Abe Lincoln Part 2

Abraham Lincoln responded to the crisis wielding powers like no other president before him. He distributed over two million dollars from the Treasury for war materials without an appropriation from Congress; he called for 75,000 volunteers into military service without declaring a war; and he suspended the right of habeas corpus, arresting and imprisoning suspected Confederate sympathizers without a warrant or warning.

 Crushing ANY rebellion would be difficult under any circumstances, but the Civil War, with its many decades of red-hot partisan politics, was especially difficult. From all directions, Lincoln faced anger and defiance. He was often fighting with his generals, his Cabinet, his party, and a majority of the American people.

The Union Army’s first year and a half of battlefield defeats made it especially difficult to keep hopes held high and support strong for a reunification the nation. With the hopeful, but by no means conclusive victory at Antietam on September 22^nd of 1862, Lincoln felt confident enough to reshape the cause of the war from “union” to abolishing slavery.

 Very slowly, the war effort improved for the North, though more by attrition then by brilliant military victories. But by 1864, the Confederacy had hunkered down to a steady war and Lincoln was convinced he would be a one-term president. His nemesis, George B. McClellan, the former commander of the Army of the Potomac, challenged him for the presidency, but the contest wasn’t even close.

 Lincoln received 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 243 Electoral votes. On March 28^th, 1865, General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Virginia, surrendered his forces to Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the war for all intents and purposes was over.

On April 14^th of 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Booth had been a former actor, taking the lead in many famous Shakespeare plays. He was against Lincoln, as he stood for everything that Booth hated. He gathered up people like him to help him kidnap Lincoln and hold him prisoner so that he might change his ways.

Booth and his conspirators planned to kidnap him March 17^th, 1865, when he went to a local hospital play in town. They were all set up and ready when they found out that the play had been canceled, and that Lincoln would not be attending. Therefore, their kidnapping plan did not work.

This enraged Booth still further. It was about a month before he had his chance. This time, he succeeded. At about 10:50, Booth crept into Ford Theater, where Lincoln and his family were watching the play. Booth knew his way around the theater since he had previously acted there, and crept up to the state box.

With one shot, Lincoln was dead. Booth jumped down to the stage, an 11 foot fall, breaking his ankle. He held his knife up to the audience, then worked his way across the stage in front of over 1000 people. He escaped using the Navy Bridge.