Lincoln’s life experience

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States and one of the greatest figures in world history. He led the great struggle to save the Union and end slavery. Missed for his integrity, kindness, and strength of character, he remains one of the most admired presidents in U.S. history. Although he only received a little primary education on the frontier and had little experience in public office, his keen insight and deep humanitarian awareness made him the greatest president in American history.

Lincoln was born at dawn on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin 3 miles south of Hall, Hardin County, Kentucky. In his own words, his childhood was "a concise chronicle of poverty." When he was a child, he helped his family move firewood, carry water, and do farm work. When he was 9 years old, his mother died, which was a cruel blow to Lincoln. Fortunately, his stepmother was very kind to him and often urged him to study and study. He and his stepmother had a very harmonious relationship. Later, when Lincoln grew up, he began to make a living independently. He worked as a farm laborer, a stonemason, a boatman, etc.

In 1830, Lincoln's family moved to Illinois to settle, and he gave his first political speech at a political rally. Because he criticized black slavery and put forward some suggestions that were beneficial to public causes, Lincoln gained influence among the public. In addition to his outstanding character, he was elected as a state legislator in 1834. Two years later, Lincoln became a lawyer through self-education, and soon became the leader of the Whig Party in the state Congress. In 1846, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1854, bourgeois people in northern states who advocated the abolition and restriction of slavery established the Democratic Party, and Lincoln soon became the leader of the new party. In 1858, he delivered his famous speech "Family Troubles," calling for the restriction of the development of black slaves and the reunification of the motherland. The speech expressed the wishes of the northern bourgeoisie and reflected the wishes of the people across the country, thus winning Lincoln great popularity. In 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States as the candidate of the Republican Party.

Shortly after Lincoln took office, southern slave owners provoked the Civil War. In this war, the burden on Lincoln's shoulders was unmatched by most previous American presidents. But he fulfilled his duty with extraordinary perseverance and determination, never wavering in his direction: to restore the Union and abolish slavery, even when vilified. In September 1862, Lincoln issued the famous Emancipation Proclamation, announcing the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of black slaves. The Civil War ended with a Northern victory in June 1864, and it marked the complete collapse of slavery.

Because of Lincoln's outstanding achievements, he was re-elected as President of the United States on November 8, 1864. However, before Lincoln could put his postwar policies into effect, tragedy occurred. At 10:15 pm on April 14, 1865, just five days after the surrender of the Southern Army, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater in Washington. That day, Lincoln's assassin, John Booth, was already sharpening his knife. After Puth came from a well-known family in the American theater industry, his superb acting skills have always been the object of pursuit by female theater fans. But Pussy was in drama and worried about the country. He was unambiguous in his political views and was a staunch supporter of the Southern Confederacy. During the Civil War, Booth gathered a group of people to operate secretly. These people included his childhood friends Mitchell O'Loughlin and Sam Arnold; George Atsrod, a Maryland carriage manufacturer; 23-year-old David Herold, a drugstore employee; Louis Powell, a former Confederate soldier; and John Sarratt, who had provided intelligence for the rebels. The group once plotted in a Washington apartment to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for captured Southern soldiers, but these plans, like so many other plots, went nowhere.

In the two or three days before Lincoln was assassinated, Booth was drunk almost every day. His former conspiracy organization was shattered, leaving only Paine, Herold and Atzrod.

At noon on April 14, he went to Ford's Theater to pick up the mail and accidentally saw a poster saying that Lincoln and Grant would attend the evening show. Puth was overjoyed and immediately summoned his best friends to implement their final plan: Atzrod went to To assassinate Vice President Johnson, Paine and Herold went to assassinate the recovering Secretary of State Seward, and Booth himself went to assassinate the President.

Things did not go smoothly: Atzrod got drunk and got cold feet and did not assassinate Johnson at all. Pain and Herold were going well. They reached outside Seward's house, and Herold was on the carriage to take care of them. Pain went directly into Seward's house, holding a bag of medicine. It was also planned long ago. Seward's son told Paine that his father was sleeping and couldn't take his medicine yet. But Paine insisted on sending the medicine in. Siward felt that this person was unreasonable and ordered him to get out immediately. Fearing that the conspiracy would be seen through, Paine immediately took out his pistol and aimed it at Siward's head. Unfortunately, the bullet misfired due to some unknown reason. Paine quickly grasped the gun and hit little Siward on the head with the butt of the gun. Poor little Siward's skull was cracked. After clearing the obstacles outside the door, Pain took out a big knife from the package and rushed into Siward's dark bedroom. Only then did he discover that in addition to Siward, there was also Siward's daughter and a male nurse in the bedroom. Seeing that the situation was not going well, the male nurse immediately jumped up and rushed towards Pain. Pain slashed his forehead with a machete, and Siward's daughter was frightened and knocked unconscious by Pain.

Paine rushed to Seward's bedside and stabbed the secretary of state with a knife. At this time, Seward's other son heard the noise and rushed in. Unexpectedly, Paine, who was holding a murder weapon, slashed his forehead and cut his hand. Pain felt that this place was not suitable for staying for a long time, so he quickly left the bedroom and jumped down the stairs. On the stairs, he ran into an unlucky State Department courier. Until he escaped to the gate, the running Pain kept screaming: "I'm crazy! I'm crazy!"

