Nation's Leader Clinging To Life

By: Jack Stevens & Hunter Branch

      What started out as a peaceful play soon turned out to be a very tragic scene. President Lincoln was attending the new play "Our American Cousin"  at the Ford's Theater with Clara Harris and Henry Rathbone when he was shot. He was shot at roughly 10:15 P.M last night. Lincoln was rushed to the house across the street from the theater in a critical state. He still remains in critical condition. No one knows what is going to happen. Luckily an eyewitness noticed the shooter as John Wilkes Booth. Booth arrived at the building at roughly 10:07 P.M. Lincoln's body guard left his post around 10:15, and then there was nothing stopping booth from Lincoln except for the door. The strange thing about the door is there was a hole in it, just big enough for someone to peek through. Booth opened the door and shot Lincoln from point blank range. Booth then jumped 11 feet to the stage floor and escaped out the back door to his horse.

      Booth, born May 10 1838, was an actor performing through out the country in many great plays. Some may find this odd since the shooting took place in a theater!!! Growing up, Booth became quite a racist and Southern sympathizer. This is why he hates Lincoln so much. Lincoln is for everything that Booth is against.

       In the summer of 1864, Booth began making plans to kidnap Lincoln and hold him in the Confederate capitol, for all the Confederate prisoners of war.  On March 17, 1865, Booth and his group also planned to capture Lincoln while attending a play at a hospital located on the outskirts of Washington, but Lincoln changed plans and didn't attend the play. This foiled Booth's plans once again. Only after a speech where Lincoln stated that the free slaves should have voting rights did the plans turn to assassination.

       John Parker of the Metropolitan Police Force, was supposed to be on duty when the shooting occurred. It's strange that Parker left his post just minutes before the shooting. The Union should probably put more effort into creating a stronger security force for the president and other government leaders. Though John Parker may have nothing to do with the shooting, he could have tried to stop it if he had been there. Another attack was launched at the same time against William Seward, the Secretary of State. The man who attacked him was identified as Lewis Powell. Given the timing of these two attacks, there is probably a relationship between the two grusome events.

      Given Booth's history, the timing of the attack on Seward, and the strange behavior of Lincoln's body guard,  it seems clear that these events are a conspiracy by Southern loyalists againts the Union. While the war may be over, it is possible that the south may be looking to start another war.         

(Jack Stevens and Hunter Branch)