This Week in the United States - The Lincoln Assassination

This Week's Historical Theme – The United States

 

14 April 1865

A significant event throughout the history of the United States that occurred in April was Abraham Lincoln's assassination. President Lincoln was shot in the head at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC by actor John Wilkes Booth. Booth initially plotted to capture him and take him to Richmond, the Confederate capital, however on March 20 1865, the day of the planned kidnapping, the president failed to appear at the spot where Booth and his six fellow conspirators lay in wait. Two weeks later, Richmond fell to union forces. In April, with Confederate armies near collapse across the South, Booth hatched a desperate plan to save to save the Confederacy, learning that Lincoln was to attend Ford's Theatre on April 14. He plotted the simultaneous assassination of Lincoln and his two possible successors: Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward.

On April 14 at about 10pm, Booth walked into the theatre and up to the presidents box. Lincoln's guard, John Parker, was not there as he had left his post to get a beer. Booth slipped in and shot the president in the back of the head. He jumped to the stage to escape, injuring his leg, and fled on horseback. The other conspirators were captured, except for John Surratt who fled to Canada. The troops finally caught up with Booth on April 26 and killed him. All the captured co-conspirators were killed including John Surratt's mother, Mary Surratt. John Surratt was eventually tracked down in Egypt and brought back to trial, but managed, with the help of clever lawyers, to win an acquittal.

Want to find out more about the Lincoln Assassination? Click here for more information, or here for more about how Presidential Assassinations changed US politics.

November 13 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is Dedicated

This Day in History: 13 November 2020

 

13 November 1982

 

38 years ago, today, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., after a march to its site by thousands of veterans who served in the conflict. The long-awaited memorial was a simple V-shaped black granite wall, that was inscribed with the names of the 57,939 Americans who died in the conflict. Their names were arranged in order of death, not their rank, which was common in other memorials. It soon became one of the most visited memorials in the nation's capital. It drew together both those who fought and those who marched against the war, serving to promote national healing a decade after the conflict ended.

 

The designer of the memorial was Maya Lin, a Yale University architecture student who entered a nationwide competition to create a design for the monument. Lin was born in Ohio in 1959 and was the daughter to Chinese immigrants. Many veterans' groups were opposed to the winning design, as it lacked a standard memorial's heroic statutes and stirring words. However, a shift in public opinion occurred in the months after the memorial's dedication. Families of the dead and veterans visited the wall, seeking the names of their loved ones. Once the name was found, a private offering was usually left, from notes and flowers to dog tags and cans of beer.

 

Want to find out more about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? Click here for more information, or here for more about Maya Lin.

August 28 - Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech

This Day in History: 28 August 2020

 

28 August 1963

 

57 years ago, today, Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, to about 250,000 people. The demonstrators, both black and white, and poor and rich, came together in the nation's capital to demand voting rights and equal opportunities for African Americans. This was in an attempt to appeal for an end to racial segregation and discrimination. The civil rights movement achieved two of its greatest successes in the next year: the ratification of the 24^th Amendment and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, placing King's speech among the most iconic in American history.

 

With the statue of Abraham Lincoln towering behind him, King used the rhetorical talents he had developed as a Baptist preacher. He told of the struggle ahead and stressed the importance of continued action and nonviolent protest. As he came to the end of his prepared text, he was overwhelmed by the moment and launched into an improvised sermon. Prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: 'tell them about the dream, Martin!', King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. By equating the civil rights movement with the highest and noblest ideals of American tradition, King allowed many to see for the first time the importance and urgency of racial equality.

 

Want to find out more about Martin Luther King's powerful speech? Click here for more information, or here for more about the civil rights movement prior to King's speech. Click here for a video of King's speech.