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== The Lincoln Assassination ==
[[File:presboxapril151865.jpg|thumbnail|250px|The Presidential Box at Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. Taken April 15, 1865.]]
In his Annual Address to Congress on December 8, 1863, President Lincoln promised to any man in a seceded state a “pardon in case he voluntarily takes the oath.”<ref>Abraham Lincoln Association, ''Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln,'' University of Michigan http://quod.lib.umic.edu/l/lincoln. This is from Lincoln’s last speech given on April 11, 1865 in reference to the status of the seceded states. He did not recognize the states as having left the Union,rather he held that they were out of alignment with the Union.</ref>The oath to which he was referring was one of allegiance to the Union and an agreement to uphold emancipation. He intended to restore the Union gradually and with ease. Even prior to assuming the office of President, Lincoln believed the best way to end slavery was to let the institution suffocate itself. He felt that gradual change, rather than abrupt actions was likely to result in a smoother transition in a changing society. He practiced the same methods with regard to introducing the newly freed slaves into society as equal citizens to the white man. When delivering his last public speech on April 11, 1865, Lincoln spoke of the “elective franchise” with regard to black men, and stated that it was his preference that it be “conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers.”<ref>''ibid.''</ref>Lincoln had every intention of fighting for suffrage for black males. John Wilkes Booth, a devoted Confederate and white supremacist, was seen in the audience the night Lincoln made these remarks and purportedly claimed that Lincoln just made his “last speech.”
On April 14, 1865 at ten thirty in the evening, John Wilkes Booth fired a bullet into the back of President Lincoln’s head. “Father Abraham” died at approximately seven-thirty the following morning at the Pederson House across the street from Ford’s Theater. On April 16 Andrew Johnson took the oath of office to become the 17th President of the United States. Like Lincoln, Johnson came from poverty and rose to political prominence through self-reliance, long hours of work, and determination. The similarities end there. Johnson was a “lonely, stubborn man” who was “unable to compromise.”<ref>Eric Foner, ''Give Me Liberty: An American History'' (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009), 534.</ref>These traits were ideologically inverse to those of Lincoln in that President Lincoln remained patient in his actions and realized that the only successful method with which to reincorporate the states to their “proper practical relation with the Union,” was that of compromise.<ref>''Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln.''</ref>In contrast to Lincoln, Johnson deemed the secessionist states and their leaders to be traitors and sought much harsher treatment and conditions of reinstatement than those of Lincoln.
== Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address ==
[[File:Abraham_Lincoln_O-84_by_Brady,_1864.jpg|thumbnail|250px|Abraham Lincoln, 1864. Matthew Brady Studio.]]
Abraham Lincoln was sworn in for his second term as President of the United States on Saturday, March 4, 1865. A mere six weeks hence, he, along with his message of a peaceful reunification were to die. The President's brief inaugural address foreshadowed the coming end to the Civil War. With his words he sedately emphasized that in order to successfully restore the Union to a bonded nation, peaceful heads had to prevail. When Lincoln presented his address, the war was being fought more fiercely than ever before. Lincoln wanted the fighting to stop and the process of reunification to begin. He invoked the Almighty when he said, "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away."<ref>Abraham Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address," ''Library of Congress''https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=38&page=transcript.</ref>
While Vice President Andrew Johnson wanted the South to be punished for rebelling, Lincoln had the wisdom to understand that severe consequences would only divide the nation further. His closing remarks offer a glimpse into what was possible had Lincoln lived:
"''With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.''"
Ironically, Andrew Johnson was a staunch, southern Democrat yet he was outspoken in his belief that the states which seceded had to suffer the consequence of their actions; whereas Lincoln, the first Republican President who reached the Executive Mansion via Illinois, offered the more logical and forgiving attitude. When Robert E. Lee surrender the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant on April 09, 1865, Lincoln ordered that generous terms be given to the Rebels. Grant then ordered his soldiers at Appomattox Court House to give rations to the hungry Southern soldiers and show respect when they stacked their arms. Once they signed an oath of loyalty to the Union, the Confederate men were allowed to keep their rifles and horses and simply return to their homes. Like his generals, Lincoln understood the importance of "a hard war and a gentle peace."
== Conclusion ==
Johnson was a staunch believer in States’ rights and was blind to the fact that Federal intervention was needed in order to proceed with a successful period of Reconstruction. His predecessor was open to new ideas and willing to compromise for the good of the country. Abraham Lincoln's brilliance stemmed from his ability to adapt to new and foreign circumstances. The Civil War affected him greatly and in the waning days months of the conflict he clearly understood that patience and compassion were essential if reunification was to succeed.
Although they did not always agree, Lincoln and congress worked together in order to be productive as the President's primary goal was restoring the country. He had no interest in political posturing yet was an innately clever politician and possessed the qualities needed for the country to be returned to a state of peace. John Wilkes Booth erased the opportunity for America to reunite in a peaceful manner. While Booth had accomplices, with whom he planned to decapitate the Federal government, he alone pulled the trigger. It is conspicuous and worth noting that Johnson, who was targeted in the larger plot, managed to survive the horrible night of April 14, 1865 unscathed. Secretary of State Seward was attacked and almost killed in his own bed while five members of his household also suffered the wrath of Booth’s accomplice, Lewis Powell. All who were involved with the assassination plot may never be revealed but one indisputable fact remains; John Wilkes Booth pulled the trigger and ended Abraham Lincoln’s life. Booth erased the best hope of the South and the nation as a whole when he entered the Presidential Box at Ford's Theater the night of April 14, 1865. When Lincoln fell that night, so too did the promise of a peaceful reunification.
==References==
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[[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:Civil War]]
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