Video Reaction #2 - Lincoln Assassination

Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the Untied States

John Wilkes Booth

When we think of important people in American history who were assassinated, it's very common knowledge that Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated,  but the circumstances surrounding his death are often not as looked into as the initial cause of his death is. On April 14th, 1865, days after the Civil War had ended, John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. It's very interesting to think how different American history may have been if Lincoln had survived this attack and was able to see through with his future plans for the country's reconstruction

Lincoln had been heavily instilling the "10% plan" for bringing the Southern states back into the Union. Lincoln preferred forgiveness and reconciliation instead of punishment. He heavily advocated for healing the country and moving forward together, which speaks heavily on his character considering the South had spend four years fighting against the Union. In Lincoln's final speech before his death, he spoke about extending voting rights to African Americans, especially those who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

African Americans working in unfair labor conditions 

After his death, his vision for equality in society fell apart. Southern states started passing laws called Black Codes, which were designed to maintain segregation, and prevent real equality. It's horrible since the whole point of the war was supposed to be about ending slavery, but these laws fought to keep the oppression. They restricted where Black people could work, limited their movement, and aimed to recreate slavery.

The government eventually enforced the Reconstruction Acts, which divided the South into military districts to enforce new rules and protect the rights of freed slaves. This was definitely more of an aggressive approach than Lincoln would've taken, but something had to be done regarding the Black Codes and the resistance to change in the South.

Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's VP

Andrew Johnson, vice president who took office after Lincoln's assassination, ended up being impeached by Congress. He was more sympathetic towards the South than Lincoln had been, and kept trying to block Reconstruction efforts. Tension became extremely noticeable between Johnson and Congress, which showed how difficult the Reconstruction era was.

Lincoln's assassination changed the course of American history in ways in which we are still dealing with today. His approach to Reconstruction may have been more successful at actually healing the country and protecting the rights of freed slaves. Instead, we got decades of Jim Crow laws and continued racial inequality. It makes you wonder how different things could have been if Booth hadn't pulled that trigger at Ford's Theatre. The period after the Civil War was supposed to be about rebuilding our union, but Lincoln's death truly left a void that nobody like-minded was able to fill.