The New York Crowd

[RJNorton]

Fascinating post, John. Here are a couple of quotes:

On September 20, 1864, Thurlow Weed wrote to William Seward that opposition against Lincoln "was equally formidable and vicious, embracing a larger number of leading men than I supposed possible."

At the 1864 Democratic National Convention Benjamin Allen, of New York, said, "The people will soon rise, and if they cannot put Lincoln out of power by the ballot they will by the bullet."

Certainly the evidence that Booth was meeting with Confederate operatives is indisputable. And I suppose there is pretty good evidence that he was also meeting with disaffected Northerners. Somewhere I read or heard that Judah Benjamin was working with these wealthy New York merchants whom John mentions above. So perhaps there were connections between the Confederates, the merchants, and "leading men" of the North.

Perhaps Booth embellished the role of other plotters when he talked to Atzerodt and Chester?

I must admit that I find all of this "hazy" in my brain, as I am one of those old fashioned people who grew up with the simple conspiracy theory that Booth essentially acted on his own along with a small band of coconspirators whose names we all know.

Is it not possible that Booth had meetings with all sorts of anti-Lincoln folks hoping to get money and support for his ideas, duping them into thinking he was working for them, and that what happened on April 14th was still Booth's plan and not someone else's? In other words could it be that the words "I am the boss" was in his brain all along despite what he might have told these other groups?