What is incredible is that all the people who were attacked by Pain eventually died. He recovered, and Seward continued to serve as Johnson's secretary of state after Lincoln's death.

The topic turned to Pusi, who calmly entered the president's box at 10 p.m. Originally, the box had a lock, but the lock broke a few days ago, and no one reported it. Since Pusi was originally an actor, none of the people guarding the president gave him any trouble. Policeman John Pike was supposed to be guarding the entrance from the lobby to the box, but he had no interest in watching the show, so he hid in another room to drink.

When Booth entered the box, he calmly aimed the gun between Lincoln's left ear and his back... *** shot 8 times, and Lincoln was hit 6 times, 5 of which were Hit the mark. However, among the 1,675 spectators, only a few heard the gunshots. Even Mrs. Lincoln and several people who accompanied the theater were not too shocked by the gunshots. Because Pusi chose to shoot at the climax of the play, it was difficult to hear the actor's laughter mixed with the sound of the gunfire.

There was chaos in the box. Booth jumped from the box onto the stage, turned around and shouted to the audience: "This is the fate of all tyrants." This is a famous saying in Virginia.

Memories about the chase scene

The whole audience was shocked, but no one chased after him. After a few minutes, Pusi hit his horse and fled. After crossing the bridge over the Anacostia River and entering Maryland, Booth and his accomplice Herold ran south in panic like bereft dogs. In order to treat Pusi's foot (he sprained it when he jumped from the box), they hid in a house overnight, and the family put Pusi in a splint. On the fifth day, they began waiting for an opportunity to cross the Potomac River to Virginia. On April 20, Pusi got a boat from nowhere. Over the next two days, they had to hide at the Maryland border because the river swelled. On April 22, they finally managed to cross the river and escape to Virginia, and continued sneaking inland, eventually reaching the farm of Richard Garrett.

At the same time, the federal detectives and the 16th New York Cavalry who were hunting the murderer began to follow the clues (plus some shit luck, of course) and found the Garrett farm bit by bit. The following is the recollection of Lieutenant Edward Dougherty, the commander of the cavalry.

I dismounted and knocked hard on the front door. Old Garrett came out. I grabbed him and asked where the two fugitives who had been followed by the cavalry a few days ago were. Just as I was asking, suddenly, a soldier yelled, "Oh, Lieutenant, there's a man hiding in the corn warehouse." But we found out that it was Old Garrett's son, not Booth and his gang. We interrogated the young man and he quickly told me, "There's someone in the barn." After leaving a portion of the group to guard the house, we surrounded the barn. I kicked the barn door hard, but nothing happened. I got the keys to the barn from Garrett's other son and opened the door, I asked the people inside to come out and surrender.

After a delay, Pu Si replied inside: "Did you make a mistake?"

I replied: "That's not important, you just come out."

He said: "I'm lame and I'm only alone."

I said: "I know who's with you, you'd better surrender."

He replied: "I only want my friends to help me out, not my enemies."

I said: "If you don't come out, I will set a fire." A corporal immediately piled up Some hay was placed against the wall and the fire was lit.

Just as the corporal was lighting the fire, Pusi said inside: "If you dare to come in, I will shoot you through the body with a bullet."

I ordered to stop setting the fire and decided Wait until daybreak before entering the barn and subduing them.

After a while, Pusi said weakly: "Oh, Mr. Lieutenant, there is a man here who wants to surrender to the evil forces."

I replied: "You'd better come out. "

He replied: "No, I haven't made a decision yet; but please step back 50 steps and give me a way out."

I told him that I have. 50 brothers are waiting outside, determined to capture him.

He said: "Well, my brave brother, prepare a stretcher."

At this time, Herold came to the door, and I asked him to hand over the gun. Booth answered, "I've got all the guns for you, sir." I told Herold, "Let's see your hands." He opened the door halfway, and we caught him immediately. His wrist. At this moment, I heard a gunshot inside. I wondered if Pusi had committed suicide. When I opened the door, I found that the hay and wheat straw behind Pusi were on fire.

Puss had a cane and a carbine in his hand. I ran into the burning barn, followed by the others. We quickly left the barn with Pussy tucked under our arms. As the fire grew stronger, I sent Puss to Garrett's house.

Pusi was fatally shot in the back of the head. It turned out that as Herold was getting ready to come out, a detective went behind the barn and lit the straw. Puss saw me in the light of the fire, and he aimed his gun at me. At the critical moment, a soldier quickly opened fire at Pusi. Originally, the soldier wanted to hit Pusi's arm, but as Pusi turned around, the bullet deflected and hit Pusi in the back of the head.

Pusi motioned for me to raise his hand. After I raised it, he gasped and said: "It's useless, it's useless!" I gave him some brandy and water, but he was already Unable to swallow, I immediately sent for a surgeon. When the doctor arrived, it was impossible to save him. At 7 o'clock, Pusi breathed his last. Beside him were a diary, a hunting knife, two pistols, a compass and a sketch of Canada.

Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, at the age of 56.

After Lincoln's death, his body was held in mourning in 14 cities for more than two weeks before being buried in Princefield