The Conspiracy Theory Behind the Assassination of President LincolnBy: Megan DevinDE US HistoryJohn NoelNovember 26, 2013

Lincoln is Shot!

• President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in the Ford Theatre on April 14, 1865.

• Many people started to ask questions about Booth’s motives for killing him.

Who Really Killed Lincoln?• Many people think that Booth killed Lincoln to get

revenge on the Union.• But, the suspicious behavior of the secretary of

war at the time, Edwin Stanton leads people to believe otherwise.

Suspicious Act #1• On the night of the assassination Booth sent

Stanton a message at his hotel saying “I don’t wish to disturb you, but are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth.”

• People believe the reason he sent this may have been because Booth may have been having second thoughts about killing Lincoln.

Suspicious Act #2• The night of Lincoln’s assassination, the president

requested Stanton if he could have Major Thomas T. Eckert as a bodyguard for the night of the play.

• Instead of granting the president’s wishes, Stanton sent him “an incompetent Washington police officer by the name of John Frederick Parker” because Eckert was too busy at the telegraph office.

Suspicious Act #3• Lincoln invited General

Ulysses Grant to attend the play also. Grant denied the invitation, saying that it was because Mrs. Grant and Mrs. Lincoln “were not getting along at the time”.  

• Grant would not have turned down Lincoln’s invitation, and the only other person he would take orders from is Stanton.

Suspicious Act #4• After Booth was apprehended, Colonel Everton J.

Conger collected his possessions to give to Colonel Lafayette Baker.

• In these possessions were Booth’s diary.• Baker had strict orders to bring the possessions to

Stanton after they were discovered. • Conger and Baker counted the number of pages

the diary had in it before giving it to Stanton.

Suspicious Act #4…Contd. • Two years later, Attorney General Henry Stanbery

tried to make a case against John Surratt (a conspirator of Booth).

• When he asked Stanton for the diary, he said he would not return it.

• Finally Stanbery ordered him to give it back, but he found some torn out pages.

• Stanbery asked Baker and Conger if the diary had missing pages when they got it and they said no.

• What was in those 18 pages that Stanton ripped out?

Suspicious Act #5• Scientist Ray Neff found traces of arsenic in

Baker’s hair.• This means that Baker did not die from natural

causes, he was murdered. • Perhaps Baker thought about speaking out against

Stanton, so Stanton killed him to keep him quiet.

Pictures

Bibliography• ForensicScience.org. "Assassination of Lincoln." Forensic Science.

http://www.forensicscience.org/resources/assassination-of-lincoln/ (accessed November 18, 2013).

• Mark Hageman., "Lafayette Baker." Civilwarsignals.org. http://www.civilwarsignals.org/pages/spy/lafayettebaker.html (accessed November 18, 2013).

• R. J. Norton., "The Life and Plot of John Wilkes Booth." Abraham Lincoln's Assassination. http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln72.html (accessed November 18, 2013).

• R. J. Norton, "LINCOLN ASSASSINATION THEORIES: A SIMPLE CONSPIRACY OR A GRAND CONSPIRACY?." Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy Theories. http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln74.html (accessed November 18, 2013).

• R. J. Norton, "John F. Parker." Abraham Lincoln's Assassination. http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln61.html (accessed November 18, 2013).

• R. T. Johnson., "Conspiracy Theory: The Lincoln Assassination." The History Rat. http://historyrat.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/conspiracy-theory-the-lincoln-assassination/ (accessed November 18, 2013).

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