Abraham Lincoln’s assassination remains a pivotal and tragic moment in American history. While John Wilkes Booth’s act is widely known, the underlying motive is often less understood. The critical factor driving Booth to murder President Lincoln was Lincoln’s evolving stance on Black rights, particularly his support for Black suffrage following the Civil War.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War, President Lincoln delivered a speech advocating for voting rights for Black men, especially veterans. John Wilkes Booth, a staunch supporter of the Confederacy and white supremacy, was present in the audience. Overhearing Lincoln’s words promoting Black citizenship, Booth was consumed by rage. According to historical accounts, Booth vowed, “That is the last speech he will ever make,” revealing his murderous intent triggered by Lincoln’s progressive views on racial equality. Three days later, Booth carried out his deadly plan.
Susannah Koerber, the chief curator and research officer at the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites and co-curator of the “Influencing Lincoln” exhibit, emphasizes the significance of this motive. “The declaration by Booth is well known among Lincoln scholars,” Koerber stated. “But when we’ve talked to people about the exhibition, most are unaware there’s this connection between Lincoln moving toward advocating for greater rights for Black people – including voting – and John Wilkes Booth’s decision to kill him.” This highlights a crucial but often overlooked aspect of Lincoln’s assassination: it was deeply rooted in racial ideology and opposition to Black equality.
The assassination occurred on April 14, 1865, shortly after 10 p.m., and Lincoln passed away the following morning at 7:22 a.m. This was a mere week after Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, signaling the imminent end of the Civil War. While initially part of a conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln, Booth’s intentions shifted to assassination as the Confederacy crumbled. Koerber explains, “Booth was so against the idea of equality, he so embraced white supremacy, that he thought it was grounds for killing Lincoln.” Even with the Confederate cause lost, Booth’s commitment to white supremacy fueled his determination to eliminate Lincoln.
The Confederacy’s foundation was explicitly built upon the principle of slavery and racial inequality. As Koerber points out, “The Confederacy had touted itself as the first nation built on the cornerstone of slavery.” Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacy, articulated this ideology clearly in his Cornerstone Speech. Stephens openly rejected the Declaration of Independence’s assertion that “all men are created equal,” deeming it a fundamental error by the Founding Fathers. Instead, the Confederacy established itself “on a principle of inequality,” directly contradicting the ideals of equality and liberty upon which the United States was purportedly founded. Lincoln’s commitment to “all men are created equal” resonated strongly with those fighting for equal rights, particularly within the Black community, who sought to realize the promise of the Declaration. Booth’s violent reaction underscores the deep divide over racial equality that permeated the nation at the time.
Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist, orator, and author, delivered a powerful eulogy for Lincoln, recognizing his monumental shift in presidential perspective. Douglass stated that Lincoln “was the first American president who rose above the prejudices of his time and country.” He further emphasized, “Abraham Lincoln, while unsurpassed in his devotion to the welfare of the white race, was also in a sense hitherto without example emphatically the Black man’s president, the first to show any respect for their rights as men.” Douglass’s words encapsulate Lincoln’s groundbreaking role in advancing Black rights, a stance that ultimately provoked the deadly act of John Wilkes Booth, driven by the hateful ideology of white supremacy and racial inequality.
In conclusion, John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Abraham Lincoln was not a random act of violence. It was a politically motivated act, deeply rooted in Booth’s racist beliefs and his vehement opposition to Lincoln’s progressive views on Black rights and equality. Booth’s motive was a direct and tragic consequence of the deep racial divisions plaguing America during the Civil War era and the fight for Black equality.
