WHO Encouraged Booth To Kill Lincoln

[RJNorton]

(03-02-2018 04:48 PM)Gene C Wrote:  We know some of the people who supported Booth's decision to kill Lincoln, but who actually encouraged him to do the deed?
Who would Booth have looked up to?

Who helped plant the the seed and encouraged it to grow?
Who made him believe he could do it?

Who may have given him names and places to stop on his escape route?
Did he know before he hurt his leg and arrived at Mudd's, where his first, second and maybe third rest stop would be?

And when (sources please) did Booth last visit Richmond and how long was he there?

Gene, I think it would take a very long reply to really attempt to deal with all you ask, but I shall give you a few short opinions on some of what you ask.

"Who actually encouraged him to do the deed?"

I think Booth was pretty much self-motivated. His feelings against Lincoln and the Union government were so incredibly strong that he didn't really need encouragement IMO.

"Who helped plant the the seed and encouraged it to grow?"

I think Lincoln's actions planted the seed in Booth's mind, and as the war went on, Booth got madder and madder. Booth looked for justification that a state could not secede from the Union; he found none. Lincoln's view was just the opposite. Lincoln felt the Constitution made the union of states perpetual; Booth said "no way." Booth saw Lincoln's actions during the war as extraconstitutional, and he hated it when Congress would later pass bills to approve what Lincoln had done (habeas corpus, for example).

I don't think the difference between the two men in how they viewed the government can be understated. Lincoln felt that ultimate sovereignty cannot be inherent in both the federal and state governments. Booth felt secession of states was perfectly legal and justified. Booth felt Lincoln's actions were illegal and tyrannical; Lincoln viewed the same actions as necessary in a crisis and in keeping with his oath of office as President.

"Who may have given him names and places to stop on his escape route?"

I am not sure this is known with 100% certainty, but Laurie has pointed out the probability that David Herold spent the few days before the assassination alerting the Confederate underground in the Maryland countryside that something big was afoot. I do not know how specific Herold was in what he told people.