassination of Abe Lincoln: There were many radical groups in the North such as the radical Republicans who wanted more control over the South but Lincoln only had mild plans for reconstruction, demand for cotton was high so Lincoln made it accessible through trade for meat and greenbacks (American currency) which most Northers disagreed with, Booth knew the New York party and they had made various death threats to Lincoln " Benjamin Allen, of New York, said, "The people will soon rise, and if they cannot put Lincoln out of power by the ballot they will by the bullet"-http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln74.html, Radicals who were in the cotton trade feared they would start to lose their massive profit and felt they needed to rid themselves of Abe Lincoln.